Manny Machado reached an agreement on Tuesday for a 10-year, $300 million deal with the San Diego Padres. The All-Star third baseman had been courted by the White Sox and Yankees, but instead, elected to turn down the major-market clubs for San Diego (and baseball’s best stadium).
Baseball fans all had different reactions to the news. Most were shocked. Others laughed at the White Sox. The Rockies’ Nolan Arenado said, “Oh, OK.” All these immediate responses were totally understandable, but they won’t top the epic rant from a young Yankees fan at the spring training facility in Tampa.
He REALLY didn’t want Manny Machado or any of those AL East guys anyway. You know, out of principle.
The young fan shouted:
“I don’t want anybody from the AL East. I don’t want Bogaerts. I don’t want Betts. I don’t want Donaldson. I don’t want any of those guys. I mean, you could take any other guy in the league. I just don’t want anybody — you’re not gonna take a guy you hate from another team. It’s kinda like taking Tom Brady from the Patriots and adding him to the Dolphins. It doesn’t happen!”
I admire the enthusiasm, but the Yankees do have Jacoby Ellsbury and Troy Tulowitzki on roster. In-division moves happen all the time, and Machado technically did an in-division move by going from the Dodgers to the Padres in the NL West.
But this kid’s sports takes are hot, and I must respect that heat for such an early age.
