Manny Machado has made it no secret that he wants to continue playing shortstop with his next team, but the All-Star slugger is not going to pass up millions of dollars just to get his wish.
Bobby Dickerson, Machado’s longtime personal coach and mentor, told Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer this week that Machado has a strong preference to remain a shortstop but will transition back to third base if the money is right.
“Manny’s mindset is to be a shortstop. He really wants to play short,” Dickerson said. “But I do think for the correct team in the correct situation and the right contract, all those things, he’d be willing to play third. I don’t know this, but I believe it.”
The problem for Machado (if you want to call it that) is that at least two of the teams that are interested in signing him, the Yankees and Phillies, appear to be set at short. New York is committed to Didi Gregorius as its shortstop of the future, and Philly recently acquired Jean Segura in a trade with the Seattle Mariners. When asked if he thinks Machado would go back to third for the Phillies, Dickerson again said it would be all about dollars and cents.
“I think if the contract is right he would,” the coach added. “It may have to go an extra five million, or more, or whatever to get him out of [shortstop]. But if the contract is right, I think he would go to third.”
The Yankees are said to be interested in making a significant trade that would clear the way for Machado, but he’s going to have to play the hot corner if he wants to wear pinstripes. At the end of the day, the 26-year-old is smart enough to know he can’t limit his market by insisting on only playing shortstop.
