The Orioles have seemingly come to terms with the fact that they cannot keep Manny Machado, and they may be kicking things into overdrive to find a potential trade suitor for the star third baseman.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports that the Orioles “want to act sooner rather than later” to trade Machado. While it is common for teams to wait until the July 31 trade deadline to deal star players, the O’s believe they will get a greater return for Machado while he has closer to three months of control remaining than two.
Sources told Rosenthal trade talks surrounding Machado have “accelerated” in recent days, but any tentative agreement that executive vice-president of baseball operations Dan Duquette reaches will also have to be approved by Brady Anderson, Baltimore’s VP of baseball operations. That could slow the process down a bit.
As for interested teams, Rosenthal mentions the Phillies — who will get a closer look at Machado when the Orioles visit Philadelphia on Tuesday and Wednesday — in addition to the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Brewers and Indians. One obstacle Baltimore will have to overcome is that Machado may only be interested in signing a long-term extension with one team, which would greatly diminish his trade value.
