Well for a little while the ridiculous Manny Machado trade talk had stopped, but sadly at the end of this week it’s returned.
First off let me remind everyone that the Baltimore Orioles; the team Machado currently plays for haven’t even said they would be interested in trading him. All the trade speculation comes from the fact that Machado is in the final year of his contract and it’s believed that he won’t resign with Baltimore. Now the Orioles normally don’t trade a player of Machado’s status even f they where to lose him this off season as a free agent this off season. I’m sure Baltimore would make Machado a qualifying offer; so they would receive a draft pick if he signed with another team as a free agent in the off season, but since it’s believed that the Orioles would be better off trading him everyone keeps bringing up trade talk.
This time there are some new teams added into the Machado trade mix. For the first time since Machado’s name has came up as a possible trade candidate the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees have been mentioned as teams that could be interested in acquiring him. While Machado would be an upgrade for both teams at the shortstop position neither team has a pressing need for him, but since people won’t stop talking about this; let’s take a look at it.
Xander Bogaerts is the Red Sox shortstop and you would think that he would be involved in any deal that would bring Machado to Boston. Bogaerts is hitting .280 this season with 11 home runs and 39 RBI’s. Bogaerts is a solid defender as he’s made just 4 errors this season and has a fielding percentage of .983 this season. Bogaerts is 25 years old and won’t reach free agency until after next season. Bogaerts is making $7.05 million dollars through arbitration this season.
Now I doubt we’d see a straight up trade of Machado for Bogaerts, but the Red Sox have one of the better rated minor league systems in baseball; so who might have to be added to this deal to make it happen?
3rd baseman Michael Chavis is the Red Sox top rated prospect and he is currently serving an 80 game suspension for testing positive for a performance enhancing drug. Because of the suspension Chavis hasn’t played yet this season. Chavis is 22 years old and is currently blocked by Rafael Devers at 3rd base. Would the Red Sox package him as part of a Machado deal?
The Red Sox also have three top rated pitchers in Jay Groome, Tanner Houck and Bryan Mata. Is it possible the Red Sox would add one of these pitchers to a Machado deal? Now Groome is 19 years old and will miss the entire season do to Tommy John surgery. Houck is 21 years old and is 3-7 with a 5.50 ERA in 12 starts for the Class-A Salem Red Sox. Mata is also pitching for Salem where he is 3-2 with a 3.50 ERA in 11 starts.
The Yankees also have an established shortstop in Did Gregorius and you’d have to think he’d be going to Baltimore in a Machado trade. Gregorius’ batting average is a little down this season at .254, but the power is there with 14 home runs and 39 RBI’s. Gregorius is 28 years old and is making $8.25 million dollars this season through arbitration. He doesn’t reach free agency until after next season.
The Yankees also have a well rated minor league system; so would they add one of their top prospects along with Gregorius to bring Machado to New York?
20 year old outfielder Estevan Flores is the Yankees #1 prospect right now. Flores is hitting .246 in 36 games for the Class-A Tampa Yankees.
Just like the Red Sox the Yankees next three best rated prospects are pitchers Justus Sheffield, Albert Abreu and Chance Adams. Sheffield is just 22 years old and is currently in Tripe-A after making 5 starts in Double. On the season he is 2-4 with an ERA of 2.67 over 12 starts. Abreu is 22 years old and is 2-2 with an ERA of 4.10 over 8 starts for Class-A Tampa. Adams is 23 years old and has made 13 starts in Triple-A; he is 2-2 with a 4.96 ERA.
Did you see anything there that has you thinking Machado may be joining the Red Sox or the Yankees?
Now there where also a couple of teams that we talked about before that are still interested in acquiring Machado in a trade.
The Chicago Cubs are said to be “serious” in their attempts to get a deal done for Machado. The Philadelphia Phillies where also mentioned as being interested in Machado. Now humorously the Phillies did admit they where interested in Machado, but that interest is this off season when he’s a free agent.
Sadly I’m going to have to learn to deal with the Machado trade talk since it’s going to continue until he’s actually traded. I’m sure that more and more teams names will come up as being associated with trading for Machado as he could fit with just bout any contender. I just wish there was a little bit more sustainability to the trade reports instead of just the “sources” that are saying this.
Speaking of those sources they reported yesterday that Kawhi Leonard no longer wants to play with the San Antonio Spurs. The reports have now increased to multiple outlets; so this story has really gotten some legs. Now oddly after all of these stories came out there was another report that Leonard has not yet expressed anything directly to the Spurs and that San Antonio won’t rush Leonard for a decision. Is everyone else out there as confused as I am? I think I got this straight now. I wants out of San Antonio, but he hasn’t mentioned anything to the Spurs as of yet. Does that sound right?
Apparently Leonard would like to play in Los Angeles with the Lakers being his first choice, but the Clippers would also be acceptable. While not in Los Angeles the Sacramento Kings expressed interest almost as soon as Leonard’s name came up. The Kings own the 2nd pick in the upcoming draft.
Leonard miss almost all of last season with an injury which caused some conflict between Leonard’s camo and the Spurs. If these reports are true you have to think this is the main reason Leonard wants out of San Antonio. When healthy Leonard is considered a Top 5 player in the NBA an one of if not the leagues top defender.
Will have to see an eye on this story and see where it goes.
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