The number of rumors surrounding Manny Machado seems to increase by the day, with the Yankees now not only joining a previously reported field of seven teams, but moving toward the forefront of the teams most prominently linked to Machado. The Dodgers, Brewers, Phillies, Diamondbacks, Braves, Indians, Cubs and Red Sox have all been at the very least linked to Machado — though Boston’s interest has been heavily downplayed, and the same is largely true of the Cubs. We’ll track today’s Machado chatter here until more significant developments arise…
- The Dodgers, Brewers and Yankees have “separated themselves from the pack” with their current offers to the Orioles, tweets USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, though he notes that there’s no clear favorite among those three just yet. That’s largely a continuation, then, of previous rumblings surrounding Machado. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported this weekend that the Dodgers and Brewers were the two most aggressive clubs in pursuit, and Fancred’s Jon Heyman reported last night that the Yankees had emerged with a “strong” offer — though Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com added the important context that New York had yet to offer up pitching prospect Justus Sheffield.
- Not only has Sheffield not been included in an offer to date, he’s been effectively made off limits entirely, per Jim Bowden of The Athletic and MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (Twitter link). The Orioles, Bowden hears, “have been told [Sheffield] will not be included in any potential deal” for Machado. Milwaukee, Los Angeles and Philadelphia all remain in the mix for Machado, he adds, noting that offers are continually improving.
- Meanwhile, Heyman writes in his latest notes column that the D-backs are definitely interested in Machado, but there’s a belief that they may ultimately end up prioritizing pitching upgrades. Unlike the top three teams linked to Machado, the Diamondbacks have a fairly thin farm system, so perhaps there’s some concern that there’ll be difficulty in adding both Machado and a meaningful upgrade to the pitching staff — though that’s just my own speculation.
- Buster Olney and Keith Law of ESPN talk extensively about the Machado rumor mill on today’s Baseball Tonight podcast (audio link, with Machado talk beginning around 15:20). Both suggest Sheffield to be too steep a price to pay, with Law stating that he’d be “floored” to see Sheffield moved in nearly any trade — let alone for a rental — given his proximity to the Majors and the potential to develop into a viable No. 2 starter. Olney questions how strongly the Yankees are pursuing Machado, noting that it only helps the Orioles for those rumors to circulate and put pressure on other clubs. Ultimately, both feel it to be likelier that Machado lands with an NL club — with both the Dodgers and Brewers standing out as plausible destinations.
don’t listen to anything jim bowden says
I doubt the Yankees would be willing to part with Sheffield for Machado, but I completely agree. I’ve seen a lot of jokes about various sources being unreliable (Mary Kay Cabot with the Browns, for instance)…but Jim Bowden is in a class of his own. Sometimes I think he just makes stuff up.
no i definitely agree that they wouldn’t give up sheffield but bowden is so consistently horrible in his reports lol. like there’s nothing to joke about. he’s just that bad lol
It’s only July 12 and we’re already up to 2 Manny updates a day – stating the same things as we’ve read daily for 2 weeks.
What’s the over/under on 4 updates a day by July 31? 5?
He is going to be traded the day after the all-star game.. So, there won’t be a spread at all.
Why not? Who was the last “can’t miss” Yankees prospect that didn’t in fact turn out to be a mediocre major leaguer at best?
I know you’re just trying to troll but Judge and Severino are both home grown Yankee prospects and will probably finish top 5 in MVP and CYA. Hardly mediocre major leaguers.
Hey, don’t you dare talk about Rob Refsnyder like that!
Hahaha this is the truest comment I’ve read on here ever
He is terrible. Makes up the most outlandish trades and never comes close to ‘calling it’ correctly.
Or Keith Law. At least Bowden had some success as an executive in his early years. Can’t say the same about Law.
“At least Bowden had some success as an executive in his early years. Can’t say the same about Law.”
And? What’s the correlation between success as an executive and accuracy in reporting? Your assumptions are:
1) success as an executive makes someone a better reporter and,
2) lack of success as an executive makes someone a less reliable reporter.
Care to defend either/both of those statements or just let them wither in the wind?
Hi Keith
Who cares?
Why do you have to come in and harp on this? There’s so many other comments to drill on I don’t know why you’d pick this one. What does his success as an exec have to do with anything? Probably nothing but he’s just talking about him having a little bit of success in his career overall. And That’s fine. No need to quote and fire back condescendly. Relax buddy.
@majorflaw
Lighten up. TrimReaper never said any of what you allege. Relax.
