Manny Machado shrugs off loud Yankees fans: 'Great players get booed'

Kirstie Chiappelli

Manny Machado shrugs off loud Yankees fans: 'Great players get booed' image

Manny Machado hears your disapproval and takes it as a compliment.

The Padres slugger was greeted with resounding boos at Yankee Stadium on Monday as San Diego kicked off its three-game series in New York with a 5-2 loss to the Yankees.

"I get booed everywhere I go," Machado told reporters after the game, via the New York Daily News . "Great players get booed. It happens."

When asked if he noticed the boos were louder than normal, Machado said he couldn't distinguish them and implied that getting beaten was worse.

"How can you compare? A boo's a boo," Machado said. "We took the L. That sucks."

To be fair, Machado has given Yankees fans reasons to dislike him. He's hit 22 home runs over his career against New York, though he went 1-for-4 with a strikeout and hit into a double play on Monday.

Machado expressed interest in playing for the Yankees during his free agency over the offseason and reportedly turned down a $220 million offer from New York before ultimately signing a 10-year deal worth $300 million with the Padres, prompting the "Over-rated!" chants that echoed throughout the park on Monday.

"Even though you're the New York Yankees, you can't have 'em all," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said in February after Machado signed with San Diego. "And so, we stay engaged with what's available and gravitate toward what we feel we can secure given the current available dollars in the marketplace from our perspective as well as the mesh with our team."

The Yankees have done just fine without Machado, however, charging to a 35-18 record to lead the AL East.

 

Kirstie Chiappelli