Predicting the 2018 Trade Deadline: Manny Machado

The Baltimore Orioles are not going anywhere here in 2018 and the team will undoubtedly be sellers before the July 31^st trade deadline. The team will move veteran and expensive pieces as well as expiring contracts like the contracts of Zach Britton and Manny Machado. While we will undoubtedly talk about Britton before the end of the trade deadline, today is not his day. Today we will take advantage of the Yankees off-day and talk about the destination that Manny Machado is destined to visit before the deadline. Here’s a hint, the Yankees just beat up on them inside Citizens Bank Park this week.

The Philadelphia Phillies owner John S. Middleton has been very aggressive over the last calendar year and has vowed to continue being aggressive if the team is ready to compete here in 2018. The Phillies have plenty of money to spend, a young core to build around, and a good farm system to go out and get the players they feel they need to in order to bridge the gap. Middleton has been very open about the possibility of acquiring Machado for the pennant chase not only here this season but has also shown a huge willingness to keep Machado beyond the 2018 campaign as well. This seems like the perfect fit for the Orioles and the Phillies to make a deal.

It is the perfect storm for both sides as Baltimore kickstarts their rebuild while adding some top notch prospects to the farm system while the Phillies add one of the best shortstops in the game to a young team in the middle of a pennant chase. Machado will undoubtedly test the free agent market after the season, but you would have to think that the Phillies would have the leg up on other teams after Machado got to know the stadium, the fans, the players in Philadelphia, and the atmosphere surrounding it all.

The Phillies owner is dedicated to this rebuild and to building the team back up to the glory where it was back in the mid-to-late 2000’s. Machado is a huge piece to that puzzle potentially and I truly think at the end of the day the current Orioles shortstop will be manning the position in Philadelphia by season’s end.