Manny Machado Trade Rumors Heat Up Again
Manny Machado to the Cleveland Indians has been talked about before. It was reported in January that the Baltimore Orioles and the Cleveland Indians discussed a trade involving Machado in December, but the teams were not “actively discussing” it anymore. Dan Clark tweeted today that the teams spoke again this week.
The #Orioles and #Indians spoke this past week about a potential trade for Manny Machado.
— DAN CLARK (@DanClarkSports) February 7, 2018
There is no knowing the extent of the talks. It could just be Dan Duquette calling up the Indians and asking them if they still want Manny for all we know.
I like to think Dan saw my post from Tuesday about signing Mike Moustakas and trading Machado, and realized how great of an idea it is.
The Orioles could get some quality pitching from the Indians, and the Orioles have said they will not trade Machado without getting some starters they can have control over. They could also probably land Jason Kipnis. Machado would make Kipnis expendable in Cleveland, and Kipnis would be an improvement on Ryan Flaherty who just signed with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Kipnis would also be under contract until after the 2019 season with a team option in 2020. Kipnis is a serviceable left handed hitting utility player, and he would give the team an option at second base if they decide start a full rebuild and trade Jonathan Schoop.
There is one part of this trade that does not line up however. Machado would not play short in Cleveland. The Indians have Francisco Lindor at short, and not even Machado would be able to move Lindor from short.
The Indians are already projected to be the second best team in the American League behind the Astros. Manny Machado could be the player to push the Indians past the Astros and get the Tribe to the World Series.