The thought was the Keith Law and Bowden have been useless, but at least there was a point in time where Bowden wasn’t useless.
Then there’s no need to comment on his comment.
I’d agree but it’s a pretty common occurrence for this guy.
Wait, you mean trolling people on Twitter isn’t a useful activity? And I say this because we all know no one pays for ESPN Insider anymore.
Soooooooo, nothing new.
Just Funnin’.
So if there’s not much separating them wouldn’t that give the Brewers/Dodgers a slight edge over the Yankees? Just because it’d be sending within the division for at least the rest of this year and possibly years to come.
If the Orioles don’t believe the Yankees will resign Machado then it’s actually more beneficial to trade him to the Yankees because it’s taking prospects out of the Yankees farm system.
And even if they do believe the Yankees will sign him it’s beneficial because they are getting prospects from the Yankees for Machado as opposed to the Yankees signing him away from them for no return.
Manny is the new LeBron
Except Manny is not on steroids.
You must be a Cavs fan..SMH
+cereal
Hey cereal i know this is off topic but have you seen the way Greg Bird has been hitting? What did i tell ya 🙂
Yea he’s looked good the last week.
He probably bought a lebron Jersey burned it when he went to Miami bought it again when adam silver fixed the finals. Burned it again when he left for LA. He’s just one of 50k fans that did that though.
I am not a big LeBron fan but no way he is on steroids
Steroids, no. Other PEDs, quite possibly. If he generated a positive test, the NBA would lose that sample in a heartbeat.
Other PEDS? Is he doping? Hanging out w Lance Armstrong?
But Lebron is?
If the rumors are right I really hope the Brewers stand pat with only offering Phillips and Ortiz as the only high prospects they are offering in the trade I mean yeah add Broxton
I’m pretty sure I’ve heard Brewers have offered Arcia, Broxton, and Burnes
I thought that is what the Orioles want for the deal so far
Depends on the source. Most say the Brewers don’t want to include Burnes. Phillips is the one name most commonly mentioned.
Corbin Burnes was called up by the Brewers. That’s a signal that he’s not available in a trade.
unless they are showcasing him for other teams
Caseyspartner is Jim Bowden’s burner account
scottstots Absolutely.
If the Brewers offered that for Machado the Orioles would have accepted on the spot
The only person that said that was uncreditable Jim Bowden, defunt GM. Could be the new title to an Ace Ventura movie?
*defunct
They’re gonna need a lot more that that. Arcia should be replaced with who ever their #1 SS Prospect and add agular.
Lol. That’s not happening. And the Orioles are way more desperate than you seem to realize.
Cubs fan hoping Brewers get rid of all their players so they stand a chance at the division
Cubs are winning the NL central. Brewers finish third maybe 4th. They dont have the players to rental for Machado or a TOR pitcher.
If you’re going to try to troll… at least be realistic
How am I trolling. Brewers are gonna fail and choke like they do every year. They aren’t nearly as good as people say. Come troll me when they sell out Miller park without the Cubs filling 95% of the seats.
It’s never gonna happen so dont waste your time.
If the Brewers don’t have the prospects for a rental then the Cubs don’t have the guys to add a AAA LOOGY.
This just in Brewers release sogard to make room for machado…
Orioles would do well if they could get Sixto Sánchez and JP Crawford out of the Phillies for Machado.
And you have just fired every person in the Phillies front office
Well I was never a fan of Klentak or MacPhail anyway, but Andy Mac did know how to shakedown the other team on trades, so maybe it’s his turn to get shaken down
Andy McPhail is straight garbage. So was Jim Hendry for the Cubs. Hendry has been out of baseball since he was fired by the Cubs. I’m shocked mcphail found a job.
Hendry is an assistant to Cashman for the Yankees.
He still has no say in anything Brian Cashman does. He’s probably the assistant to get his errand boy.
LOL, well he is doing a good job now
Yes. He’s great at getting Starbucks for Cashman. I’d love to get 500k a year to do that. Even in a garbage city like New York.
No one has offered as much as J.P. Crawford alone.
Well the O’s need a replacement shortstop
No they don’t, they’re gonna be awful next year. Whoever plays AAA or AA SS can start for them next year or Alcides Escobar will likely be available if you’re trying to lose like the orioles should be next year
Nailed it
Both? How about neither for two months of Machado.
I will throw in Showalter.
Showalter has done more with less talented players in baseballs toughest division. He was the reason they even made the playoffs to begin with anyway. Get over the fact he manages like every other manager has pre 2015.
