LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 03: Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Manny Machado (8) looks on during team workouts on October 3, 2018, one day before the 2018 National League Division Series kicks off between the Atlanta Braves and the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, CA.
With spring training just around the corner, Bryce Harper and Manny Machado remain unsigned, but Machado’s new glove could tell us where he’s headed.
Could Manny Machado’s new glove be a hint about where he’ll be signing as a free agent?
Most fans are tired of the speculation around Machado’s free agency as spring training gets underway, so every piece of information regarding him is worth analyzing, so there was no passing up this look at his glove he’ll wear this season.
The color scheme is sure to catch the eye of Chicago White Sox fans. Before you Yankees fans get too excited, it isn’t blue and white, it’s black and white. So, slow your roll and take your elite bullpen into the season.
White Sox fans, on the other hand, can start to get excited about this picture. It looks like Machado will be rocking the black and white on his left hand this season, and potentially on his jersey as well. If the White Sox front office shares the belief of the players that they are title contenders this year, signing Machado will certainly help.
He will slot in nicely at either position on the left side of the infield, joining Yoan Moncada and Jose Abreu in an extremely talented infield. The three of them together can wreak havoc in a weak American League Central division, which the Indians were able to win last year with just 91 wins.
Last season, Machado ranked in the 91st percentile in expected wOBA, given Jose Abreu was the only White Sox player finish above the 50th percentile. Matt Davidson was the next highest in the 47th percentile and he left as a free agent. Three of FanGraphs four projection systems project that Machado will finish this season at or above .370 wOBA which would be an incredible season.
Should his glove really be a hint at his signing, the White Sox will add a bonafide star alongside their talented young core, potentially making themselves contenders for years to come.