Neil

ANALYZING POSSIBLE SUITORS IN A MANNY MACHADO TRADE

Photo courtesy of MLB.com.

The Baltimore Orioles are bad this year, as in they’re horrible. Their best player is a free agent at the end of the season and is unlikely to sign an extension. It’s unknown if they will trade him or not, their asking price was unrealistic during the offseason. Will that change now? What teams could be in the mix? Obviously it would have to be a contending team that has young controllable players with high value that they can reasonably be expected to trade. This rules out the following teams: Miami Marlins, Seattle Mariners, San Francisco Giants, Texas Rangers, Kansas City Royals, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox, Cincinnati Reds, Tampa Bay Rays, Oakland Athletics, San Diego Padres, Texas Rangers, the Los Angeles Angels, and the New York Mets.

We can also rule out other teams: Pittsburgh Pirates (unlikely to be in contention by July or willing to weaken the farm for a rental), Washington Nationals (dislike between teams and Washington having Trea Turner at shortstop and Anthony Rendon at third base), Cleveland Indians (Francisco Lindor at shortstop and Jose Ramirez at third base), Houston Astros (Carlos Correa at shortstop and Jose Altuve at second base), Minnesota Twins (will likely focus on pitching and developing young players), Milwaukee Brewers (no chance to re-sign him along with a bigger need for pitching and developing Orlando Arcia at shortstop and a decent Travis Shaw at third base), and the Colorado Rockies (bigger need for pitching and won’t be able to re-sign him while having Nolan Arenado at third base and Trevor Story and prospect Brendan Rodgers on the way at shortstop). The NLet’s take a look at teams that could potentially try to acquire him…

1. NEW YORK YANKEES

Is that really a surprise? Machado would improve the already dominant lineup and be an upgrade at third base over Brandon Drury and Miguel Andujar. They can also re-sign him at the end of the season. Of course starting pitching seems to be a bigger concern and Andujar is having a breakout season so a trade doesn’t make too much sense.

Verdict: They won’t pursue him.

2. ATLANTA BRAVES

If Atlanta can remain in contention, third base is the obvious area of need. That said, will they really deplete their farm for a player that they most likely won’t be able to re-sign, in a year where they’re not really contenders?

Verdict: They won’t acquire him.

3. CHICAGO CUBS

Machado is a massive upgrade over Addison Russell at shortstop. The problem is whether it makes sense to do. If Russell continues to struggle, they can just move Javier Baez over to shortstop from second base and start Ian Happ at second. Besides, why would they want to deplete their farm further?

Verdict: They won’t pursue him.

4. PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES

He’s a massive upgrade over either J.P. Crawford at shortstop or Maikel Franco at third base. They have the necessary prospects too. The issue? They might not be contenders by July.

Verdict: They might pursue him.

5. TORONTO BLUE JAYS

He would be a massive upgrade over Troy Tulowitzku/Aledmys Diaz at shortstop. The issue is will they really pay Tulo to be on their bench and deplete their farm for a rental (they don’t typically give out big contracts).

Verdict: They won’t pursue him.

6. BOSTON RED SOX

They don’t really need him but he would be an upgrade at shortstop over Xander Bogaerts or at third base over Rafael Devers. They can also re-sign him in the offseason.

Verdict: They won’t pursue him.

So what do you think? Do you agree or disagree? Let me know in the comments!

7. ST. LOUIS CARDINALS

They can’t trust Jedd Gyorko and Matt Carpenter in the hot corner if they’re still in contention by the trading deadline (and they should be). While closer will likely be their priority, Machado should be a target.

Verdict: They will pursue him.

8. ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS

They were trying to acquire him in the offseason and might want to win now before Zack Greinke falls off a cliff and A.J. Pollock leaves via free agency. They don’t really have the farm however and might be better off staying put.

Verdict: They will pursue him but will not acquire him.

UPDATE:

9. LOS ANGELES DODGERS

With their SS Corey Seager out for the season, we now have clear favorites for Machado. They have the prospects, the need and the motivation.

Verdict: I will be surprised if they don’t acquire him.

30 comments

  2. Manny wants to play short stop and will not sign with anyone that will keep him from that. Yankees or anyone else that has a SS in place will be out of it.

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    • Alfonso Soriano said that he will not sign as an outfielder or with an NL team…then signed to play CF for the Washington Nationals. This happened over 10 years ago but my point is not to put too much stock in what players say, the right amount of money can change their minds very fast. Also teams will move players if they can sign Machado as 26 year old perennial MVP contenders aren’t free agents often.