Gimme a break
Sixto will not be moved for a rental. He’s better than Sheffield, who is off limits
Maybe throw in Britton and Gausman who is under control for a bit
Britton might stay too if he does well
Orioles and Phillies need to get something done
Maybe no Sixto, but I would like Crawford and someone else and then go from there.
More of the same. I’m tired of these salesmen disguised as journalists who nourish their pockets at the expense of us, the ones with foolish heart, in free agency and in July.
“Olney questions how strongly the Yankees are pursuing Machado, noting that it only helps the Orioles for those rumors to circulate”
T H I S
No one is offering an elite prospect for two months of any player. The stupidity of the Cubs dealing Gleyber Torres sent a bolt of lightning through MLB front offices.
No shockwaves Cubbies won the whole thing and it had been since when? If you’re on the cusp you make the deal, why wait? Don’t mortgage the entire farm but if you can win you go for it IMO
Yet the Cubs not only won the WS but knocked on the door last year and poised to do the same this year and beyond. I think it’s clear the deal was just fine for them. But after 108 of easy comedy, the fools need new material.
The Cubs interest in Machado cooled off when Russell started hitting and their focus became more about adding pitching.
That “stupidity” won them a World Series, numpty.
Cubs won World Series. Yankees can miss the playoffs and hold on to there top prospects. Then in a decade they will start talking about how they have a 20 year World Series drought.
The Yankees have the money to buy a World Series yet they have become cheap and don’t care about winning anymore.
I don’t understand Dodgers’ willingness to focus on Machado, a high – priced rental when it’s their pen that needs help for them to be a legit WS contender?
We’d like to think they are capable of chewing gum and walking at the same time.
I think at this point LAD will do anything to not choke again in playoffs
You mean “Pull a Nats”?
If u can get a player of Machado’s caliber cheap, (Lux, May) the Dodgers should NO DOUBTpull the trigger….plus, I think Urias will b a huge factor out of the pen down the stretch
Yawn.
At what point do all these times realize they are raising the price on each other? All depends on what team backs down last. Out of all the teams listed, I wouldn’t mind seeing him as a Philly.
Yankees are Driving up the price. Just good old fashion bluff. He probably will get hurt and they will get nothing. The O’s are the baseball version of the Cleveland Browns.
Think it’s more likely the Orioles trying to drive up the price by making like the Yankees are in play
It doesn’t benefit the Yankees to drive up the price for a rival team’s player.
Lol why are the brewers interested at all. They couldn’t take a whiff of him. They dont have anything of value except maybe keon Braxton. Brett Phillips is no longer a prospect. Or at least a top one.
Lol. Brewers have lots of assets and the one teams probably shouldn’t want is Broxton and his golden sombrero. You just think he’s great because he’s made a couple highlight reel catches to save home runs.
I could give two s***$ about him the Cubs have 4 outfielders better than him.
This guy mustn’t realize that the Brewers have one of the leagues top farms
top 12-15? I don’t think their farm is near the elite after disposing of guys for Yelich. None of those guys look particularly strong at the moment but I don’t think they’re back up near the top after that. They certainly have pieces for any rental and could probably go out and get a top controllable player but that would gut it pretty good.
This is starting to remind me of the Giancarlo Stanton rumors over the winter
I thought it was funny the Yankees gave up nothing for Stanton. Basically castro and cash. Castro is good but he’s reached his peak. He wont be any better than he is now.
New fans like yourself don’t realize nobody in baseball wants to take on 300 mil committments even if the player is coming off a mvp season. Certainly not when he’s got a no trade and can say where he wants to go. But you’re a new fan so I’ll give you a break
Been a Cubs fan for 33+ years. Far from new. They could’ve got at least a few prospects too. Not just castro who is likely on the move again anyway. Castro would do good in Cleveland. Kipmis is probably gonna leave soon. Maybe the Dodgers he can play short. Then move to 2nd. When seager comes back. He’s a decent upgrade for forthye.
Gave up nothing except a top 100 prospect talent in guzman who could wind up being an elite closer with his stuff at worst.
And their caproom- especially when he opts in.
“Elite closer… at worst”
No, I think at worst he could bust like all other prospects.
Actually imo this trade the Machado trade needs to be like the Stanton trade in a way. Let Manny say where he’d like to play next season and if it lines up with one of the teams pursuing him this season as well as the off-season then presto! Built in incentive to over pay Baltimore to help along a smoother off-season long term contract negotiation. Everybody wins.
