Steve Davis: Time To Sign Manny Too
I know he doesn't become a free agent for another 3 years, but I think the time to sign Manny Machado is between now and the beginning of April.
The Orioles don't want to negotiate during the season; it can get in a player's head if he thinks he's being low-balled. Believe it or not, waiting until after the season might be too late.
Why? His agent might tell Manny that he might as well wait two more years and then he can get up a bidding war between teams and pick his spot. By that time, if he plays at this level or better, which there is every reason to believe he will, we could be talking about a $300 plus million dollar deal. Jim Bowden, former MLB general manager, estimated a deal right now could be something like 8 years for $183 million. Obviously, that is just an educated guess. It could be for 6 years or 10 years, but it's probably going to be even more than Chris Davis. It's a phenomenal amount of money, but my concern is if you don't get it done now, the price might keep going up.
So, question for fans, how big a priority is Manny and how high do you go?