The Yankees can’t put all of their free agency eggs in the Manny Machado basket. If they miss on him, they need to be ready to make these five moves.
It’s very possible Brian Cashman is going to be successful in his endeavor to sign Manny Machado this winter. Of course, it’s also very possible Machado will sign with the Phillies or White Sox instead. That’s why Cashman and the Yankees front office need to be very busy making contingency plans.
In this piece, we’ll examine five moves the Yankees need to make if they do miss on Machado. Some of them will be designed to fill the same hole on the roster he was intended to fill. Some will simply be redistributing his potential salary towards other players/positions.
The timing on all these moves will be tricky, but that’s why Cashman gets paid the big bucks. If the Yankees do come up short on their bid to sign Machado, look for them to quickly shift their focus on these five potential moves. We start with bringing a key member of last year’s team back into the fold.
5. Re-sign David Robertson
There have been a lot of rumblings lately claiming Robertson may be close to signing with the Red Sox, but nothing is official until pen hits paper. That means the Yankees are certainly still alive in the race to sign the talented righty.
Re-signing Robertson is one of the moves on this list that can happen irrespective of what goes on with Machado. Of course, it will be much easier for Cashman to sign two premium relievers if he isn’t paying Machado over $30 million per season. Robertson could return on a two or three-year contract for under half that amount.
If the Yankees aren’t going to outslug everyone in 2019, they’ll need their bullpen to be filled with premium arms who can shut down opponents. Robertson may be on the downside of his career, but he’s still good enough to get big outs for Aaron Boone’s team next season.