Hahaha no. If some team Manny doesn’t want to play for offers the best return, that’s where he’s getting traded. And no team is going to offer more for Manny because they know he wants to play there because it also means they’ll have an easy time signing him in the offseason if they don’t trade for him.
Nothing of value? I think your brains are bryzzoed. Typical cubs fan
Think about the snacks acquiring Machado using a braves pitching prospect where Steve Souza goes to Georgia
Wut?
Snakes?
On a plane?
The O’s will find a way to muck this up like most of their moves.
I hope the moron Cheesehead Brewers give up the entire farm. There’s about a .01% chance he resigns with them, anyway, and once the Cubs bolster their pitching (at the deadline) they sure as h e l l aren’t going to take the division from the Cubs. Pitching and defense are all that matter in the playoffs. They can have Machado for a few months.
Yeah. Runs are *totally* overrated.
No progress and nothing new here
Whoever gets Manny, the odds of winning the WS goes Up dramatically. It’s not just about putting your own team over the hump but preventing another team that might beat you if they acquire him in a trade
I would argue otherwise. Here is one way to break down his potential impact: espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23973268/we-traded-manny-m…
Are the orioles moving Gausman and Bundy too? Just think of the returns they could get for those two….
Machado, Gausman, Bundy trades done right vault them to the #1 Farm system and make them contenders in less than 5 years
I don’t thinj anyone is untouchable but those two probably don’t get traded unless they get an overwhelming offer
Even if the Orioles did trade all 3, there is no way the return would vault their farm system to #1.
Returns for Gausman, Bundy and the rental version of Machado aren’t going to make ANY team have the #1 farm system unless they already were close, which the Orioles aren’t.
I feel bad for any pitching prospect that gets traded to Baltimore in whatever Machado deal happens. His career takes a giant hit in that system. They just find a way to spoil pitching talent there in recent years.
What an AB by Mookie Betts! 13 pitch!
He made it “Happ”en against Happ.
Machados away stats are troubling .278 7 hrs. Significant fall off from home stats. Same thing with Day games, wouldn’t do the cubs much good. The team who trades for machado would be getting an away player for a month or so.
I miss the old t-shirt sales outside of comiskey
Somewhere, I’m sure someone kept stats on that too.
I’d be interested to know the percentage of top 100 pitching prospects that are successful at the mlb level for more than 3 years. Pitching is always so in demand, so many get hurt or can’t adjust when they get to the show. From a Braves fans perspective, last year Gohara and Soroka looked great, this year not so much. There’s certainly extenuating circumstances for Gohara especially but I think if I had a shot to win it all, I’d go for it. I remember watching Avery flame out. I also remember the impact Mcgriff had down the stretch.
Soroka looked pretty good
He did, but he’s hurt now. Kinda my point. Injury or ineffectiveness seems to doom a lot of good young pitchers.
“Law stating that he’d be “floored” to see Sheffield moved in nearly any trade”
I think a Sheffield package for DeGrom could make A LOT of sense here.
Yankees get 2.5 year of an ace. Mets get a gut to slot in behind Thor when they are decent again.
The package starts with Torres + Sheffield and then add another 2-3 pieces. deGrom has a 6 WAR before the all-star break. He is leading (or top 3 at worst…Scherzer & Nola) the NL CY Young race and has already proven he can pitch tough even on an off day. He matches up incredibly close to Kershaw over the first 100 or so games (I forget the exact numbers, they were on MLB Network a couple weeks back). He is a generational talent playing for the worst owners in professional sports.
DeGrom isn’t a “generational talent”(mostly due to late debut). He is a top 5 starter, but he is also 30 years old and has injury issues in his past.
Our best comp is the Chris Sale trade, but he is better, a year younger, and came with 1/2 years of more team control.
Sale fetched a raw #1 prospect and a #25. Andujar and Sheffield on the very high end.is the max return. I think a realistic return is Sheffield, Estevan Floriel,Dillion Tate and Billy McKinney make the most sense. Sheffield and McKinney can contribute right away. Tate could be a solid bullpen arm next year and Floriel has the tools you dream on.
Yankees get better without hurting their current roster. Mets don’t get much worse in the short term, but gain young players they need.
A tweeted stat from the beginning of May..”.deGrom has now allowed 1 run or fewer in 50 of his 114 #MLB starts.
