Philadelphia Phillies fans may have reason for optimism beyond just their hot start to the 2018 season.
With the Phillies opening up a series against the Baltimore Orioles this week, the Philly Inquirer’s Matt Breen relayed that Phillies farm director Joe Jordan, who used to work for Baltimore, was responsible for drafting All-Star infielder Manny Machado with the No. 3 overall pick in 2010. Breen also adds that Jordan could play a role in recruiting Machado to the Phillies in free agency.
“He was the guy that was on me for a while,” Machado himself was quoted as saying on Tuesday. “We still talk every time we see each other. He says ‘Hello’ or goes out of his way to talk and we say ‘What’s up?’ and we communicate a bit. It’s pretty awesome because that’s the guy who drafted me out of high school and those are things that you never forget.”
The 25-year-old Machado has spent his entire six-year career with the Orioles so far but seems all but certain to leave this winter with the team looking like one of the worst in baseball at the moment. Meanwhile, the Phillies have been surprisingly good this season (second in the NL East at 24-16) and have a deep pool of young talent to potentially pair Machado with.
That being said, Machado will obviously be a wanted man come the offseason, and the Phillies will have some serious heavyweights to contend with for him.
