TAMPER FLORIDA!
Judge’s Manny pitch an MLB no-no
SARASOTA, Fla. — This Baby Bomber just threw a tamper tantrum. Manny Machado won’t be a free agent until the offseason, but Aaron Judge is already making his pitch to the All-Star shortstop on why he should join the Yankees. And while it’s understandable why Judge would want the slugger to be part of an already fierce lineup, he committed a no-no in the eyes of MLB and was warned by the Yankees not to do it again.
“Adding him to our lineup that we’ve already got would be something special,” Judge said. “I told him he’d look good in pinstripes.”
Judge made his pitch to Machado before Wednesday’s spring training game. “He just kind of laughed it off and didn’t really say much,” Judge said.
After being contacted by the Daily News, MLB issued a statement saying: “We have been in contact with the Yankees. They communicated to us that Mr. Judge’s off the cuff comments were not appropriate and not authorized by the club. They will speak to him to make sure that this does not happen again.”
According to the MLB rulebook: “To preserve discipline and competition, and to prevent the enticement of players, coaches, managers and umpires, there shall be no negotiations or dealings respecting employment, either present or prospective, between any player, coach or manager and any Major or Minor League Club other than the Club with which the player is under contract . . .”
Two years ago, former Red Sox slugger David Ortiz got into hot water when he made public his opinion that Edwin Encarnacion should join Boston after his contract with the Blue Jays was up. Ortiz was not fined but did receive a letter from MLB reminding him to avoid tampering rules. Encarnacion went to the Indians instead.
Judge seemed to have crossed the same line as Ortiz, if he didn’t go even further. Earlier, Judge said, “We talked a little bit, and I just asked him how his offseason was, how everything was going. I asked him how he liked short and said you’d look pretty good in pinstripes, too.”
Regardless, adding Machado to Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Greg Bird, Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorius seems like something a baseball fan could only do in a video game. But it would be costly, given that Machado could command $30 million or more per year on the open market.
“He’s one heckuva player, and he’s been doing it for quite a few years at the best level,” Judge said. “He’s one of the best — if not the best — defensive third basemen in the game, and now he’s probably going to be one of the best defensive shortstops. With what he brings on the offensive side of it, he’s the complete package. He’s going to be a happy man when it comes to free agency, and picking where he wants to go.”
Judge joked that he said the same thing to Stanton at the All-Star game.
“I don’t think he said that,” replied manager Aaron Boone, seemingly aware of the potential ramifications. “I’ll leave that one alone.”
But when asked about recruiting Stanton, the latest superstar Yankee, Boone replied: “Stanton looks very good in pinstripes.”
Machado-to-the-Yankees trade rumors swirled during the offseason. Machado grew up an A-Rod fan, and wears No. 13 because of his idol. He could follow in A-Rod’s footsteps coming to The Bronx.
This is all contingent on what happens this season with high-ceiling youngsters like Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres, neither of whom will need to be paid $20-30 million a year anytime soon.
In 2018, the Yankees will pay homegrown core players Judge, Sanchez, Luis Severino, Bird and Jordan Montgomery a total of just over $3 million. Bird won’t be a free agent until 2022. Judge, Sanchez and Severino won’t be free agents until 2023. And Montgomery won’t be a free agent until 2024.
“I don’t care how much money you have, you can’t just have free agent stars all over the map,” Boone said. “You’ve got to be able to have guys from your system that come up and become a significant part of the core of the club all the time, and we feel like obviously we’re in that situation here and we’re in a good position going forward.”
And there is a question of whether Hal Steinbrenner and Brian Cashman would be comfortable making a huge deal that could look worse on the backend like those of A-Rod, Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia and Jacoby Ellsbury.
Granted, if the Yankees somehow fail to live up to expectations in 2018, who knows. But those weren’t questions Judge was thinking of, as he made his pitch to Machado, hopeful they’ll both wear Yankee pinstripes together for a long time.