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  3. I think any teams you included for him to be playing third you should rule out. He requested to be playing short. He will probably be pissed playing third and won’t have a chance of resigning there.
    Even if he plays third, not much of a market, so Diamondbacks have a chance right? Orioles have a good shot at resigning him if they want.

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    • What if he has a chance to win a championship? Would he refuse to play third base for a few months then sign as a shortstop in the offseason? According to reports during the offseason Arizona were making a big push to acquire him. Will they? I don’t think so but you never know. As far as Baltimore re-signing him? Pretty much no chance. They have too many big contracts on the books and the New York Yankees, Philadelphia, Chicago Cubs… are all potential suitors who have more money and better rosters. A lot of teams will make room for a 26 year old perennial MVP contender playing premium defense.

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    • If you are trading for Machado you are doing so to have him on your team for the 2018 postseason, not for the long-haul. So whether or not he has a chance of resigning would be the least of your concerns. And I agree with Neil that winning a championship this year would probably be worth playing 3B instead of SS for 3 months.

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  5. Been saying this since last July. No real contenders have a need for him or the farm system and what everyone lacks to mention is that if the Orioles keep Manny and he signs else where they will receive a pick at the end of the first round between 31-40 (more likely in the low 30’s the way they are playing)

    So unless they are receiving a prospect equal to or greater than a top 31-40 pick, why do they have to trade him just to trade him?

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    • I agree it’s an odd fit but they were supposedly trying to acquire him in the offseason, and might want to win now while Greinke didn’t fully fall off a cliff.

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  7. I am still waiting for normalcy in the Yankees rotation, which doesn’t include Machado, lol
    We have Didi who can do it all, so Cashman, give him that extention already and let someone else have Manny so we can have a rotation that can exceed 4 or 5 innings, my GOD!!
    Money saved on MM, we ALREADY have a fun loving superstar who can bring us some heavy duty starting pitchers already! AMEN!!

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    • I think (hope) that Sonny Gray will get back on track. His K/9 are still high and he still has good stuff so hopefully he’ll turn things around. Lol Didi is amazing this year, he won’t do this all year but Stanton will definitely start hitting and Bird will be back so the lineup should be fine. I definitely agree on saving money and extending Didi, as I’m not a fan of Machado’s career OBP and inconsistency especially at his expected price.

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  9. The Phillies aren’t a favorite to acquire him! They should have been included with the other “won’t pursue him because they won’t be in contention come July” teams.

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    • I can see where you’re coming from but if they’re still in contention they might do it. It would theoretically help convince him to sign there long-term and if their rotation holds up they could be one of those surprise teams that goes deep in the playoffs.

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      • Well most people didn’t expect Milwaukee to be in contention last year. If Nola, Pivetta and Arrieta keep it up they shouldn’t be out of range of a playoff spot. I’m not saying that playing there will steer him towards re-signing, but they might think that it will. It‘s been said by reporters that this was why the Chicago White Sox tried to acquire him in the offseason.

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      • I don’t really believe in this year’s Phillies team. I also think that several teams that aren’t playing as well as they should thus far (like the Nationals) will turn things around and push them further down on the list for a Wild Card spot. The Phillies are certainly on the right track, but they aren’t in the right position to be trading prospects for rentals at this point.
        All the reports linking Machado to the Phillies and White Sox in the offseason said that any trade would be pending an extension but he would never agree to that so long story short it’s not going to happen.
        Anyway, I’m not a fan of the idea of trading for a guy in order to “gain the inside track to signing him” or whatever. The prospects that Machado would cost in a trade aren’t the type of thing you give up for a theoretical intangible.

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      • I picked Washington to win the division before the season so I agree with you on that. From what I remember the extension wasn’t a complete barrier, they were just offering a lesser return in that case. I completely agree with you that Philadelphia shouldn’t be trading for him and that trying to gain an inside track is pointless.

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    • I’m not sure that they will want to play Turner there, though I’m sure that he wouldn’t fight it if it meant acquiring Machado. That said it’s an intriguing idea. They have the farm to make the trade and the motivation to win this year. I could see them exploring this idea if their offense is struggling come the deadline.

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  11. Why didn’t you list the Cardinals as a possible suitor?

    Good catch. Thank you for noticing! I knew that I was forgetting something when I published the article. They were on my mind as one of the suitors but I forgot to actually type them. I will do it now.

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