Joy R. Absalon-USA TODAY Sports
Manny Machado, one of the best overall third basemen in the game, is due to be a free agent after the 2018 season. The Orioles have a lot of players coming off the books at the same time, including Adam Jones, Chris Tillman, Zach Britton, and J.J. Hardy.
They would want Machado to stick around, but if they can’t sign him to an extension this offseason, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe writes they might look to trade him.
The 25 year-old has already been elected to three All Star Games, won two Gold Glove awards, and has finished in the top-10 of MVP voting three times – and the top-five twice. He is in the midst of his third consecutive outstanding season, hitting .273/.328/.507 with 32 home runs, 91 RBIs and has stolen nine bases while playing best-of-the-best third base.
He started this season in a prolonged slump, as through July 6th he was hitting .215/.283/.418 with 16 home runs and 41 RBIs in 80 games. On July 7th he went 4-for-5 with two home runs and since then he has hit .354/.391/.633 with 16 home runs and 50 RBIs in only 54 games.
He made $11.5 million this season and has one more year of arbitration before becoming a free agent after the 2018 season.
If the Orioles can’t extend him and choose to trade him, Cafardo writes that the Mets, Phillies, Braves, Giants and Angels would be the most interested teams, with the Marlins and Yankees on the periphery.
It’s hard to imagine that the Mets have enough pieces to trade for him, even if they did decide to ante up. There is no doubt, however, that there are few third basemen in the game better than Machado, especially defensively. Whatever team he ends up on will have an elite third basemen on their payroll.
