Mannyball, AKA The Bryce Is Right: November 23
Well, more craziness has been rumored and revealed in the never-ending suspense in the free agencies of The Kid and Mr. Miami. Let’s take a recap, shall we?
BRYCE HARPER: More teams that could be considered underdogs could also throw their names into the mix. Smaller market teams could also seem to be a good fit for the 26-year old. MLB.com has suggested teams like the Rockies and Brewers would be good fits. Even though they don’t seem to be big players, they could always come and shock us fans. The Yankees and Mets are still keeping tabs on him. Yankees GM Brian Cashman has considered now transitioning Harper to first base, which would replace the Yankees’ need at first, as their current first basemen (Greg Bird and Luke Voit) are just not getting the job done. The Mets are also trying to go for him. But here’s the question: does the Mariners trading James Paxton to the Yankees affect Harper? Another small-market is Atlanta, and seeing how they’re on the rise, he could consider playing in the Georgia Peach. According to an MLB.com article by Mike Petreillo on Wednesday, his defensive stats calculated by Statcast suggest this could affect the way teams will see if they should sign him or not.
MANNY MACHADO: Philly.com writer Scott Lauber suggests that if Manny Machado doesn’t go to the Phillies, Philadelphia could still do well just staying with Maikel Franco at third base. But that doesn’t mean the Phillies are going to back out. As reported by us previously, it’s obvious the Phillies are going to go all in for Mr. Miami. After the “Johnny Hustle” comments, though, it doesn’t seem likely that other teams that were thinking about going after him will try to, meaning that Philadelphia might only have competition with the Yankees. Brad Lidge, a former Nationals and Phillies pitcher, stated though that he thinks Harper would be a better fit than Machado. But Machado would be a better fit here, in my belief, because the Phillies already have a good outfield in Odubel Herrera, Aaron Altherr, and Nick Williams. Back to Machado, though. When asked to clarify what he meant with the “Johnny Hustle” comments, he said that he was “on the defensive.” This certainly won’t look good, and this could affect the amount of money he will receive in offers.
Join us next week, when the suspense that is killing us at MSB continues.
