According to MASN’s Roch Kubatko, the Phillies and Orioles have had some preliminary discussion surrounding superstar third baseman Manny Machado. Machado, who won’t turn 26 until July, is an absolute stud, a complete player who plays profoundly good defense and hits for both power and average.

He’s set to be a free agent after the 2018 season, and speculation has long stood that Baltimore would be a longshot to retain him past that point. With the Orioles clearly lagging behind the likes of Boston and New York, the club has been rumored to be gauging the market in Machado, as well as the likes of ace reliever Zach Britton, who will also be a free agent next winter.

Kubatko’s piece mentions three names on the Phillies’ side of things: prospects Sixto Sanchez and Scott Kingery, as well as incumbent starting shortstop Freddy Galvis. Sanchez and Kingery, two of the organization’s top chips, feel like obvious inclusions for a player of Machado’s caliber, with the former casually hitting 102 MPH at 19 years of age and the latter closing in on Big League readiness at second base. Galvis’s inclusion makes some sense if the Orioles are looking for a stopgap at short, as their previous starter, J.J. Hardy, has now hit free agency.

That likely wouldn’t be the extent of the deal from a prospect perspective, nor from a bells-and-whistles perspective; Kubatko notes that a 72-hour extension negotiation window would likely come attached to a deal as a condition, allowing the Phillies to potentially secure Machado’s services past 2018. And that’s the only way this deal makes sense for Philadelphia, because they’re not a championship-level team right now, and adding Machado for one year at this great a prospect cost would be beyond foolhardy.

For Baltimore, the time to blow it all up may be at hand. They have valuable players to trade away - none greater than Machado - and this winter may be the time to secure the best possible assets for the future.

For now, consider this rumor as legitimate enough to move us from DEFCON 5 to DEFCON 4. It appears neither serious nor close yet, but these discussions have definitely happened. Stay tuned.







ahhh shiet

we don't even have to wait until 2019

just do it now.

Was wondering what we should do with Kingery at 2B coming up. Caesar is a very serviceable player at 2B, I think we should keep him.

Just send them all and extend Machado

Hoskins-Hernandez-Crawford-Machado

that's a pretty decent infield
williams herrera alterr should all improve next year.

the phillies might actually field an mlb lineup next year.

This post was edited by Embiid on Dec 12 2017 11:56pm

Please trade him...

I love Manny, but this team has a completely depleted farm and no pitching. Get what you can while you can; this team ain't competing for a WS this year or any time soon.

Trade Schoop and Britton while you're at it too. Go full tank mode for a few years and compete down the line, rather than go through a slow rebuild after they all leave for nothing.

He's one of the best players in the league and the Orioles can make the playoffs if they can buy up a few decent SPs. I don't get it. If they were way out of it like the Angels the last few years, yeah you don't wanna keep a mike trout style player, but the Orioles are good. I'd keep him.

you need to trade Buck

So torn on this.

I'd like the Orioles to have one of those generational players like a Cal Ripken and semi Adam Jones. Machado could be that, but the money is being held too tight by Angelos. If they were like the Nationals just backloading all kinds of contracts, they could be great...However, they don't. Need to merge DC and Baltimore into one. DC has the SP, Baltimore has the bullpen and enough hitters between them for a dangerous 1-9 lol.

In the end, I don't want to see Machado leave, but if he does - No Yankees, Red Sox or Dodgers and I'd be ok. Dodgers don't need him anyway, so doubtful he moves there.

This might be his last year as a manager. More likely he moves into a FO position if he doesn't retire or go elsewhere.


This team is only going to get worse and worse due to the lack of minor league talent.

And "buying up a few decent SPs" is out of the question because this team is owned by a cheapskate and GM'd by a guy who hates big contracts unless it's for low-average power hitters/

This post was edited by Terps on Dec 13 2017 03:03pm

Wat? Angels have been in the playoff race every year the last few seasons except 2016.
They had the best record in '14, lost the last playoff spot the last day of the season in '15. Were destroyed by injuries in '16, and missed out on the playoffs the last week of the season this year. Despite massive pitching injuries and not having mike trout for 8 weeks. Gonna trade mike trout cuz everyone keeps getting hurt? Rolf. Plus who can even afford him.

This post was edited by FLCKennedy on Dec 13 2017 07:08pm

its like freddie freemans situation but the orioles have worse players around machado

I feel so bad for Freddie...I have him in a couple fantasy keeper leagues and I know he could do so much better stat wise with an actual team, but he's still just so good.

lolwho