The Philadelphia Phillies are on the verge of acquiring one of the better shortstops in baseball, and some are wondering if that means they are no longer interested in signing Manny Machado to a massive free agent contract. However, one thing does not necessarily have to do with the other.
According to numerous reports, the Phillies have a deal in place to acquire Mariners shortstop Jean Segura. First baseman Carlos Santana and former first-round pick JP Crawford are headed to Seattle as part of the trade.
#Mariners are in agreement pending physical review to send Jean Segura to the #Phillies for Carlos Santana and J.P. Crawford. There will be other prospects involved. I believe @Ken_Rosenthal was 1st to say this was close to happening.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 3, 2018
While he played shortstop with the M’s, Segura has plenty of experience at second base. In fact, Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Daily News notes that the best season of Segura’s career was in 2016, when he played second for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Once again to clear up any confusion:
Another reason that a Jean Segura trade wouldn’t necessarily preclude #Phillies from signing Manny Machado: Segura played 1,170 innings (142 games) at 2B for Arizona in 2016 and finished 13th in NL MVP race. It was best season of his career.
— Scott Lauber (@ScottLauber) December 3, 2018
Segura hit .304 with 10 home runs and 63 RBI last season. If the Phillies paired him with Machado, they would have arguably the best middle infield in baseball. There are still other teams that will try to sign Machado, but a lot of what we have heard makes Philly sound like the favorite.
