Well, I didn’t think for one minute that I’d be writing this, but there appears to be at least one credible report stating the possibility of mega free agent Manny Machado being on the Pirates radar.
Hector Gomez, a reporter based in the Dominican Republic, which is where his parents are located, reported that the Pirates could be the long-rumored mystery team in on Machado. Gomez a few days ago also quoted Manny Machado’s father saying that he thinks the team people don’t think about much will wind up signing Machado.
Gomez has had quite an influence on the Machado rumors as he has had a few reports throughout the process that have helped paint the picture of his market. Since Machado’s parents are in the Dominican Republic and he seems to have a relationship with them, it is at least fair to think that he has those connections within the Machado camp that other reporters do not have.
However, Jon Heyman, a rather respected baseball insider and writer in the United States, threw some cold water on the rumor, saying that the report has no legs, even mocking the idea that the Pirates would be in on Machado entirely.
Gomez responded to Heyman’s tweet, reiterating what Machado’s father had said about a team you don’t think about much signing him.
Reporting in sports on potential transactions is a tough business and being wrong is risky for reputation, so it’s hard to think either of these two would put something out there for all to see that they don’t believe is right. Neither of them has a reason to lie here. I guess it just comes down to who you believe more.
For me, I’m more inclined to believe the guy who we know has spoken to people in Machado’s corner and people who are close to Machado and have at least some inside information on some things that are going on in his market.
Not to mention that it is pretty bold of a career and reputation move to claim the Pirates could be in on Machado given their reputation of not going after major players in free agency. Again, I doubt he’d put it out there if there was no backing there to make him think there was truth to it because to make a bold claim like this requires thorough skepticism before putting it out there.
Heyman could definitely be correct here, but it’s much harder to say that as all he is doing here is sitting back and refuting other reports. He provides no further insight but just simply saying it isn’t happening. If he would have added some additional context or reasoning, it may be a bit easier to give him some more reliability here. Also, Heyman missed on the most recent big MLB deal when he said last Thursday that the Reds were no longer really in on Sonny Gray. He then said a day later that the Reds were a front runner all along for him. Reds wound up acquiring Gray today.
So overall, there are reasons to believe either guy given reputations and past history, but I just think in this specific situation Gomez is more believable. He appears to have close connections to Machado’s corner and is really putting a chunk of his reputation on the line by saying what he is, so he has big incentive here to not be fabricating something. And it’s obviously never a strong stance for a reporter to just refute a report from another reporter, especially since no other big time MLB insider has come to Heyman’s side here as of now.
But you believe what you will. We likely won’t actually know who was right unless Machado signs in Pittsburgh because we’ll never know the Pirates stance in the Machado market otherwise.
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