Will the Yankees sign Manny Machado? Takeaway from Hal Steinbrenner, Brian Cashman

Clearly, Machado is more suited than ever to the Yankees, with Didi Gregorius losing at least half of the season thanks to surgery by Tommy John. The 26-year-old free-agent, who will soon be free, could start at the short stop and slip to third base – and overthrow Miguel Andujar elsewhere – when Gregorius returns. Steinbrenner was interviewed on Machado during the show The Michael Key Show on the ESPN radio. Machado still plays for the Dodgers in the playoffs. Therefore, the owner can not speak specifically about him, because the rules prohibit members of the front-office of a team from talking about another player.

But Steinbrenner said …

"We will not neglect anything," he said. "We're going to look at all the options that come up in my office, I'll take that into account. So, I do not know who it is or who it is not. We have not even started this process yet and it will not start until a week or two weeks ago when we start with these recruitment meetings. "

The Yankees ended the 2018 season with a payroll below the $ 197 million luxury tax threshold, restoring their penalty for exceeding that limit for the first time in years. Many are skeptical that Steinbrenner will allow the Yankees to excel again, despite the club's vast financial resources. He does not exclude it.

"You've heard me say a million times," Steinbrenner told Kay. "We are going to examine every single person in this free agent market, once we have identified our weaknesses and what we want to focus on, and we will just go player by player."

Short answer: yes. Steinbrenner said that although Boone was not perfect, he was learning. Curiously, he said the decision to dismiss Joe Girardi was "years in the making," which was surprising.

"I think it's as advertised," said Steinbrenner of Boone. "I think he was good. Each manager will make mistakes, especially a beginner manager. He made mistakes. The good thing about Aaron is that he admits that he has made them, and more importantly, he is willing to learn, sincerely willing to learn from them. That's how he will grow. Overall, I think the players respect him a lot. He was great at the club and he made many good decisions. But he also made some bad ones. But, again, he will learn. "

Cashman said the Yankees had not talked about the fate of their future free agents. They include: Zach Britton, Neil Walker, J.A. Happ, CC Sabathia, Brett Gardner and Andrew McCutchen. Steinbrenner praised Gardner and Sabathia, whom he called "our leaders."

"CC has been with us forever," said the owner. "Gardner has been with us all his career. They have been excellent leaders in the clubhouse and we will only have to see where we meet and what we think are our needs. "