NEWSLETTER
I know there are all kinds of interesting bits of fallout from the D.J.-LeMahieu-to-the-Yankees thing, but it specifically has me thinking about Mystery Teams lately.
Yanks on LeMahieu? Brewers on Grandal? A disrupted market leads to strange opportunities for surprising fits. Maybe – in the name of fun! – we’ll see some more mysteries developing.
To that end:
Machado camp is telling some folks there’s a mystery team in addition to Chisox, Phils. Validity is unknown.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 11, 2019
When your market has dwindled to just two teams and you have hopes of a $300+ million contract, it certainly behooves you to have another team in the mix, especially one that other suitors cannot verify. Convenient. Easy, therefore, to dismiss.
Could it actually be true?
Well, on the one hand, Machado’s courting by his three original main suitors – the White Sox, Phillies, and Yankees – was very public. He went for visits. He had dinners. We know when it all was happening. Could another club have done the same and it never got out? Would another team be a serious suitor without having arranged meetings?
Maybe and maybe.
What I think is more likely, though, is that with rumors that offers on Machado may be only around $200 million, there is another team (or teams) that have kinda hung around the periphery and are wondering – like with LeMahieu and Grandal – whether they can slide in out of nowhere and get a bargain. Yes, Machado – even on a bargain – is gonna cost a helluva lot more than those two guys, but at, say, seven years and $210 million? How could *SO* many teams not be in on Machado? A 26-year-old fantastic bat capable of playing elite third base or solid shortstop?
In that way, yes, I could see a “Mystery Team” or two entering the mix. But would I bet on Machado actually winding up with one? Eh. Nah. I still think he is a White Sox or Phillie or Yankee (not totally ruling them out yet) at the end of this thing. But it would be nice to have some fun along the way.
