Manny Machado has been a productive MLB player for the better part of five years, making it impossible to believe he only recently turned 25. He’s the type of player you could build a franchise around for years to come, but are the Baltimore Orioles planning to treat him as such?
One MLB executive who spoke with Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports said he believes the Orioles have “no chance” to re-sign Machado when the slugger becomes a free agent after the 2018 season. Despite that, there has been no indication that the O’s will look to trade Machado this offseason.
One rival exec said he believes the Orioles have “no shot” to lock up Manny Machado. And indeed, that seems to be the conventional wisdom. There’s no sense they plan to trade him in the winter, though. If they should change their minds, it’d be a long line, possibly starting with the Yankees and Phillies.
It would be a surprise if both of those things wound up being true. If the Orioles actually have no chance at re-signing Machado, why on earth would they not entertain trade offers for him? Letting a star player who is that young walk without getting compensation in return would be ridiculous.
If the O’s decide to keep Machado through the winter, they’ll likely shop him at the trade deadline next year. The only way they wouldn’t is if something changed with all the reports we have heard about his future with the team.
Machado’s average is a down a bit this year at .267, but he has belted 32 home runs and driven in 91 runs. The third baseman is one of the better all-around players in the game. Not being able to afford him is one thing, but the Orioles can’t let Machado walk for free.
