The Baltimore Orioles have not had a season that they are proud of or even one that they would like to remember. They have the worst record in baseball and are in the last place in the American League East Division. The Orioles have the lowest team batting average in the American League and have scored the second least amount of Runs in the American League.
To say it has been a bad year, would be an understatement. To make matters worse, they are about to begin trading off their top players in an attempt to rebuild for the future. One of those players that will be traded before the trade deadline is Manny Machado. Machado is having a career year and leading the Orioles in nearly every offensive categories tracked by MLB.
Machado is hitting for power, as well as a very good average, and has taken the focus off such a terrible year and put the attention on his back, as he heads of out Baltimore. Machado is hitting .308, with 21 home runs and 59 RBI’s. Machado has come up through the Baltimore minor league system and become one of the biggest fan favorites in Baltimore. Machado is just 25 years old and is putting together one of the best seasons of his career.
Baltimore fans were shocked when they found out before the start of the regular season that Orioles owner Peter Angelos stated that he would not resign Machado in the upcoming season and would attempt to trade him before the trade deadline.
Machado has had a lot of interest, as he will bring to the table one of the best bats in the American League and a very good defensive game at Shortstop. Machado wants to go to a team where he can play Shortstop, and not revert to playing Third Base as he has over the past few years in Baltimore.
There are several teams that have expressed their interest in trading for Machado, but the Orioles are going to want to restock their roster with talented prospects and may want too much for the All-Star Shortstop. Whichever team ends up signing him, is going in knowing that they will only have Machado for a short period as he will become an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of the season.
What Machado can do in the short term, is help a playoff-caliber team get to the World Series. Machado would pick up the slack in any lineup, hitting between the 3 and five-hole and hitting for both power and average.
The four teams that are expected to make the biggest push for Machado heading into the trade deadline are the Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals. Of each of those teams, the Diamondbacks would have the most to offer the Orioles in means of prospects, as they have one of the top minor league systems in baseball.
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