The latest from the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo in his latest notes column…
- The Dodgers, Yankees, Braves, Blue Jays, and Phillies could all be potential trade fits for Manny Machado this summer, the Boston Globe’s Nick Cafardo opines in his latest notes column. The Orioles would obviously want prime prospects in return for their star shortstop, though Cafardo doubts that some of the elite young players on these teams (i.e. Ronald Acuna, Ozzie Albies, Walker Buehler, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.) would be made available, given that Machado would just be a midseason rental. Then again, there isn’t any guarantee that Machado will be shopped at all, given “the unpredictability of Orioles ownership,” as Cafardo writes. Owner Peter Angelos has traditionally been resistant about any sort of midseason fire sale, even though Machado looks like a prime trade chip as an impending free agent and the O’s front office explored Machado’s trade value last winter.
- Acquiring Machado would put the Dodgers at risk of exceeding the $197MM luxury tax threshold, a payroll figure that the Dodgers worked hard to duck under this past offseason. However, team president Stan Kasten noted that “we have never said” that the Dodgers would risk competitiveness for the sake of luxury tax savings. “We’re committed to having the best team we can have. I didn’t talk about it when [our payroll] was high or when it was low and I won’t talk about it next year,” Kasten said. L.A. took a 15-18 record into today’s action and is already seven games behind the Diamondbacks in the NL West, though some team officials felt that it’s too early to pass judgement since the Dodgers have been hit hard by injuries. If Machado did remain in Los Angeles over the long term, Cafardo writes that the “feeling” is that Machado continue at shortstop in 2019 and beyond, with Corey Seager moving to third base and Justin Turner moving to second base.
- The Red Sox don’t seem to be interested in a Matt Harvey-for-Blake Swihart trade. The Mets’ injury problems behind the plate have made them into logical suitors for Swihart, though while a Harvey deal may not be in the cards, the Sox will soon have to figure out what to do with Swihart’s roster spot. Swihart has been unable to find much playing time whatsoever, let alone as a catcher, and the Red Sox may be forced to eventually trade the former top prospect once Dustin Pedroia and Brock Holt return from the DL in the next month. MLB Trade Rumors’ Connor Byrne polled readers earlier today about Swihart’s situation, with over 71% of respondents voting that Swihart won’t finish the season in a Boston uniform.
To mention the Yankees in a possible trade destination for Machado is ludicrous at best.
I agree to an extent. I think you should take the best trade offered if it makes sense. Orioles never seem to do that though.
O’s have made some very good trades—ones that “make sense.”
“O’s (sic) have made some very good trades—one’s that “make sense.”
Milt Pappas for Frank Robinson made a ton of sense. But that was >50 years ago.
You were probably being facetious, so I’ll list just mention a few that are more relevant to recent O’s history:
Feb. ‘08 – Erik Bedard to Mariners for Adam Jones and Chris Tillman, two centerpieces of the O’s success ‘12 – ‘16.
July ‘11 – Koji Uehara to Rangers for Chris Davis. Yes, Davis has been awful since his extension, but I think the O’s got more out of this than the two years Texas had Koji.
Nov. ‘13 – Devin Jones to Padres for Brad Brach – great set-up man for those stellar Zach Britton seasons.
I agree. Yanks will have no interest in him at the trade deadline.
Because why? The Yankees wouldn’t have interest in a MVP caliber player to replace a rookie for a season? Machado is a huge upgrade to andujar. Whether or not the orioles would take a deal is a different story.
Because the Yankees are getting MVP production from Gregorius, solid production from Andujar, and Torres needs to play everyday. On top of that, they need starting pitcher. Using their ammo to acquire a rental who plays a position that isn’t a need would be ridiculous.
Orioles probably want judge or severino included no way that happens
Torres too
They will ask for Torres and Sheffield, which I think the O’s would do in a heartbeat.
Your first comment was dumb enough. There was no need for a follow up.
Machado for Judge, Stanton, Torres, Severino and Sheff?
Machado for Judge, Stanton, Torres, Severino, Chapman and Sheff?
You’re right stansfield123….what dumb_ss comments regarding Judge, Severino and Torres!
Um Machado for Judge, Torres, and Severino is plenty fair. If the Yankees want Machado that badly then they can pay up.
They can ask all they want, but they won’t get Torres or Sheffield. Torres looks to be the real deal, and I doubt the Yankees would even trade him for a top SP at this point. Didi is cemented at SS, and Andujar is proving to be capable at 3B. With all of the firepower the team has that’s all they need at 3B.
As a Yankee fan, I hope Machado never becomes a Yankee. I’d rather see them land a top SP or even an outfielder (CF/LF) that can hit leadoff.
Torres was literally traded for a rental reliever within the past two years.
