I would be shocked if we are even in the running for either. Every team will of course gauge interest, but I’d bet a [expletive] ton of money, that’s where it’d stop.Spider John wrote:Well, there's this. It's Jon Heyman, so take it fwiw:
http://larrybrownsports.com/baseball/ma ... ees/460281The New York Yankees are sure to be one of a handful of teams that will at least express interest in Manny Machado this winter, but there has been some doubt about whether Machado would be willing to waver from his insistence on playing shortstop. According to one report, that will not be an issue.
Sources close to Machado told Jon Heyman of Fancred Sports that the Yankees are Machado’s first choice, with one friend of Machado saying the 26-year-old would “easily” move back to third base for the opportunity to wear pinstripes.
If the Cards don't go all in on signing the 26 year old Machado or a 25 year old Bryce Harper then I doubt BDW will ever allow the team to sign a premium FA.
So, I agree with your end point.
The only premium FAs we will ever possibly sign, will be players that happen to come up through our own system, or have played for us (since as Holliday)
Otherwise, it’ll be trades (like ozuna), or FA towards the later stages of their careers (such as Fowler, Beltran, maybe Donaldson this year)
I have 100% faith in the organization drafting and developing; and I have 0% confidence when it comes to the open market.