Manny Machado meets with White Sox ahead of Wednesday's meeting with Yankees
The Dodgers' Manny Machado reacts on the mound against the Brewers during the eighth inning in Game 3 of the NLCS at Dodger Stadium on Oct. 15. Credit: Getty Images/Harry How
Free agent Manny Machado isn’t exactly hustling to New York to meet with the Yankees.
Machado met with the White Sox in Chicago on Monday. The star infielder, who made negative waves during the postseason by saying he’s not “Johnny Hustle,” will take a day off on Tuesday before visiting the Yankees in New York on Wednesday.
Machado’s meeting with the White Sox came after Chicago traded for his brother-in-law, first baseman Yonder Alonso. The White Sox lost 100 games last season.
On Monday, Alonso said of Machado: “We are definitely very close. We live three blocks away from each other (in Miami). I think it would be very, very nice to be neighbors on the south side of Chicago.”
On Thursday, Machado will travel to Philadelphia to meet with the Phillies.
One of the questions Yankees brass will ask Machado is about his comments and lack of hustle during the postseason. Machado has attempted to walk the comments back, but the perception of something amiss in his otherwise immensely impressive resume still lingers.
Still, the Yankees have not ruled out making a huge splash and signing Machado, who is said to be seeking a contract of more than $300 million. The Yankees have an opening at shortstop for at least the first half of next season after Didi Gregorius underwent Tommy John surgery in October.
Happ ending. The Yankees made it official on Monday, announcing the re-signing of lefthander J.A. Happ to a two-year contract with a vesting option for 2021.
Happ went 7-0 with a 2.69 ERA for the Yankees in the regular season after being acquired from the Blue Jays on July 26, but only lasted two innings in a loss in Game 1 of the ALCS against the Red Sox. Overall, the 36-year-old went 17-6, 3.65.
Happ will get paid $17 million a year for the first two seasons and has a $17 million vesting option for the third year.
CC gets his $500,000. The Yankees paid CC Sabathia a $500,000 innings bonus from last season even though he was ejected from his final start and ended up two innings short, The Associated Press reported.
Sabathia was ejected from a Sept. 27 start in the sixth inning for hitting Tampa Bay’s Jesus Sucre with a pitch in retaliation for a Rays pitcher throwing one behind Austin Romine’s head. Sabathia was suspended for the first five games of next season.
The Yankees were not obligated to pay the bonus.
“We thought it was a very nice gesture by the Yankees,” Sabathia’s agent, Kyle Thousand of Roc Nation Sports, told AP. “CC was very appreciative and is really excited to come back next year and, hopefully, win a championship.”
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman told AP: “It was something that we did very private and weren’t looking to publicize, and I’ll just leave it at that.”
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
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