Wednesday, December 26, 2018

A polarized Yankiverse cannot seem to decide on Manny Machado

Generally, when a gold-plated free agent pops up on the MLB market, my cold, calculating-yet-spiritually-significant opinion turns out to be rock-solid simple:

Sign the bastard, screw the money, sign him, sign 'em all, every last one, and we'll sort it all out in spring training. (And, by the way, that strategy would work, dammit!)

And yet... here I am, on the day after Xmas, reciting a tortured scene from Hamlet over the fate of Manny Machado. To sign, or not to sign... that is the question.

WTF? This is nuts! Why are we - or I - even debating this? If Manny wants to be a Yankee, as the Gammonites claim, it should have already happened. Good grief, the guy hit 37 homers last year... at age 25. If he signs a 10-year deal, at the end of it, he'll still be younger than Brett Gardner will be this opening day. Why is this even a discussion? 

And yet... as a tribe, we are divided and undecided. Just like the country. Just like me. 

Here's why we should sign Manny: He's the best free agent on the market. He's young. He can play 3B for the next decade. He wants to be a Yankee (reportedly.) He hasn't won a world series, so he'll be hungry. He hates Boston (reportedly.) He can play SS until Didi recovers. As a result of recent dust-ups about hustling, and failure to hit in the post season, he'll have something to prove. He wants to play under the bright lights. 

Here's why we should not sign him: He comes with a reputation for dogging it and for dirty play. Do we want that to become the clubhouse norm? How would that affect Gary Sanchez, or Gleyber Torres, or Miguel Andujar? Speaking of Miggy, we already have our 3B for the next decade. With Manny, our lineup will keel heavily toward the right side. Signing him will force trades to remake the roster. If we sign him, we lose out on Bryce Harper or even the stud pitchers we more desperately need. We can better use that $30 million.

Jeeze. I cannot remember the last time I was so conflicted about a free agent. Seriously, tomorrow, Manny could announce his destination, and my reaction would be, "Oh, well..."

But all this angst and indecision stems from the sense - grown from disbelief - that Hal Steinbrenner may actually intend to turn cheapo this winter. For the last two years, the Yankees have dicked around with the luxury tax threshold - the de facto salary cap - always suggesting that they would be taking aim at the 2019 free agent class. Now, we're told the team may want to stay within that threshold. Last season, the Redsocks outspent us by $40 million and won the world championship. And we're being told to support Yankee plans for fiscal prudence.

Nope. I won't. If the Yankees aren't spending, it simply means the Steinbrenners intend to bank the money themselves. And folks, that's the issue that should unite this tribe.

We can argue about Manny until sunset. But let's agree on one basic point: We are the Yankiverse, not the KC Royalsverse, and we will not accept cheap. Sign the bastards, screw the money, sign 'em all, and then sort it out in spring training. Let's never forget that. We will not be splintered and discarded. 

It's a disgrace what's happening in the Yankiiverse, but other than that, I wish everyone a merry Christmas.

16 comments:

Local Bargain Jerk said...


Is it possible that, by keeping payroll to a minimum and causing the business to generate a larger profit than would be the norm, that Hal is trying to make the books look particularly good ... in advance of a sale? I.e., Is he goosing the profitability of the business in the short term in order to bring in more money from a potential buyer?

We can dream, can't we?

Local Bargain Jerk said...


I should add that, when someone appears to be behaving irrationally, it's often the case that something is affecting them or driving them that casual observers don't know about.  Artificially inflating profit in advance of a potential sale would explain a lot of things.

But, then again, Hal being a friggin' tightwad would explain a lot of things, too.


How many days until pitchers and catchers (or, in our case, not much of either)?

JM said...

Now, now, nothing to worry about. I was reading the Gammonites' opinions on whose moves have been bad or good so far in the offseason, and ran across this:

"It's really just impossible to say without knowing what all these pieces are ultimately being moved around for. But the Houston Astros (getting Michael Brantley) and the Yankees (getting James Paxton) are both closing in on perfect rosters. -- Miller"

See? Closing in on a perfect roster. Everything is fine. We're all going to love it.

Anonymous said...

PERFECT ROSTER?

RIGHT NOW WE HAVE NOT ONE QUALITY LEFT HANDED BATTER IN OUR STARTING LINEUP.

NOT ONE.

ZERO.

WE BETTER HAVE THAT JUGGS MACHINE TILTED AND READY TO THROW A BILLION SIMULATED SLIDERS TO ALL OUR RIGHTY HITTERS THIS SPRING TRAINING, BECAUSE THAT'S ALL WE ARE GOING TO SEE ALL SEASON LONG.

Michael Forrest said...

Let’s get united over Harper. We need a LH bat and he has great hair.

HoraceClarke66 said...

I still say sign both. AND NO TRADE OF MIGGY.

But I don't think that's what's happening, folks.

