Yankees may have offered Machado $220 million
On Friday, former MLB general manager Jim Duquette told SNY the New York Yankees had offered Manny Machado $220 million over seven-to-eight years.
In a since-deleted video, Duquette added "a lot of teams are in that range also," and he's heard "another club has gone further than that."
The figure turned heads, including that of Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman, who tweeted about the rumor.
AL East. Power house division in the MLB. I’m hearing a team in our division is close to adding a big time gold glove infielder who plays SS/3B. I wonder who! Lol
— Marcus Stroman (@MStrooo6) February 9, 2019
Duquette later clarified the figure wasn't necessarily a fact and that he was speculating.
To clarify a report out there attributed to me, I was only speculating about a recent rumor that I had heard, not “reporting it as fact” .
— Jim Duquette (@Jim_Duquette) February 9, 2019
Duquette also opined that he doesn't think the Yankees are going to be the highest bidder and Machado will have "other options that are probably higher in other cities," specifically naming the Philadelphia Phillies. The Chicago White Sox reportedly have an offer on the table in the $175-$220-million range.
The initial comments from Duquette followed interesting ones made by Yankees managing partner Hal Steinbrenner at the owners meetings in Orlando on Thursday.
"If there's a narrative that we're not spending money and being cheap, it's just false," Steinbrenner replied when asked why the Yankees haven't signed one of Machado or Bryce Harper, according to ESPN. "I mean, we're well above $200 million (in payroll) - we're at $220 (million) right now - and we're well above where we were last year. We did everything we wanted to do to really improve, again, the pitching, because that's where I wanted improvement, because as far as I'm concerned pitching was a big problem in the division series, more so than anything else.
"Fans should keep an open mind that I'm never done until I'm done, and that's usually not until Opening Day," Steinbrenner added. "Proposals come to me every day with these guys, between the analytics guys and the pro scouting guys, and I'm going to consider every single one of them."
Machado has reportedly expressed interest in playing for the Yankees, but New York already has a stocked infield including Gleyber Torres, Miguel Andujar, DJ LeMahieu, Troy Tulowitzki, and injured Didi Gregorius.
Machado is also reportedly seeking a deal worth $300 million after an All-Star campaign in 2018 where he hit 37 home runs with 107 RBIs.