MANNY MANIA CONTINUES AS PITCHERS & CATCHERS REPORT

Source: Sports Illustrated

Yesterday was an interesting day. I don't like to dwell on the past but this may be time worth spending. Yesterday was National Pizza Day and National Bagel Day: both are New York food groups on their own.  Yesterday we also learned that Manny Machado may have been offered a contract by the Yankees back in December which he simply left on the table.  Reflecting on these two "newsworthy" items, I have one thing to say: "Hey, Manny, New York has better pizza and bagels than Chicago! Did you know that?"  Yes, Manny Mania continues as pitchers and catchers get ready to report for duty this week and you know what, I kinda love it.

Casey and I had a short conversation yesterday.  It went sort of like this:

Suzie: "Is this Manny thing legit?" 
Casey: "I don't know but don't you just love this?"

Source: USA Today

Yes, I kinda love it, because it is utterly ridiculous that Manny Machado is being lauded and pursued by three big cities and he seemingly wants more.  I like what Barstool Sports posted on Saturday morning regarding Machado's ridiculousness during his free agency:

"So yesterday we finally got a report/rumor about what the Yankees actually offered Manny Machado when they sat down back in December. The reported offer was $220 million for 7 or 8 years, which puts him at an AAV of $31.4 mill or $27.5 mill. That’s as good of a deal Manny is going to get, folks. So there’s a couple things to draw from this. Manny probably wishes he could back in time. The market has dropped significantly for him since free agency began and now he’s left with seemingly one offer…the White Sox. Imagine telling him this back in December? Yeah we’re a week away from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training and you’re still without a team, and oh yeah by the way the only team offering you anything really is the 62 win Chicago White Sox."

It's so laughable.  The guy simply has no team and pitchers and catchers show up for work beginning Tuesday.  Could Manny contribute to the Yankee lineup? Of course he could. Are the Yankees sold on Troy Tulowitzki and DJ LeMahieu? Of course, they aren't, but they picked them up because the Machado thing appeared to be dead despite their continued interest in the free agent.

Source: NJ.com

According to CBS Sports last night, "Essentially, the Yankees hope to leverage Machado's reported desire to play for them -- to the extent that he's forced to take less money in order to do so. Shrewd business, perhaps, but not if Machado elects to take the highest offer."  

Source: Yahoo Sports

Yahoo Sports also reported last night, "As for the lack of movement in the free agent market, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal spoke to several reasons behind the long wait for Machado and fellow free agent Bryce Harper to find a landing spot this winter. He maintained that both players are anticipating future offers north of $300 million, which creates something of a conundrum for teams who, like the White Sox, are unwilling to jump into a fruitless bidding war. Rosenthal also pointed out that while the Padres have been the most transparent in their pursuit of Machado so far, that kind of strategy may work against them if the Phillies or White Sox (or an as-yet undisclosed mystery team) decide to up the ante in the weeks to come." 

Source: Philly.com

The Machado-Harper frenzy is ushering in the start of the 2019 baseball season in a way we have not seen before.  There was some talked Saturday that Harper could land in San Francisco, but there has not been any confirmations at this point.  As for Manny who knows? Stranger things have happened in Yankeeland and he could be in pinstripes after all.  Is Hal cheap? Nah, he's just doing business like the Steinbrenners always have.  Can't wait to see how this story ends- even if it's not happily every after.

--Suzie Pinstripe
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @suzieprof