Preach. Dumb comment.
Judge, Torres and Severino for possibly a bit under a half season of Machado? Get real.
I like it!
The Cubs, desperate to win their first title in 108 years, and seeing 2016 as their best chance to do that, chose to fill their biggest hole by trading for arguably the best player at that position. In doing so, they gave up a top prospect who was blocked at the big league level by a 23-year old player who was on his way to a 95 RBI season.
In this instance, the Yankees, by no means desperate to win a championship, would be ignoring their biggest need (a starter) to acquire Machado despite the fact that they don’t have a need at the position.
And to do so, they’d be giving up their starting second baseman.
The situations of the team, both historically and specific to that season are different. The need of the player being acquired is different. And the value of the player being dealt is different.
That’s a foolish and disrespectful thing to say. The best player in baseball on a 3 month rental isn’t worth any team’s ace starter, especially when he’s a legitimate ace starter. If I were the O’s GM and the Yankees called with interest my initial ask would be for Sheffield and Andujar or Torres, just to gauge how the Yankees value acquiring Machado. While I would be thrilled to get that offer accepted, I doubt that it would and expect it to be a starting point for negotiations.
Last time I checked, Mike Trout wasn’t available, and his contract is longer than 3 months.
Neither is Mookie Betts
There is no possible way you would ever get both of them
As a Yankees fan I have to agree. I just don’t see a clear spot. Didi has established himself as a top tier SS and it doesn’t sound like manny wants to go back to third
I’m confident there will be a desperate team going after Machado even if it means they have to give up a top prospect/player. However, i think it is fair to rule out the Braves trading Albies and Acuna. The Braves might entertain trading Riley and Allard for example, however understandably so, the fans would hate that. Now, if the Braves were certain they will go all out to resign him, then I’m all for that.
Albies
Acuna
Freeman
Machado
Suzuki
Swanson
that just looks toooo good to be true!
Suzuki, really.
Yes really. The guy is a gamer and is very good hitter as well.
Suzuki has been great with ATL.
Nice top 4 everything else … meh
Yea right, a career platoon catcher with barely .300 OBP, 34 and is hitting way above his slash line.
Dont care what he did last year, or the year before. This year is what matters, this year.
Haha
The idea that they will re-sign Machado isn’t a reason to trade for him. They would still be able to sign him without trading for him and the prospects he would cost aren’t the type of thing you give up to MAYBE have a marginally better chance of signing him. Any team that trades for Machado is doing so with an eye on this season alone.
True but given how weak the NL has been so far, I think the Braves might just take that chance if it means a return to the postseason for the first time since 2013.
It’s possible but I honestly don’t know why so many people on here are talking about extending or re-signing Machado as if it’s the key to the deal or brings the acquiring team so much more value when in reality I’d be shocked if that’s the case. Whoever signs Machado is going to be paying the market rate so unless they are trying to win now, I don’t see the point in giving up prospects on top of that.
You are the perfect example of an extremely biased fan.
Me? Explain how I’m biased?
Your not just a guy that is trying to say the truth and honestly I think he would be wrong to acquire Machado. I don’t think he is right for club houses. My assessment of him when he looses cool when tagged
The Yankees? Why would the Yankees trade for a position player? Who would they replace? Their worst hitter right now is probably Stanton.
Please give me more of your invaluable insight you obviously seem to know more than the people actually involved with the team
Let’s play nice now please…..
He isnt wrong… lol
The Yankees’ shortstop just won AL player of the month and is still under 30.
The Yankees rookie 3B and 2B are proving themselves as valuable major leaguers, and are peforming at all-star levels right now, and look to have bright futures.
The Yankees outfield is set. Their DH is set.
The only real open position is 1B where Greg Bird seems to be injury prone.
I really don’t see the Yankees sacrificing one of their young star infielders (plus the pitching and outfield prospects it would take) to make room for a 3-month rental and 30M payroll addition moving forward, not when the guys they’d move will be making relative peanuts for the next 5 years at least.
The Yankees could decide they want to win now, but I don’t see them as an obvious fit, more of a dark horse candidate. But of course, it’s important to mention them as a suitor to drive traffic and discussion.
Really? 2B and 3B performing at all star levels? They are both playing well for rookies, but that’s quite the stretch.
Which people involved with the team? Cafardo is just blowing smoke and saying that he can’t imagine the Yankees wouldn’t be involved. He clearly didn’t get the memo that the Yankees don’t do business like that anymore. They won’t sell the farm for a two month rental, especially when their infield is so stacked.
why would the sox even consider Harvey for Swihart? Seems realllllly out there
Guess you don’t read much Halosfan8 ….Swihart is out of options and the Sox have got two players coming back off the DL…Little Petey and Holt.
