Yankees: Hal Steinbrenner comments on Manny Machado’s lack of hustle

In a recent interview with a small group of reporters Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner stated that Manny Machado would need to explain his lack of hustling comments if he wants to play for the Yankees.

So it seems that the Yankees are becoming serious about pursuing the four-time All-Star Machado. According to Ken Davidoff of the New York Post, the Yanks managing general partner and co-chairman stated that Machado would have some explaining to do in the interview process with the Yankees.

If it’s a $300 million guy or a $10 million guy, clearly those comments are troubling,” Steinbrenner told a small group of reporters. “But that’s really [general manager Brian Cashman’s] job. If we’re interested in any player, sit down with him face to face and ask him, ‘Where did this come from? What was the context around the entire interview? Was there a point you were trying to [make]? How do you justify it?’“Because that ain’t gonna sell where we play baseball. That conversation will happen no matter who it is.”Asked whether it was important to make peace with Machado’s controversial comments, Steinbrenner responded: “It’s essential. It’s not [just] important. It’s going to happen.”

I am delighted that Hal said that. The organization clearly cares about players makeup. The Yankees have been doing a fantastic job building from within, and no one has an attitude issue within their organization. It’s imperative that they absolutely do all their background work on Machado.

According to Yankees play by play man Michael Kay (of the YES Network), he heard from a few people on Tuesday that the team’s interest in Machado is serious and he let his listeners know Wednesday on his radio show.

Machado has a career .282 batting average with 175 home runs, 513 RBIs and has a .335 OBP. During the 2018 regular season, Machado had a .297batting average with 37 home runs and107 RBIs.  He’s also won two Gold Glove awards, in 2013 and 2015, and he’s also a four-time All-Star.

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We all know he can hit, but the problem is, his comments about not being a hustler, along with many examples of dirty play over the past two seasons. The Yankees are clearly concerned about his negativity in the clubhouse because that could influence the younger players in a bad way.

Playing at Yankee Stadium is no easy task, so I’m not certain how he can handle all that criticism. He would be in a big spotlight, compared to the Orioles and the Dodgers.

Alex Rodriguez, who is a special advisor for the team and Hal Steinbrenner, is great friends with Machado. We all know how A-Rod he feels about Machado, and Machado idolized Rodriguez when he was young. This could help push the organization to sign him.

The Yanks are mainly going after Manny because Didi Gregorius underwent Tommy John surgery will be out a fraction of the 2019 season. This will be a significant decision for the Bombers because they don’t want to wreck the team’s chemistry, and having Manny in the lineup would certainly make up for Didi’s absence and then some.