By WFAN.com
More than half of January has already passed, but free agent Manny Machado still hasn't signed with a team.
The Yankees met with Machado in mid-December, but then the talks between the two sides reportedly died out at some point in the early days of the new year. New York opted to sign another infielder in D.J. LeMahieu, which led some to believe that the team was out of the Machado sweepstakes.
On Wednesday, ESPN's Buster Olney reported that the Chicago White Sox made an offer for Machado that is worth $175 million over seven years. That's significantly less than earlier estimates of what Machado might be asking for, but according to WFAN baseball insider Jon Heyman, the number is value of the offer is much higher than that.
hear that the rumor of a chisox 175M offer for 7 years for manny machado is not correct. am told it is "way off," though not sure exactly how off. I'd say offer has to be higher and almost surely begins with a 2.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 16, 2019MORE: Keidel: Yankees Don't Need Machado
The New York Daily News reported that the Yankees had balked on Machado because they believed he wanted to be paid more than Giancarlo Stanton.
The question remains whether Brian Cashman should think about dipping his toes back into the water and making another push for Machado. Even if the price is high, it certainly wouldn't be too expensive based on the standards that have been set in the Bronx for years.
Heyman also tweeted on Wednesday that it was still unlikely that the Yankees would seriously renew their interest at this point.
Yankees attitude on Manny Machado is that while you never say never, it's unlikely at this point. They are stacked on infield, and that's before Didi returns (likely in 2nd half).
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) January 16, 2019It's true that New York is already stocked in the infield, so the front office may ultimately decide against committing that type of money to another infielder, but it's tough to compare what D.J. LeMahieu offers at the plate versus what Machado offers.
Knowledge of the terms of the White Sox offer could inspire some MLB team to throw more money at the 26-year-old third baseman. It just doesn't appear, at the moment, like that team will be the Yankees.
Chicago seem to be the favorites to land Machado's services. If that's the case, there will certainly be some anger from Yankees fans towards the owners box.
Machado's agent released a statement about all the confusion.
Dan Lozano of MVP Sports Group, the agent for Manny Machado, released the following statement regarding recent reports: pic.twitter.com/MmKy9doaFz
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) January 16, 2019
