Manny Machado still hasn't signed a contract on the MLB free-agent market, but according to one MLB executive, the former Baltimore Orioles shortstop has had his sights on playing in the American League East again.
Fancred's Jon Heyman dropped this nugget in a story published Thursday about Machado's interest in the New York Yankees and, at least at one time, the Boston Red Sox.
The Yankees already said in this space it won’t be $300M for them, so they are hoping his preference carries the day. “I think he ends up in New York,” one rival exec says. “He wanted to be with the Yankees or Red Sox. We’ve known that for a while. And it’s not going to be Boston.”
Machado isn't coming to the Red Sox, for a few obvious reasons. He had a very public feud with the Sox in 2017 after he slid hard into Dustin Pedroia at second base during an April game in Baltimore. He also rubbed Red Sox fans, and maybe some players, the wrong way when he stepped on Boston first baseman Steve Pearce while running down the first base line in Game 4 of the 2018 World Series.
The Yankees, however, are a real threat to sign Machado, as Heyman also notes. They need another elite starting pitcher more than a powerful bat, but the appeal of a player of Machado's caliber is pretty strong. New York is determined to improve its roster and avenge last season's playoff exit at the hands of the Red Sox in the American League Division Series. Adding a player with Machado's talent certainly would help them quite a bit in the arms race against Boston, while also adding more fuel to a heated rivalry that was re-born in 2018.
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