Manny Machado might have cost himself a lot of money this October.
The star shortstop is set to become a free agent this offseason, and many anticipate he’ll land a lucrative, potentially record-setting contract. But Machado’s antics during the Major League Baseball postseason — such as not hustling, blatantly spiking Jesus Aguilar and appearing to do the same to Steve Pearce — reportedly have some teams hesitant about throwing the kitchen sink at the 26-year-old.
The New York Yankees are one of those teams, according to SportsNet New York’s Andy Martino. The Yankees had been rumored as one of the front-runners to land Machado, who reportedly would love to sign with New York.
From Martino’s column Monday morning:
“But we are here to tell you that the (Yankees’) baseball operations and scouting departments, which spent most of last week meeting to plot an offseason strategy, was not impressed by Machado’s postseason antics, and are now ‘lukewarm’ on pursuing the former Oriole and Dodger, according to major league sources.
” … As the team watched this postseason, and weighed it against what they already feared about Machado — that he didn’t always run out ground balls, that opponents thought he was a dirty player — they became even more wary of committing to him for the better part of a decade.”
At the end of the day, Machado probably will land a gargantuan contract this offseason. He’s one of the most talented players in the game, and it stands to reason that some team will overpay for his services.
Still, there’s no denying his stock took a hit over the last month — a month that ended with him striking out to end the 2018 World Series.
