Yankees Rumors: Manny Machado Prefers NYY over Phillies, White Sox

If teams like the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago White Sox want to win the Manny Machado sweepstakes, they'll reportedly need to blow the New York Yankees' offer out of the water.

According to Jim Bowden of The Athletic, "Machado has told friends in Miami that his preference is the Yankees, and if the offers are close, he'll be headed to the Bronx."

And if the bidding comes down to the Phillies vs. the White Sox, Bowden believes the Phillies have the advantage "because they are already contenders and their current team President, Andy MacPhail, has an established relationship with Machado, having previously worked with him in Baltimore."

While Machado may prefer the Yankees, Bowden noted that he may not be the best fit from a team perspective. For one, they already have Didi Gregorius at shortstop—though he may not be back on the field until June at the earliest after undergoing Tommy John surgery this offseason—and Miguel Andujar at third.

For another, the Yankees aren't lacking for dangerous right-handed bats, with Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Gleyber Torres and Gary Sanchez all hitting from that side of the plate. In that regard, Bowden feels a left-handed outfielder like Bryce Harper would fill a bigger need than a right-handed infielder like Machado.

Nonetheless, "general manager Brian Cashman has focused on the two-way abilities of Machado, and he's certainly familiar with him, having gotten to see him play often in the AL East for most of his career."

Machado would no doubt improve the Yankees, or pretty much any other team. The 26-year-old is a two-time Gold Glove winner capable of playing both shortstop and third base. He's also a four-time All-Star and hit .297 this past season with 37 homers and 107 RBI. 

His addition in New York would make the Yankees World Series favorites, no doubt. Certainly, the Yankees would have the most feared lineup in baseball. But in either Chicago or Philadelphia, the addition of Machado would usher the team into contender status and likely set the market for Harper quite high. 

And for either the Phillies or White Sox, missing out on Machado would mean landing Harper would become all the more important. It appears Machado will be the first domino to fall, and it will be an extremely expensive domino.