They don’t have much choice but to get whatever they can for the guy…whether that’s sooner or later….pretty much a foregone conclusion that he’s currently trade bait!
Holt has one option left guys… and a don’t bat an eye cause trips to the DL are happening everyday… so don’t count Sweihart out yet!
But Harvey? Price already fills the high risk high upside diva pitcher role, they don’t need another.
Yes, Swihart is trade bait. But that’s not the point. The point is that Harvey isn’t trade bait, he’s a rung below trade bait. He has no trade value.
Only way Swilhart for harvey makes sense is if the Mets pick up a part of the remaining money. Even if Swilhart is DFA some bottom team would trade a little value for him.
Swihart isn’t going anywhere. Even if everyone is healthy, Lin and Holt can be optioned. They also, can DL Leon, Swihart or Vaz with any minor injury for 10 days. Remember in 2016 the Sox went to ST with Hannigan as the C. Vaz & Swihart both had options left. All three went on the DL. The Sox had to trade for Leon and Haladay to get though the yr. For Swihart’s development it is a shame he can get reps at AAA but no way are they trading one of these three with Dan Butler the top C ready at AAA.
The mets need a C. Swihart doesnt fit the bill. If the Sox think he can catch, then trade Leon to the Mets, and the Sox have a cheap backup that supposedly can pinch hit for Vasquez when needed.
I would do that trade you can never have enough pitching and where not getting much from price or prom
Only an Angel fan would be lost. Please stop, you makes the few Angel fans like myself look bad.
mitchell white, yadier Alvarez, yusniel Diaz, keibert Ruiz for Machado and Britton
No Ruiz is one of those guys who aren’t going to be touched. Especially for a half season acquisition. White/Alvarez sure I can see those guys being guys they are willing to move. But this team is hurting for way more than depleting a farm to fill two rentals, one of which no one has any clue of what he looks like off of an Achilles injury. People keep trying to connect Machado when the fact of the matter remains the off upgrade will probably be a corner guy as they still have issues in the rotation and the pen. If they’re fighting for a wild card still seems unrealistic to expect any acquisition that’d would be a rental and would deplete the farm. That rings even more true if Kersh’s injury is that of any major significance.
No way Dodgers do that without knowing if Britton can pitch effectively.
Absolutely no chance the Dodgers trade Ruiz especially for a rental
The orioles have their Catcher of the future so Ruiz holds a lot less value coming to Baltimore. That package would hypothetically be enough but it won’t happen. Yadier Alvarez has had his star dimmed quite a bit also.
Too heavy UNLESS the O’s eat most of the contract (which they can afford). The Riley/Allard deal seems fair……
I’ll eat my Braves shirt if they trade for Machado.
I’m not sure if that means you’d be happy with the trade or not!
We can eliminate the Blue Jays from contention for Machado. Jays won’t be willing to re-sign him for the money he’ll want. Jays also won’t trade Vlad.
With Tulo and Martin still on the books, Jays need to replace 3 starting pitchers as Happ, Estrada and Garcia are all free agents at season’s end. Machado wouldn’t figure in their plans.
Not being able to re-sign him doesn’t take the Jays out of the running. The acquiring team will be getting Manny for this season and nothing more. If the Jays want to win this year and have a need at SS or 3rd trading for Manny makes plenty of sense.
Ok redrooster, maybe I’ll be more direct; Jays are out of the running for Manny Machado because they are not in first or second place in their division, and to deal prospects for Manny Machado just for 1 wild card game on the road, IF they manage to hold 5th place, would be a waste of time.
The only reason to deal for Machado is to sign him to a long term deal. Jays are not prepared to do that. Therefore, the Jays are out of the running.
Signing Machado to a long-term deal is absolutely not a good reason to trade for him! You’re going to have to pay the market rate to sign him no matter what so why would you give up prospects on top of that?
Whoever trades for Machado is acquiring him for this year and anything that happens after that is a separate and irrelevant transaction.
Market price may not be as much as you expect. Machado wants to play SS. What big market team will need a SS? White Sox?
So then why trade for Machado in the first place if you are the Toronto Blue Jays? They aren’t catching Boston or New York. Not with that team and not with Machado in that lineup.
You continue to bring this notion that you don’t have to sign Machado for long term. Again, dealing prospects for a rental of a 25-26 year old stud is fine if you are a first place team. For a bubble team like Toronto, it would be a special kind of stupid to waste a trade for a rental, give up future pieces (potentially) only to fall short of the postseason. Doing the deal for 1 wild card game would also be a waste.
