Manny Machado: Weighing the pros and cons of bringing him to the New York Yankees

Is Manny Machado worth the money?

Manny Machado is going to be a very rich man come Spring Training as he will likely sign one of the largest, if not the largest contract in Major League Baseball, and potentially American professional sports history.

The number that keeps coming up when it comes to how much it will cost to get Machado, is $400 million.

Yes you read that correct, it is not a typo, Manny Machado will likely sign a deal which will be worth around $400 million.

So with this the question is formed, is Manny Machado worth the money?

The Yankees’ current shortstop is Didi Gregorius who is under arbitration going into the 2019 season.

However, he played for only $8.25 million in 2018, which means he is far cheaper than Manny Machado.

Sure, Machado is a better player than Didi Gregorius, but does this make it worthwhile to pay Manny Machado $40 million a year compared to Didi Gregorius’ $8.25 million from 2018.

Here are their numbers from 2018 comparatively:

Name:                           Average:                           Home Runs:                           RBIs:                           Runs:

Manny Machado          .297                                          37                                      107                                84

Didi Gregorius               .268                                          27                                       86                                 89

Like I said, sure Manny Machado puts up better numbers than Didi Gregorius, but this doesn’t necessarily  make him worth the money.

However, one stat that is not mentioned above might make him worth it.

Since joining the Yankees in 2015, Didi Gregorius has played a combined 578 games.

In that same span since 2015, Manny Machado has played 637 games. That is 59 more games in five years which is very significant.

Not only that, but Didi Gregorius will miss a significant chunk of the 2019 season as he underwent Tommy John surgery after the Yankees ALDS loss.

Manny Machado has played 162 games twice in his career, 2018 and 2015.

This means that Machado is a beast and doesn’t necessarily require rest and he does not get injured.

Didi Gregorius on the other hand missed a combined 54 games between 2017 and 2018 compared to Machado’s six.

Manny Machado is a machine and if he is on your team you know that you are getting a full season out of him because he doesn’t need rest and he doesn’t get injured.