These Factors Could Prevent Manny Machado From Joining the New York Yankees
Yankees regarded as very early favorites to land Machado, but things can certainly still change
Manny Machado will begin the upcoming season with the Baltimore Orioles. There are baseball fans, however, who are already thinking about what is perceived to be the very real possibility that the star infielder could end up with the New York Yankees sooner rather than later.
With Machado set to become an unrestricted free agent after this season, he could sign with the Yankees as early as next winter.
In a recent article, USA Today's Bob Nightengale pointed out the many things that linked Machado and the Yankees.
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Nightengale even noted that Machado "wants to be a Yankee, and, oh, how the feeling is mutual."
Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports also briefly examined Machado's upcoming foray into free agency and noted that while many clubs may go after the All-Star, the Yankees are still the "very early favorite."
A lot can happen over the course of a year, however, and just because a Machado-Yankees union seems inevitable, currently, there are still things that could occur that may prevent that scenario from becoming a reality.
First off, the Yankees are not exactly lacking talented infielders.
Shortstop Didi Gregorious is coming off the best year of his career and he is still squarely in his prime. The Yankees also have two highly regarded prospects in Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andujar who could have big roles with the Major League club as early this season.
If Gregorious is able to build on his career year and if Torres and Andujar show that they have star potential as well, signing Machado may not make that much sense for the Yankees.
Machado is a superstar who will be given numerous enormous contract offers this winter, and while the Yankees will likely have more than enough money to present to him, there is a case to be made that the club would be better off using those dollars elsewhere if the trio of Gregorius, Torres and Andujar have good seasons.
There is also this: per Baseball Reference, Machado put up 3.5 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) last year, which is a solid figure, but well below his 2015 and 2016 marks. The last time he failed to post a WAR total above 4, he missed significant time due to injury.
One subpar season obviously does not mean that Machado's days as a superstar are over, but it is worth seeing how teams, including the Yankees, will perceive him if he puts together another good but not great campaign in 2018.
Back in 2016 and maybe even last year, it would have been easy to say that the Yankees need Machado, but now, the team could still fare well even without him.
The Yankees signing Machado is certainly easy to imagine, but it is still not guaranteed.
