The Yankees Don’t Need Manny Machado

Since it’s 2017 and everything is crazy, that craziness has made its way to the baseball winter meetings. The latest? Trade talks for Manny Machado. The Yankees have expressed interest and I do not think, nor do I want it to happen.

First let’s start off with why I think it won’t happen, regardless of if I wanted it to or not. Manny Machado is good. Really good. He’s a certified Yankee killer. If I was the O’s, I wouldn’t trade him to a division rival, let alone us right now. With the addition of Giancarlo Stanton, the Yankees are arguably the best lineup in baseball. I don’t really know who you could say is better. The Judge/Stanton/Sanchez/Bird/Gregorius spot in the lineup is giving me nightmares for the rest of y’all. Why in god’s name would the Orioles add Machado to that list PERIOD, let alone to a division rival?

I know the Orioles said they’d consider a trade to the Yankees, but I think they’re just curious to see who Cash would offer up. No one in their right mind would actually send Manny to the Yankees right now. If you were sitting in a circle with ten people, 9 had $1 and one had $1,000,000, and someone gave you $1000 to give to someone else, who would you give it to? I’ll tell you who you wouldn’t give it to. The rich asshole. The Yankees are the rich asshole.

My next point is both why I think it won’t happen and why I don’t want it to happen. Machado will be a free agent next season. Why in GODS NAME would we give up prospects for him now? That would be single handedly the dumbest move Cashman has ever made. Give up prospects for a guy we don’t even need who can bail next season. It’s like the opposite of what happened with Chapman. Would make no goddamn sense.

Do we need a third baseman? Well, maybe. Getting rid of Headley puts a hole there. I personally think resign Frazier as a backup, and then hope you can fill 2nd and 3rd with two of the four between Torreyes, Wade, Andujar, and Torres. Then if one of the last two ends up starting, we can always get rid of Frazier. But Gleyber is the top prospect in all of baseball. How about we give the kid a chance?

Now for the other reason I don’t want Machado. 2017 was by far the most fun season in my lifetime. You know why? Because we were a young, inexperienced, scrappy team, with homegrown talent, and not bought superstars. We weren’t expected to be good. The Yankees were as close to underdogs as they’ll ever get. Winning in those circumstances, at least in my opinion, was SO much more satisfying. Winning the World Series would’ve be unreal. When you win with an actual all-star lineup just because you can afford to, winning loses some luster. You’re supposed to be winning. Not winning would be a disappointment.

If the Yankees played a minor league team in a seven game series and won, how good would that feel? Not that great right? Obviously it would be a much tighter race than that in real life, but the underlying idea still rings true. For once, we don’t need to go out and get the best players just because we can afford them. We have all the talent we need in our system already. Just let it happen. Please Cashman. If you want to reconsider signing Machado next year, fine. But something tells me we won’t need to.