Why should I sign with you? Manny Machado edition

[playmaker8267]

We all know the 2018-19 free agent class is a beast. Bryce Harper, Manny Machado, Clayton Kershaw, Josh Donaldson, Dallas Keuchel, A.J. Pollack, and Craig Kimbrel will all have the opportunity to change teams. It's not farfetched that a handful of future Hall of Famers could change teams via free agency by the end of the calendar year. Big money teams in large markets walked away from the table in this past winter's notoriously slow free agency period presumably in anticipation of this year's class. Personally, I can't remember a more anticipated free agent class across all sports since LeBron James became a free agent for the first time in 2010. Sales pitches will be made, checks will be written, spurned fanbases will be revolting, and balances of power will be changing.

We all know the dollar figures being offered will be astronomical. Let's take the money out of the equation. If you're Manny Machado and all of the offers you get are roughly the same, what factors do you consider when you choose a team? A few I've thought of, in no particular order:

. Proximity to home

. State income tax

. Team ownership/commitment to winning

. Teammates

. Ballpark

. Market/endorsement opportunities

. Positional flexibility (Machado clearly prefers to play shortstop)

The reportedly interested parties (via FanRag): Phillies, Yankees, Orioles, White Sox, Cubs, Red Sox, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Indians

I don't take the Diamondbacks, Indians, or Red Sox particularly seriously in the Machado derby. The Diamondbacks already gave out their big contract of the decade (Greinke) and failed to retain J.D. Martinez. The Indians also typically don't splurge and may be more inclined to sign homegrown superstar Francisco Lindor to a mega-extension. Boston already has a shortstop and Machado and the Red Sox have not exactly gotten along, dating back to early last season. You could lump the Dodgers in this group too due to the presence of Corey Seager, but LA could fairly easily move Seager to third, Turner to first, and Bellinger to left. Those are strings worth pulling for Machado. However, the Dodgers will want to take care of Kershaw first.

The five remaining teams all have cases. I'm sure bigbadbuff and mission will contribute compelling (I'm trying to be nice today) cases for Machado to join the Yankees (but what will happen to Sir Didi?) so I'll leave that one alone. Using the bullet points above, I present the cases for Machado to sign with the remaining teams in the bolded list.

Philadelphia Phillies: In the wake of the Astros and Cubs World Series, too many teams have chosen to take a competitive sabbatical with the hopes of becoming the next team to make a couple of home run trades, grow uber-prospects, and slowly but surely cultivate a championship team. Fortunately for the Phillies, when you play in Philadelphia, you don't need to hold your breath underwater as long as the other kids in swim class. The signings of Carlos Santana and Jake Arrieta reaffirm the money is there and not committed long-term. The Phillies have the capital to bring in Machado. Rhys Hoskins represents a worthy tag-team partner for Manny, and the short porch in Citizens Bank Park must look like a sirloin steak to a hitter of Machado's class. It's been ten years since the Phillies won a World Series, so Matt Klentak can use the savior angle in his pitch to Machado also. J.P. Crawford currently mans the shortstop position, but has played third base before and has the arm for it. Philadelphia isn't a long flight from Machado's homes in the DR and southern Florida. The last spin the Phillies could use: as the NL East could see Giancarlo Stanton and Bryce Harper leave within a year, Machado could step in and instantly be the king of NL East coast baseball.

Baltimore Orioles: We all know Machado isn't coming back to the Orioles, but I have to commend the Orioles on one thing: allowing Machado to play shortstop this season. They didn't have to do that and I can't imagine old school Buck Showalter being thrilled about changing his defensive alignment to appease a player who likely is gone after this season. It's a good faith gesture that will likely be forgotten after the year, but the Orioles showed flexibility I didn't expect them to show. The pitch for the Orioles here is familiarity, sentimentality, and 'hey, we made the playoffs twice in your career here, so it's lot like it's a wasteland here. Please don't leave us.'

