It stands to reason that the Baltimore Orioles demand the farm for three-time All-Star infielder Manny Machado, who was suddenly placed on the trade block earlier in the offseason.
Still just 25 years old, Machado has hit 33-plus homers in each of the past three seasons, finishing in the top-five of AL MVP voting twice during that span. He’s also earned two Gold Gloves at the hot corner during his five-plus year career.
Fresh off news that Orioles ownership might not approve a Machado trade, it now appears that GM Dan Duquette and Co. are not happy with the trade offers they’ve received for Machado.
“The Baltimore Orioles, to this point dissatisfied with the trade offers for star third baseman Manny Machado, intend to pull him off the trading block in a couple days if the offers don’t improve,” Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports reported Wednesday morning.
Heyman noted that Baltimore is looking for a package similar to what Atlanta received for Jason Heyward a few years back. That deal included an All-Star caliber pitcher in Shelby Miller and two top prospects (Dansby Swanson, Ender Inciarte) heading back to the Braves.
The issue here is that Machado is set to become a free agent following the 2018 season. Any team looking to make a more for him would like to get the All-Star under contract long term before yielding such a high bounty to Baltimore.
At this point, it doesn’t look like anything is going to come to fruition here. Though, as we’ve learned, expect the unexpected around the baseball world these days.