Washington Nationals: Should the Nats join the Manny Machado race?

With recent reports of the Chicago White Sox offer for Manny Machado, should the Washington Nationals get involved in the race for the star infielder?

This offseason, the Washington Nationals have focused plenty of effort on their homegrown superstar, Bryce Harper. But with reports emerging around the price of fellow star Manny Machado, it’s fair to wonder whether the Nats should take a look.

In his seven-year career, Machado has slashed .282/.335/.487 with 175 home runs and 513 RBI which led to four All-Star appearances and three top 10 MVP finishes. He firmly established himself as one of the top 10 or 15 players in the entire sport and his hitting free agency as a 26-year-old.

But on Wednesday afternoon, ESPN’s Buster Olney reported that Machado’s offer from the Chicago White Sox was a seven-year, $175 million deal. Even though Machado’s agent, Dan Lozano, later refuted the report, it may bring other teams into the hunt.

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It’s strange that a player of Machado’s caliber has such a limited market, but a lot of that has to do with a slow offseason once again in which teams are reluctant to spend. So although Olney’s report may be slightly off the mark, Machado may struggle to reach what he had hoped this offseason.

If a potential contract for the former Baltimore Orioles star is vaguely in the ballpark that was rumored, the Nationals should at least do their due diligence on the infielder. After all, stars like Manny Machado rarely hit the free agent market, let alone at a bargain rate.

Remember, Nats starter Stephen Strasburg signed a deal at the exact number Olney mentioned at seven years and for $175 million during the 2016 season. Although Strasburg has more sentimental value as a homegrown star, he’s still an injury-plagued number two starter with a high ceiling.

On a similar note, Eric Hosmer signed with the San Diego Padres last offseason on an eight-year, $144 million deal. With no disrespect to Hosmer, he’s still not all that close to the level that Machado is on, once again emphasizing that the possible going rate for him is an absolute steal when compared to the contracts other players have.

Taking a potential hike in price aside, which would rule the Nationals out anyway, there are two main arguments against signing Machado. The first is that there is no opening for him the infield currently, and the other is the off-field antics that seemed to come into focus during the World Series.

It’s true, both of Machado’s primary positions, third base and shortstop, are currently occupied by Trea Turner and Anthony Rendon. But that shouldn’t put off a team from acquiring a bonafide star at all. Perhaps they shift either Turner or Rendon to second base to allow all three stars to play the infield or even a more radical suggestion of putting Turner in the outfield. One way or another, they could find a way to make it work should they so desire.

The off-field issues, on the other hand, seem to have been blown a bit out of proportion purely because of the stage that they were on. The two main incidents that got people talking were the clipping of Milwaukee Brewers’ first baseman Jesus Aguilar and the “I’m not the type of player that’s going to be ‘Johnny Hustle'” quote he told the media.

Would you prefer a player that does neither of those things? Sure. But when he’s posted a WRC+ north of 130 in three of the last four seasons, neither of those are a big issues in the grand scheme of things. At the very least, they are not a big enough issues to be a dealbreaker.

None of this means that he should replace Harper at the top of the team’s remaining priority list. Far from it. But say the outfielder’s price skyrockets, then at the current price-point, any team would be foolish not to get involved in the Machado sweepstakes.

Unfortunately, Machado’s price is likely to exceed the number Olney tweeted. At which point, there’s no need to force the issue as he would be a luxury that the Nats would be lucky to have if he fell into their lap at the right price. So don’t expect anything to happen on the Nationals front with Machado.

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If for some reason, the price for Manny Machado does stick at the $25 million AAV that was reported, it is the same as players like Jake Arrieta, Felix Hernandez, and Giancarlo Stanton. For the same price, the Washington Nationals should at the very least consider the possibility.

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