Chicago White Sox: If Machado is about his money, the White Sox will have to fork out more than the Orioles and Phillies in order for Machado to net the same amount due to state and city income tax rates. That's a real factor that could swing the pendulum millions of dollars when the offers get as high as they should get for Machado and Harper. Eloy Jimenez, Yoan Moncada, and the brigade of exciting, young White Sox players could possibly be the group most worthy of being compared to the current elite homegrown nucleuses in Houston and across town at Wrigley Field. The downsides with the White Sox are substantial, though. When was the last time a White Sox player was a nationally known and appreciated superstar? Chris Sale and Frank Thomas had superstar potential that never seemed to have been done justice. Maybe that's part of MLB's systemic problem. Maybe it's not. As far as the vacancy at shortstop, Tim Anderson can easily move to whichever position the White Sox would rather Moncada not play (second or third).

Chicago Cubs: If I were ever to discourage a team from pursuing Machado, it would be the Cubs. Bryce Harper's affinity for the Cubs has been noted and not without reason. I suspect a Cubs pursuit of Machado would be the result of being turned down by Harper and having money to spend. The Cubs may be better suited to take the loss from Harper and use the money to come up with an "hey, sorry we messed with your service time clock a couple years ago, but we're good now, right?" contract offer to Kris Bryant or try to extend Kyle Schwarber and Javy Baez. The allure of signing with the Cubs is significant: you get to mash with Anthony Rizzo and Bryant, play for some of the best fans in baseball in a historic ballpark, and instantly be part of a perennial playoff team.

 

This is a feature I'd like to keep going for the remaining high-profile impending free agents. Feel free to make your own arguments for the teams I listed or your own team for Machado, or make a new thread for another free agent. The Harper post would write itself; I'm personally more interested at examining the cases for Kershaw to sign with a team other than the Dodgers, and really turn the league on its head.

[mission27]

Machado hero is ARod.  I’ve actually heard from some buddies in Baltimore who would know that he switched back to shortstop so he could follow in ARods footsteps by switching again back to 3B and coming to NY.

Thread is interesting but we all know this is basically a done deal.  Question is how do we also afford Mr H.

[NewAge]

I can't see anyone but the Yankees or Phillies signing him tbh.

[crab1106]

With Andujar, Didi and Torres potentially the future,  I'm starting to think Harper is the most likely for NYY again. That's if one of him or Judge can take over for Hicks in CF. Hicks will only have one year left and they could move him for SP or prospects.

[BillsGuy82]

Machado to Philly

Harper to Cubs

Donaldson to Braves

Kershaw stays 

[pollino14]

1 hour ago, BillsGuy82 said:

Machado to Philly

Harper to Cubs

Donaldson to Braves

Kershaw stays 

That’s what I’m saying too (haven’t thought about Donaldson)

Hank Steinbrenner has already said he doesn’t think you need a 200 mil payroll to win a championship. If Andujar proves he can play in the majors, I really don’t see us going all in on Machado. Out OF looks set for awhile and think Chi outbids us for Harper.

My prediction for the Yanks is that we make a move at the deadline for a Ace like pitcher, and aren’t overly aggressive in FA.

[Leader]

28 minutes ago, pollino14 said:

That’s what I’m saying too (haven’t thought about Donaldson)

Hank Steinbrenner has already said he doesn’t think you need a 200 mil payroll to win a championship. If Andujar proves he can play in the majors, I really don’t see us going all in on Machado. Out OF looks set for awhile and think Chi outbids us for Harper.

My prediction for the Yanks is that we make a move at the deadline for a Ace like pitcher, and aren’t overly aggressive in FA.

We've already got one "Bonanza Contract" in Stanton and Judge is gonna cost a pretty penny as well in a few years. Harper @ 400M? I'll pass. I really dont want any more of these "gazillion dollars a year guys with contracts spread out over the rest of our lifetime" and (as mentioned above) if you talent evaluations and acquisitions are sharp - you can stay younger and just as successful.