And for the White Sox it makes more sense to wait until he’s a free agent and make a play for him there. The prospects he would cost in a trade are easily worth more than MAYBE having a marginally better chance of signing him
@Trim Reaper if they don’t think they can win it this year then yeah it would be stupid for them to make that trade. But it doesn’t sound like the Blue Jays front office has given up on this season just yet. If they are still in the hunt at the deadline I could see it happening.
The notion about not signing him long-term is because the only surplus value a team that trades for Machado will get is having him on their team for 2018. An extension wouldn’t cost much (if any) less than signing him in free agency.
Not the way the Jays starting pitching has been. The bullpen is overworked and pitching out of their minds to keep this very mediocre ballclub in the mix. Jays are pure smoke and mirrors right now.
Pretty sure Jays have a team option on Garcia.
Pretty sure Garcia sucks.
Machado n the Evil Empire have been blowing kisses to each other this season so I have no doubt he’ll end up in the Bronx.
Is getting Chris Davis involved in the Machado trade a possibility at all?
Not likely. I don’t see any team taking on that contract just to get half a year of Machado. He’s valuable, but not anywhere near that valuable IMO.
No player is worth 100 million dollars, even for one season. Davis’ deal will be staying on the books indefinitely. We need to worry about maximizing our trade value for manny. The return we get for him can shave off significant time on the rebuild.
The Redsox need starting pitching this n next yr, n a few candidates from what I’ve seen.
O’s seem content to let him play meaningless baseball on a losing team for the year and get a little draft pick in return at the end of the season.
That’s how you build a winning franchise, for sure.
Glad I’m not an O’s fan. Feel bad for them, honestly, having to watch/support such a mismanaged ballclub.
They should have traded him a while ago, but yea, sure, hindsight 20/20 and all that…but it’s not too late to pull the trigger and get him outta town by the end of the week. NOW. so it’s not just a 2-month rental and a team would be willing to part with top talent to have him for the rest of the season (AZ? STL? ATL?)
Gotta agree with you, watching the O’s dysfunctional front office move at a slug’s pace is maddening and the feeling that they’ll just let him walk for a pick is sickening. I don’t blame Duquette, however. It’s the chain of command that Angelos has in place. Dan’s hands have been tied and from what I’ve been reading, Brady Anderson carries more weight than anyone. .Between him and Buck misjudging talent (their push to re-sign Davis, extend O’Day and sign Tillman this year). Too many one dimensional hitters. They finally get some pitching (Cashner will be better and Cobb was terrific today – Gausman had 9 shutout innings Saturday) and they can’t score enough to win. I’d start the rebuild today if it were me.
Shouldn’t be any hate for O’day. He is still an above average reliever in a market where relievers get paid. That’s entirely hindsight to be upset about that. He had been nothing but great in Baltimore before signing his deal.
O’Day missed half of ‘16 due to injuries and wasn’t himself in ‘17 and doesn’t seem to have the mojo back this year either. I’m all about the love for him when he was healthy. His ERA jumped two whole points (was 1.52 in 2015) in ‘16 and hasn’t come down since.
And 3 years to a reliever who was already 32 seemed too much. I loved the guy, but I think sentimentality factored into that 3 year extension.
If Machado is traded I think the team most likely to land him will be PHI. That front office truly believes they are a playoff contender, and adding Machado may be enough to make the rest of us believers. Unfortunately I think the most likely scenario is that they keep Machado for the rest of the season. That, of course, makes zero sense, but Angelos has never been sensible in any respect. If I was BAL I’d trade him now because you’ll get more back than you would in July PLUS he’s healthy and surging. Wait and Machado could get injured.
Love the comment about Stan Kasten. It feels like one of those “I know it seems like that’s what I am doing, and it IS what I’m doing, buuut I never SAID that’s what I’m doing.” comments. Come on man, how dumb do you take us for? Doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what you’re doing man. Especially grabbing Espinosa on a “minor league” deal.
No way the Yankees are in it
I’m beginning to think Cafardo put the Yankees and Blue Jays in his article to entice the Red Sox into being somewhat interested in Machado by leveraging the rival AL East teams. If Boston were to entertain the idea, and then attempt to re-sign Machado, they have Hanley, Kimbrel and Pomeranz coming off the books. They’d still blow past the luxury tax next year.
Can’t say that without certainly except I doubt the Blue Jays have the desire to get Machado.
The Yankees have an influx of hitting. If machado can pitch then I say yea. Yankees need nobody right now. A bunch of kids having fun.
As a Dodger fan I do not want to see us go get Machado.. we’ve done a great job the past few years of holding on to our top prospects and it paid off with a trip(and very near victory) to the World Series.. if we were to looks for a replacement at short for Seager I would look somewhere like Texas with Andrus who is signed to a long term deal and looks the part of a SS who could make the transition to 2B when Seager returns