Much has been said about Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop and soon-to-be-free-agent Manny Machado‘s lack of hustle and perceived “dirty play” over the past few days. With the 26-year-old set to hit the market in a little less than two weeks, some have begun to wonder if investing in Machado despite his demerits would be wise.
Between his admitted lethargy in Game 2 of the NLCS, his questionably dirty slides in Game 3, and his clearly intentional “kicking” of Brewers first-baseman Jesus Aguilar‘s heel while “running” out a groundball in Game 4, the Miami native’s character has not only been called into question — it’s being presented on a grand stage for all the world to dissect.
Machado and Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts spoke to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic after his actions in Game 2, with both basically shrugging off the situation
“I’ve never given excuses for not running. I’m not hurt, there’s no excuse but I’ve been the same player […],” Machado said. “Obviously I’m not going to change, I’m not the type of player that’s going to be ‘Johnny Hustle’ […]. That’s just not my personality, that’s not my cup of tea, that’s not who I am.”
Roberts defended his star shortstop’s actions when speaking to the press the following day.
“I know that he’s doing a lot of things to help us win games. I don’t feel a need to address it. Some guys do that and take it, ‘I’m going to run so hard because I’m so mad’,” he said. “[Machado’s] guilty of going the other way. I don’t think it’s a disrespect to his teammates.”
The hard-nosed slide that caused the Chase Utley Rule to be invoked in Tuesday night’s Game 3, while not giving off great optics, can just as easily be chalked up to playing hard-nosed, October baseball. Take your pick on that one.
Adversely, Manny Machado making intentional and potentially dangerous contact with Aguilar’s heel in Game 4 was undoubtedly a smudge on the superstar’s record. Naturally, it drew the ire of NL MVP candidate and Milwaukee outfielder Christian Yelich via James Wagner of The New York Times.
“He is a player that has a history with those types of incidents. One time is an accident. Repeated over and over and over again, it’s a dirty play. It’s a dirty play by a dirty player,” Yelich said. “I don’t know what his problem is honestly […]. It has no place in the game.”
On Thursday, Jon Heyman of FanCred Sports opined whether Machado’s antics would cost him in free agency. He quoted three “longtime baseball people” — two of whom were referred to as “executives” — and all three compared him to a talented yet troubled player of the not-so-distant past, Alex Rodriguez.
“He’s A-Rod II”, said one executive. “He’s A-Rod without the steroids,” said another. “He’s basically following A-Rod’s lead,” the third chimed in.
Sure, Rodriguez was vilified during his playing days — not only for his admitted use of performance-enhancing drugs but for his not-playing-the-right-way antics — but his talent was undeniable.
Machado is 26, and could arguably be considered one of the best hitters in the game. In seven years of MLB service time, Machado has a .282/.335/.487 slash line with 175 homers, 211 doubles, and 513 runs batted in.
After a down year in 2017 (.259/.310/.471, 108 OPS+), his last full season in Baltimore, he rebounded quite nicely with a .297/.367/.538, 146 OPS+ campaign this year, split between the Orioles and the Dodgers.
The biggest knock on Machado — his fielding — improved greatly once he got to Los Angeles (-18 defensive runs saved, -7.2 ultimate zone rating in 837 innings at shortstop with Baltimore; 6 DRS, 0.8 UZR in 424.1 innings with the Dodgers, as per Fangraphs). Whether this is purely coincidence or the result of a renewed dedication to fielding once he joined a winner in LA is nothing except speculation.
Last week, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic shone a light on the disparities between Baltimore’s use of advanced statistics in comparison to Los Angeles’, which could have very well played a part in his sudden and vast improvements on that side of the chalk. It’s a fantastic read and brings up some extremely valid and, to be honest, awfully troubling points.
Considering Los Angeles will have Corey Seager back at shortstop next season, there’s a good chance the Dodgers won’t even be bidding on Machado’s services next month. The New York Mets, however, should be all in on this elite-level player.
Pockets of the Metsies’ fan base has decreed Machado and his antics as not being a great fit for this team. Despite the fact that the Mets have a budding star of their own at shortstop in Amed Rosario and a veteran third-baseman locked up through next season in Todd Frazier, this team should be all-in on Manny Machado.
This type of talent — warts and all — doesn’t come around too often. Machado is 26, clearly a superstar, and appears, at least through this writer’s eyes, to absolutely love playing this game.
Intentionally trying to injure players must stop, and running out groundballs would be a plus, but playing hard on the bases and backing it up with average-ish fielding and a potential Hall-of-Fame bat should offset any perceived negatives. A lack of hustle and/or bad attitude shouldn’t deter anyone from the fact that Machado is a 30.2 fWAR player through seven MLB seasons and put up 6.2 fWAR this past season. He is an elite ballplayer, plain and simple.
If the chance is there for the Mets to sign a talent like Manny Machado, no matter the baggage that comes along with him, they have to make a concerted effort to bring him in the fold, no matter the sure-to-be astronomical price tag.
The amount of talent that’s here in Queens, along with the uncertain future of this team’s top-notch rotation, leaves this organization with a window of contention — don’t let that slip away. Taking advantage of this situation now could change the long-term fortunes of this franchise in a terrific way.
