Manny Machado downplays rumors linking him to Yankees

Big-money free agents tend to be linked to the New York Yankees. Manny Machado and Bryce Harper will both hit the open market after the end of the 2018 season barring an extension beforehand, and unsurprisingly, the whispers have already started.

Machado, currently manning third base for the Baltimore Orioles, admitted he is “100 percent” going to keep his options open, but downplayed all the rumors.

“I’m sure now when we go to New York, it’s going to be crazy,” Machado told Kevin Kernan of the New York Post. “I know there is talk about the future and maybe me, Gary [Sanchez] and [Bryce] Harper being together. That’s New York. That’s what goes on. … You never know what to expect in this game.

“Those are things you can’t control. You can’t control what people are going to say, but I can go out there and do what I can to get to that situation and put myself in a good situation for my family to do big things.”

Harper is going to want a truckload of money. So will Machado. The same team managing to afford both of them seems like little more than a dream.