Since 1908- most starts allowing 1/less in first 114 games:
deGrom 50
Kershaw/Gooden 48
Strasburg 46″
All of those guys have been talked about as generational talents and Jake leads them.
In his last 15 games (end of April..close enough to May date of the above tweeted stat) he’s been even better:
98.1 innings of 1.28ERA, 0.95WHIP 119k, 24BB.
Tweet: mobile.twitter.com/ehornick/status/991836301698719…
As for age, he has waaaay less mileage on his arm than a typical 30yo pitcher. He didn’t start pitching until partway through college. He is far less of an injury risk than most pitchers. Look at the Yankees….who is healthier….Tanaka? CC? Gray…and his stellar stats? I’ll take the guy who started pitching towards he end of college.
That package you proposed isn’t equivalent to kopech and Moncada. It’ll take more than Sheffield and florial.
DeGrom is great but didn’t make his 114th start until he was 30. Gooden was 22, Kershaw was 23 and even Strasburg, who everyone beats on as overrated and injury prone, was 26. Two and half years of DeGrom is valuable and will demand a lot in return. However I value him less than Sale a couple of years ago and think most GMs would as well.
What most GMs value when it comes to deGrom would be a really interesting discussion. Likely it’s not something they’d go on record about, but it’d be fun to see what they would say behind closed doors.
That suggested deal isn’t remotely close to the Chris Sale deal. Andujar and Sheffield would be the closest you’ll even get to it, but realistically, it’d be Torres and Sheffield.
Torres would be the undisputed best “prospect” (he’s technically not one any more) in baseball and Sheffield would be an add-on.
The Yankees obviously won’t make that deal, and I think that if they settle for Andujar instead, the Yankees would have to add more pieces to accommodate.
Can’t imagine Gleyber Torres is available for anybody short of Mike Trout. That isn’y hyperbole.
I’ll be happy when this Machado distraction is over. Just watched the O’s going through the motions against the Phillies. No enthusiasm whatsoever. It’s a terrible disservice to baseball when teams competing for division championships have wins handed to them on a silver platter. Why is Bucky still managing this team and why haven’t they fired their pitching and hitting coaches? Pitiful performance.
I personally like Buck I blame the front office for this. They put these guys on the trading block in the offseason everyone knows they can’t compete in any division much less with the Yanks and Red Sox in the east right now. Then they pull back and say we are going to try to compete this year but they don’t fix any of their glaring holes. I’m not an Orioles fan necessarily but they’re a team I like. Dan Duquette needs to go. In today’s game you are either winning, rebuilding, or developing after a rebuild. They have stood pat losing and you’re seeing trade assets regress losing value and you’ve seen some injured. Maybe he gets more for Machado than they would have in the offseason but he’s missed the mark on a few guys that shouldn’t have been in an Orioles uniform this year. The O’s had some valuable assets to make this a quicker type rebuild but unfortunately they’ve made it more difficult than it ever should have been. These players aren’t oblivious to what’s going on it’s going to affect the whole team.
I don’t know if anyone agrees with me on this, but if the Yankees get ANYTHING but pitching I think it is a very dumb move!
last two years it was that individual who was picked up at the trade deadline that made the biggest impact on their teams. Last year Verlander, the year before Chapman. Machado could very well be in that same line. If the Dodgers get him, they are very complete team and that would probably put them over the top.
comments by team execs in this situation are so hilarious. nothing but lies, feints, obfuscation, and misdirects. must be fun to be the spin-meisters…
If I’m Cashman I go get a front line starter and I part with high end prospects to get it done. I’m no Yankees fan but that lineup is insanely good. I love how Cashman fought the old Yankee way and built a strong mlb team while rebuilding the farm with what was a very old roster not long ago. But it’s time to pull from the farm and give this team a great chance to win it all. If they run that stacked lineup out there without adding a starter I think it’ll be a shame to waste that kind of opportunity. Hard to give up prospects that could be potential superstars but for someone like Degrom who’s can’t miss(outside of injury) and increases your World Series hopes but a good margin this year and his next years of control you do it. Plus your the Yankees you can offer him an extension to keep him in pinstripes. Number ones like Degrom can win series for you. This team is really close I say go get an ace.
Giving up prospects for Machado just doesn’t seem smart here for the Yanks. Get a starter. I hear people saying the starter market is thin so Cashman is trying to add to the lineup and defense but a dominant pitcher is going to bring home a World Series.
Sheffield better be the next sandy Kofax because if you let the best all around hitter in the game slip to Boston over a prospect that may not amount to anything!!!