Didi's been carrying the NYY IMO. Snuggled in between Judge and Stanton (or Sanchez) he's been seeing some nice pitches and dealing with them accordingly. It looks like Andujar is starting to warm up......very good. He was pounding the cover off the ball in ST and is a TOP prospect. Torres? We shall see - but all the indicators are good.

Montgomery has a nice outing yesterday. Lets hope he can build on that. We're a bit buried now - not too far back and its a long season, but BOS is fairly well stacked - so we dont want to cede too much ground to them.

[devils1854]

2 hours ago, BillsGuy82 said:

Machado to Philly

Harper to Cubs

Donaldson to Braves

Kershaw stays 

Before the season, I would have agreed with Donaldson to Atlanta, but Im not sure now.

Austin Riley at AA

.386/.435/.754, 62 PA, 3 HR, 8 2B, 2 3B

If he keeps this up all season, he might be the starting 3B for the Braves as early as next year. 

[redsoxsuck05]

I want Harper so badlyyyyy

[redsoxsuck05]

2 hours ago, Leader said:

We've already got one "Bonanza Contract" in Stanton and Judge is gonna cost a pretty penny as well in a few years. Harper @ 400M? I'll pass. I really dont want any more of these "gazillion dollars a year guys with contracts spread out over the rest of our lifetime" and (as mentioned above) if you talent evaluations and acquisitions are sharp - you can stay younger and just as successful.

Didi's been carrying the NYY IMO. Snuggled in between Judge and Stanton (or Sanchez) he's been seeing some nice pitches and dealing with them accordingly. It looks like Andujar is starting to warm up......very good. He was pounding the cover off the ball in ST and is a TOP prospect. Torres? We shall see - but all the indicators are good.

Montgomery has a nice outing yesterday. Lets hope he can build on that. We're a bit buried now - not too far back and its a long season, but BOS is fairly well stacked - so we dont want to cede too much ground to them.

The Yanks can very easily afford Machado/Harper and it makes them dozens of times better. I don't think they're overly worried about Judge's salary when he doesn't become a FA til he's 31

Ells is a $5M buyout in 2021 btw so give that money to Hicks and Didi

[redsoxsuck05]

C: Gary

1B: Bird/Austin for platoon and injuries

2B: Gleybear

SS: Didi

3B: Andujar

UTIL: Drury

LF: Harper

CF: Hicksie

RF: Judge/Stanton

DH: Stanton/Judge

4th OF: Frazier/Gardy

Guy: Ellsbury

Trade: Gardy or Frazier

[flyguy1609]

my prediction

Manny- philly(has ties with the gm and FO)

Harps- either nats/Dodgers - still haven't made up my mind on this, with Stanton &jd  in the al I think it takes yanks & red sox out for him

Kershaw- retires a dodger.

Donaldson- Cards

kimbrell- Red sox

Pollock/ Goldy( not sure if goldy is a fa this yr or next)- back in Airzona

Arenado- Rocks(same as goldy)

Dallas Keuchel- takes a discount as stays with Houston

[bigbadbuff23835]

23 minutes ago, redsoxsuck05 said:

C: Gary

1B: Bird/Austin for platoon and injuries

2B: Gleybear

SS: Didi

3B: Andujar

UTIL: Drury

LF: Harper

CF: Hicksie

RF: Judge/Stanton

DH: Stanton/Judge

4th OF: Frazier/Gardy

Guy: Ellsbury

Trade: Gardy or Frazier

Could Frazier play center? Or move Harper there idc. Clint will be better than Hicks IMO.

[redsoxsuck05]

No he can't play CF, and I love Hicks

[Leader]

1 hour ago, redsoxsuck05 said:

The Yanks can very easily afford Machado/Harper and it makes them dozens of times better. I don't think they're overly worried about Judge's salary when he doesn't become a FA til he's 31

Ells is a $5M buyout in 2021 btw so give that money to Hicks and Didi

Good post. Thanks. I didnt realize Judge would be under contract control for that long. Need to extend him somewhere along the line, then just figure him a lifetime NYY. I cant WAIT to get rid of Ellsbury dead wood contract.