Red Sox remain a potential suitor for Manny Machado?

The Baltimore Orioles are almost certainly going to trade Manny Machado before the MLB trade deadline next month, and there should be no shortage of suitors if the price is right. And if the O’s want to deal Machado without leaving a massive hole in their lineup, sending him to a division rival may make the most sense.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic lists the Boston Red Sox among his potential trade partners for the Orioles. Part of his rationale is that the Sox could include 21-year-old third baseman Rafael Devers in the deal.

The Red Sox rank 28th in OPS at third base, and a trade for Machado would be a vintage Dave Dombrowski stunner. Would the Sox give up say, five-plus years of third baseman Rafael Devers if the Orioles also included one of their potential free-agent relievers, Zach Britton or Brad Brach, and maybe a prospect?

The Sox’s top prospect is third baseman Michael Chavis, who is serving an 80-game suspension after testing positive for a banned substance, dehydrochlormethyltestosterone (DHMCT). Like Chris Colabello, Daniel Stumpf and others suspended for DHMCT, Chavis denied purposely taking any prohibited substance and reacted with shock to his penalty. The Sox, if they traded Devers and lost Machado as a free agent, could turn to Chavis at third, or sign another free agent.

The Red Sox were mentioned throughout the offseason as a team that has interest in Machado, but Orioles owner Peter Angelos may be hesitant to trade the 25-year-old superstar to another AL East team. Even though the O’s clearly want to rebuild rather than paying Machado, that doesn’t mean they want to be reminded of how good he is 18 times a season.

Another interesting aspect of Boston’s supposed interest is that Machado has somewhat of a rocky history with the Red Sox. As we know, hundreds of millions of dollars can erase hard feelings in a hurry.