I think the brilliant minds who run the New York Yankees now have decided that they will only sign guys at the price they have predetermined to be their "worth." Otherwise, they'll walk away.

This is idiocy, particularly with so many players on the "perfect roster" who we don't even know can play—CC, Frazier, Bird, Sanchez, Gardner (for more than half-a-season), Paxton (for more than 150 innings). We don't even have our bullpen set yet.

WORST. POSTSEASON. EVER.

Alphonso said...

r closing wish? A Merry Xmas on December 26th? According to the Mayan calendar, Xmas has already occurred for 2018.

Are you wishing us a Merry Xmas for 2019? No one does that until Happy New Year has come and gone.

Now I am confused and lost.

Just like the Yankees.

I do agree...if we can get players just for money, get them all. But Hal wants the money for his " gold room."

Anyway, I'd sooner keep Andujar.

Sign Manny only if he can pitch.

Better yet...sign him as our DH.

Sign him for trade bait.

Gud Yentiv .

Anonymous said...

Duque nailed it. I just want to add a particular note of despair.

We were good fans and sucked it up to let a billionaire get under the Luxury Tax and save a few shekels. Hell, we even celebrated the Yankees as 2018 Luxury Tax Champions as a way of both indicating our unhappiness, mocking the front office, and making a bad situation more palatable.

The problem is that the Yankees, under the current budget restraints, made it into the playoffs the last two years and almost reached the series in one of them. I think this gave the front office the idea that we were better than we are and that they just need to tweak. (As in the quote John M. just provided - They are closing in on the perfect roster.)

This level of hubris was reflected in the "We are as good as the Red Sox" statement by Randy "Almost Chief of Staff" Levine".

After all, why spend if you don't have to? But we do have to. We are understandably pissed off. No one likes to have the goal posts moved.

This was THE off season to create the the next dynasty. Plenty of really good to great homegrown young guys, solid vets, smart trades (and I include Stanton - what's screwing us there is the $$$ which should NOT matter. I know it does but that's the point of this screed. It should NOT. Plus, he will get better next year.), add two superstars through free agency and we are there. A juggernaut. 1-9.

If they don't spend, and I mean spend, they have broken the contract with us. We did our part they have to do theirs. And if they don't, and here is the despair part... we will stay anyway.

This is what sucks. This is why we are beyond pissed. What makes it difficult for us is how much we enjoy baseball, the team, the blog, and each other.

We're over a barrel.

We will continue to come here and complain, and joke, and write songs and epic literary parodies, provide commentary, and read blog posts that contain insights that put the dailies to shame. We will stay. Even if they don't deserve it.

And that is crux of the biscuit.

That said, Hal there is still time for them to fulfill their half of the deal. There are two guys out there to sign. you know who they are. Keep Miggy. Sign Britton. Get us one more starter. SPEND THE MONEY ANYWAY!!!!!

Don't win the "2018-19 Screw Your Fans in the Off-Season Championship" and win the 2019 World Series instead and then smile in a photo for a change. Most of us would switch with you. Smile. You own the greatest franchise in the history of sports. Act like it.

Doug K.



Anonymous said...

On a lighter note:

I was at a Christmas party last night and my host, a die hard Red Sox fan, was sporting a hat with the Red Sox logo and the number 9 emblazoned on the front. I mentioned that it was a strange thing to commemorate. He said "What the nine world championships?" and I said, "Oh, I thought it was commemorating the emotional age of Red Sox fans."

Doug K.

Stang said...

9 isn't very many.

David in Cal said...

My strategy: Sign Machado now to play SS and keep Andujar at 3B. Later this season, when Didi is well, trade Andujar for a super, top-notch SP who's being dumped by a rebuilding team.

TheWinWarblist said...

The owners are colluding to keep salaries down. Remember when no one signed Jack Morris in the 86/87 offseason? It's collusion again this year, albeit not as ham fisted. Salaries are down for the first time in years. How else are Harper and Machado not signed already?

13bit said...

It's all bullshit and we are pissing in the wind. None of this matters.

Brian is a moron Hal does not care. Boone is a nincompoop and his sub-coaches are worse than ineffective.

Hubris afflicts the whole organization. Nobody is hungry, sharp-eyed or quick in their minds. Bunch of duds. I'm not including the players BUT, since you asked, we don't have a solid ace or even a solid number 2. We have some good home run mashers and we let go of one of our best actually situational hitters. Long live TOE.

And one more thing - FUCK YOU, BRIAN.

13bit said...

FUCK YOU, AUTOCORRECT, AS WELL. DOGS ARE BARKING IN THE HOTEL HALLWAY. THIS COUNTRY IS GOING TO SHIT.

Mediasavvy said...

If you find yourself holding a potential sales item too long, because you can't bring yourself to buy it - despite the fact that it was 'exactly' what you wanted, there's probably a good reason you will probably regret the purchase......

Pass on Machado. Keep Andujar. Find a manager with some professional experience....

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