Mach-ado About Nothing

I have a lot of respect for Ken Rosenthal, even for his choice in neckties.  But like so many baseball beat writers these days (or for any sport, really) the prime directive is to publish.  Whether or not it makes any sense doesn't seem to matter.  Much of what is said or written will be quickly forgotten if the information doesn't pan out.

To wit: apparently Rosenthal, the MLB Network Insider, thinks that the Yankees are stepping up their interest in Manny Machado.  Now, don't get me wrong: Machado is the top target at the trade deadline, an All-Star who's having a career season going into his walk year.  But the Yankees?  Why?

Anyone watching the Yankees play this season knows a few things: they hit a lot of homers.  They score a lot of runs.  They have a lockdown bullpen.  They have suspect starting pitching.  So as the Yankees look to shore up the team heading towards the deadline, they are looking at a shortstop?

I thought the trade for Giancarlo Stanton was somewhat nonsensical, trading for a player you already had to "improve" an area of overwhelming team strength.  That they gave up barely nothing to get him certainly mitigated most doubts.  But somehow I think the price tag for a superstar in your own division will be higher in the thick of a pennant race.

But even if you could get Machado for a reasonable price, WHY WOULD YOU?  At short, they have Didi Gregorious, a player so loveably likable that even a slump for the entire month of May didn't diminish his appeal.  In the unlikely event that Machado would agree to move back to third base (something he said he's unwilling to do) the Yanks have one of the leading candidates for Rookie of the Year, Miguel Andújar.    

Meanwhile, once you move past Cy Young candidate Luis Severino, the Yankees rotation looks shaky at best.  Masahiro Tanaka has been good but is injury-prone, while we wait for C.C. Sabathia to show his age.  Though it seems like Sonny Gray is trying to pitch his way out of pinstripes, he still takes the ball every 5 days.  As does Domingo German, a serviceable but unreliable youngster.  But by all means, let's go send a bunch of top-level prospects to fill the hole we don't have at short or third.

Again, no offense to Ken.  Maybe he did hear that the Yankees were interested.  Maybe the Yankees are just trying to drive up the price for some other team.  Either way, I don't foresee Manny Machado in Yankee pinstripes any time soon.