The Manny Machado saga continues and I like this jerk less, every day. I will be disappointed if the Sox even offer him the kind of contract, which has been speculated. This guy seems to have a questionable character:
Putting aside the controversial hard slides, in an effort to break up double plays, which after all, used to always be part of baseball, there are plenty of instances where this creep is revealing his character.
First, he says he's not the kind of guy who runs hard on ground outs, insisting that he's not the "Johnny Hustle" type, as though to disparage guys who do hustle. He might have done himself a favor by admitting that it's one of his faults and that he hopes to improve that part of his game, in the future. It's as though he is saying; "Hey, I'm great and that's who I am, so take it, or leave it, I'm not going to change". I still have trouble seeing how Renteria would reconcile the team spending a fortune, to bring in a guy who shamelessly proclaims that he does not intend to ever be a guy who runs hard on ground outs, with the team's philosophy of demanding that everyone do precisely that.
Then, he kicks Aguilar and doesn't seems to be sorry. He certainly didn't' demonstrate any contrition. He could have simply said; "It was an accident, and I'm just glad that no one was hurt". Instead, he says; "call it what you want". What the Hell is that supposed to mean? Ok, the League called it and slapped him with a fine.
And most recently, when the Milwaukee fans booed him, he turns to them and grabs his genitals. Real classy.
This guy is a real heel, in the tradition of Pro Wrestling. No thanks, I don't want to have to root for a player like that. I hope the front office will use the franchise's vast financial resources to acquire a little more likable person. You know, it's already inherently difficult to relate to players who make the kind of money they do, playing a game, that most guys would play for nothing, if they just had the chance. Trying to relate to a player, with Machado's attitude, just makes it all that much more difficult.
I understand that for some, the only thing that matters is winning. "Who cares what kind of people the players are, as long as they are the champions"? The problem with that approach is that fans have to live with many seasons, in which their favorite team is not the World Champion. How do we deal with those seasons, if the players are not likable people?