Poor P.T. Barnum, he
was born way too soon. If he didn’t coin
the saying “There’s a sucker born every minute,” Barnum lived his life that
way. Why, today P.T. could be a
billionaire peddler of fake news. At the
very least, he could do quite well just off of baseball rumors.
Manny Machado traded to
the White Sox any day now or Bryce Harper signing with the Cubs next year—take
your pick. Let’s start with
Machado. Why would the Sox trade some of
that young talent they worked so hard to acquire for a player in his free-agent
year? And why would they trade for someone who doesn’t want to be a Gold-Glove
third baseman anymore? Why would they
risk ruining team chemistry by telling incumbent shortstop Tim Anderson to take
a hike and play third or centerfield?
Why would they try and sign Machado for the $300 million or more he’ll
want after signing Anderson to a paltry six-year, $25 million contract
extension? Wouldn’t that be asking for a
whole lot of understanding from Anderson, who to his credit climbed out of a
god-awful offensive and defensive hole last year to have a nice season? Tell me, I want to know, and the rumor ain’t
saying.
As for the Cubs, money
seems to be the perfect fertilizer for pie-in-the-sky thinking. Since the North Siders are now a money
machine, certainly they can afford Harper.
Never mind that he might want more money than Machado. (The other day, I heard a talking head say it
could be in the $400-$500 million range.)
Yeah, just eat Jayson Heyward’s contract. Really, just eat $184 million? Wouldn’t that mean Harper would cost upwards
to $700 million? If you keep Heyward,
where does he play? If the outfield
becomes a game of musical chairs, who loses, Kyle Schwarber or Albert Almora?
Call me old fashioned,
but I like rumors based on at least some facts.
(Unless the White Sox really are pushing for Machado, consequences be
damned. In that case, heaven help us
all.) And I may be old fashioned, but
why not develop your own stars instead and then reward them generously when the
time comes?
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