A day after Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner called Manny Machado’s notorious hustle comments “troubling,” Brian Cashman said “there are fair questions to be asked” about one of the prizes of the free-agent class.
The Yankees general manager will no doubt be the one asking the questions of Machado, who complicated his certain payday this offseason with plays that drew criticism from opponents — like when he spiked Milwaukee first baseman Jesus Aguilar — and then continued to not play at full speed even after admitting in an interview with The Athletic that he’s “not the type of player that’s going to be ‘Johnny Hustle’ … That’s not my cup of tea.”
Machado won’t be unique in having to sit down with Cashman, if the Yankees’ pursuit of the shortstop gets that far.
Cashman said he often meets with prospective free agent signings, especially when they require the type of investment Machado is sure to seek.
“I’ve definitely met with players in free agency many times over and had a good, honest dialogue that either made us more interested in the player,” said Cashman, who added the meetings sometimes lead to the team realizing it wouldn’t be a good fit.
“I don’t want to call anything recruiting as much as educational,” Cashman said.
The GM wouldn’t guarantee he would even meet with Machado: “We’ll see. I don’t want to show my cards.”
The Yankees got under the luxury-tax threshold last season in part to reset their penalty in time for this offseason. The threshold will go up to $206 million in 2019.
Machado is a main target, along with Cashman’s desire to bring in two “top-tier” starting pitchers and add to a bullpen that could potentially lose free agents David Robertson and Zach Britton.
On Thursday, though, Cashman was focused on the weather, since he was taking part in the Covenant House’s Sleep Out for homelessness.
Cashman was among those who slept outside the Javits Center on the snowy night to raise money to support homeless youths. It was Cashman’s eighth year participating, and the Yankees donated $25,000.
The bigger sums of money will come with free agency, and though Cashman didn’t want to go into detail about a potential pursuit of Machado, he acknowledged his skill.
“I can only tell you from afar the talent we’ve seen [from] the wrong end,” Cashman said. “He covers both sides of the ball offensively and defensively. We’ll take a look at Manny Machado, along with everybody else.”
With the loss of Didi Gregorius for at least a significant portion of next season following last month’s Tommy John surgery, the Yankees will have a need in the infield.
Asked if they would be big players this offseason, Cashman said: “It remains to be seen. … We’re capable of being big-game hunters.”
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