New York Yankees Should Forget Machado and Hold out for Nolan Arenado

On Tuesday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that with Hal Steinbrenner luke warm on Manny Machado, the New York Yankees could hold out for Nolan Arenado.

Manny Machado’s actions during the postseason have reportedly left some teams feeling hesitant to give the 26-year-old IF a blockbuster deal. In fact, New York Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner was reported to have said that he found Machado’s hustling comments to be “troubling” during MLB’s owner’s meetings.

On Monday, in a highly anticipated interview on the YES Network, Steinbrenner confirmed his comments about Machado. In the interview, before stating that the decision to go after Machado will be up to Brian Cashman, Steinbrenner said:

"“I did say that, in the context of any guy we look at. Whether it’s a $10 million guy or a $300 million guy, those comments would be troubling, and they need to be addressed.”"

If you ask me, that doesn’t sound like much of a vote of confidence for the talented Machado. And who can blame teams for feeling the way they do?

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It’s not just his hustling comments that are troubling, it’s clipping Jesus Aguilar’s ankle and then appearing to do it again to Steve Pearce; its pimping a fly ball that resulted in a single; Its taunting Brewers fans by grabbing his crotch. The list goes on and on, and that’s just a single postseason.

The good news is that there’s an alternative, and it’s even better.

On Tuesday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic proposed that perhaps this is all a waiting game for the Yankees. That perhaps the goal for this offseason is to focus on pitching, and wait to get an elite IF next season.

Why wait, you might ask?

Well, there’s a certain third baseman out there who will become an unrestricted free agent next season, if his current team doesn’t offer him an extension. This player has won a Gold Glove award in all six seasons he’s been in MLB, has won four consecutive Silver Slugger awards, and has been an MVP finalist in the last four consecutive seasons. This is a dude who has averaged 40 HR, a .358 OBP, .573 SLG, and a 127 wRC+ in his last four big league seasons. What’s more, we already know he looks good in pinstripes.

Yes, I’m talking about Nolan Arenado.

Last season, the Yankee offense was not the problem. As a matter of fact, they ranked top three in MLB in…

1. BB% (tied for 2nd w/ 10%)
2. SLG (2nd w/ .451)
3. wOBA (2nd w/ .335)
4. wRC+ (tied for 1st w/ 111)
5. R (2nd w/ 851)

So, why try to fix something that isn’t broken by adding an expensive infielder with a checkered past. With so many reports out there of elite pitcher being available, why not focus your attention on acquiring someone who can neutralize a Chris Sale?

Holding out for Arenado would be a risky task. Many teams would aggressively pursue that hard nosed third baseman, if he becomes available at all.

As we all know, however, anything is possible. The good news for the Yankees, they’ll have money to spend, if necessary.