Yankees Rumors: Manny Machado gets 7-year, $175M offer from White Sox
The Yankees pursuit of Manny Machado seemingly ended after the team recently signed D.J. LeMahieu to join what is already a crowded infield. However, news broke today that the White Sox offered Machado a seven-year deal for only $175 million, which could open the door for the Yanks to make a better offer.
Even though the Yankees met with Machado earlier this offseason they’ve given no indication that they are willing to offer him the 10-year deal he was hoping for. The Yankees know better than any organization how those deals usually don’t end up working out, especially in the long run, during the later years of the contract.
With the infield the Yanks already have in place there’s really no need to offer Machado a contract for that many years at close to $300 million. Yes, he’s a superstar but they already have another star shortstop in Didi Gregorius who continues to recover from offseason Tommy John surgery and should return around the All-Star break.
Without Didi to start the season, the combination of LeMaheiu, Gleyber Torres and Troy Tulowitzki should be enough to help the Yanks make up for his absence. Although if the report is true about the White Sox offer then we definitely shouldn’t count the Yankees out from signing him just yet.
As of this week, the only other team said to be in the mix to sign Machado is the Philadelphia Phillies. However, it’s believed that they’re more likely to sign Bryce Harper after they had a very productive face to face meeting with him over the weekend. The Phillies probably have the money to sign both but if they only sign Harper than Chicago could be the only landing spot left for Machado. That is unless the Yankees try to match or possibly beat the White Sox offer.
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It’s unclear whether or not the Yanks would want to get back in on the Machado sweepstakes but if he’s only going to cost them $175 million it’s certainly possible. Back during the offseason of 2014, they offered the same kind of deal to Robinson Cano before he signed a 10-year, $240M deal with the Mariners. Cano at the time was 31 years old, five years younger than Machado is right now.
Machado might not be worth a 10-year investment in the Yankees eyes, but he probably would be for seven years when you consider he’d only be 33 years old at the end of it. I have a good feeling that by that time he’ll still be one of the most productive players in baseball. That’s not to say I’m advocating for the Yankees to sign him, but at that price tag, I think it would be hard for Brian Cashman and Co. to turn away.
Getting a player of Machado’s caliber at his age for that kind of deal would be a steal. So much so that if this is really the best offer he’s received so far than I wouldn’t be surprised if more teams including the Yankees joined in on the pursuit to sign him.
I still think Machado will end up signing for more wherever he lands because I have a hard time believing he’s going to accept that offer from Chicago. At the start of the offseason, he was hoping for over $300M so he’ll probably continue to hold out until the White Sox or another team ups their offer.
If that’s the case, I don’t think the Yankees would re-enter the sweepstakes and get into a bidding war. However, if by some chance he doesn’t get any bigger offers thrown his way you can’t count out the Yankees from swooping in and signing him for what would be a massive discount.