Will the Yankees sign Manny Machado?

It’s New Years Eve. Tomorrow we flip the calendars to 2019. With that comes a clean slate, a fresh start, unlimited possibilities. It also should bring about a resolution to the Manny Machado free agent sweepstakes, as Jon Heyman reports the infielder will make a decision “after the new year.”

The Yankees have long been connected to Machado, going so far as to have multiple trade discussions with the Orioles over the last year. The interest grew noticeably when Machado hit free agency and visited Yankee Stadium on December 19th. He received the whole pitch, including the Photoshopped video board, meetings with Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman, plus a lengthy dinner. Caitlin covered the tour here.

In the days since, rumors have grown sparse. The biggest news emerged the day after Christmas, when Joel Sherman relayed that New York may have the edge. “Word is neither player [Machado and Bryce Harper] particularly likes Philadelphia,” Sherman explains, “and both would have preferred the Yankees, who have shown little interest in Harper.”

Machado, 26, had a terrific season in 2018. The infielder hit .297/.367/.538 with 37 home runs. His 141 wRC+ represented a career-best mark, and he posted his 6.2-win season by fWAR. He had some dodgy defensive numbers while playing shortstop for the Orioles, but that corrected itself a bit after joining the Dodgers. Machado continued to play all-world defense at third base. He remained on the very short list of best players in all of baseball.

Members of the Pinstripe Alley community have debated over signing Machado for some time now. Discussions in FanPosts, the comments, and on social media show how passionate Yankees fans are when it comes to the free agent infielder. Now, however, it makes sense to do a quick poll. What do you think the Bombers will do when it comes to Machado? Vote in the poll and share your thoughts in the comment section below.