The much hyped and anticipated meeting between the New York Yankees and Manny Machado lasts for a mere 90 minutes. What does it mean?
Ninety minutes? A mere 90 minutes is all it took for Manny Machado to swoop into the Bronx and bow out, via Lindsey Alder of The Athletic.
Dispatch from the Bronx: The highly anticipated meeting with Manny Machado has concluded, took about 90 minutes.
— Lindsey Adler (@lindseyadler) December 19, 2018
That’s the equivalent to watching only half of The Godfather. Normal job interviews take longer than a 90-minute experience.
What does it all mean for the New York Yankees?
The answer? Nothing.
Manny Machado and the Yankees have been in a mutual admiration society for years.
So to me this meeting is less about salesmanship than it is making sure both sides can live with each other if/when the numbers match up. Would be true even without Johnny Hustle remark.
— Sweeny Murti (@YankeesWFAN) December 19, 2018
It would not at all be Brian Cashman's style to make Manny Machado an offer today. Agents say he is one of the toughest GMs to extract an offer from. No one has yet said a word from that meeting, but knowing the GM I'd be surprised if offer made.
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) December 19, 2018
Nobody knows what went down in the most northern New York City borough on Wednesday. It could have gone poorly. It could have gone swimmingly. It could have simply been a formality.
[membership level="0"] [/membership]Remember, it was Hal Steinbrenner who proclaimed his need to meet with Machado prior to any conceivable chance of signing with the Bombers. We don’t even know if Brian Cashman is high on the All-Star infielder.
Last month, the Yankees boss found Machado’s lack-of-hustling, as well as his comments about husting, “troubling,” via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com.
“If it’s a $300 million guy or a $10 million guy, clearly those comments are troubling,” Steinbrenner said. “But that’s really Cash’s job. If we’re interested in any player, we 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 going to sell where we play baseball. That conversation will happen, no matter who it is.”
Machado, 26, is a bonafide MLB slugger. This much is certain. The Baby-Faced Assassin’s collected 175 home runs and 513 runs batted in while hitting a cool .282 in seven seasons with two franchises. He, of course, began his career with the Baltimore Orioles prior to finding himself shipped to the Los Angeles Dodgers last summer.
In 2018, Machado went for 37 and 107 at a .297 clip. He also smashed three home runs while collecting 12 runs batted in during the 2018 Postseason.
With Didi Gregorius on the shelf, Machado’s presence along the diamond makes sense. His righty bat in the lineup does not.
With Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and Gary Sanchez all batting from the right side of the plate, adding another righty power bat might just upset the apple card. It’s the reason why Bryce Harper seemed to make so much sense in Yankee Stadium.
Manny Machado currently remains the most beastly free agent hitter on the market (this side of Bryce Harper).
