Report: White Sox interested in getting Machado
Trading third baseman would be a franchise-altering deal for O's
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- When it comes to the potential of trading Orioles star Manny Machado, executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette said the O's are making "good progress" in meetings with interested teams and gauging what an organization-changing trade would look like.
The White Sox have emerged as a serious suitor for Machado, MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal reported early on Thursday. Rosenthal said Chicago wants to acquire Machado and sign him to a long-term contract before he can become a free agent at the end of the 2018 season. However, Rosenthal noted the Sox could then trade Machado to the Yankees in exchange for even more prospects.
Several teams have made offers for Machado, according to MLB Network insider Jon Heyman. The Giants and Phillies are among those teams, USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported.
"We met with a couple teams today, got an interest of what their interest is, see if we match up," Duquette said of the market for Machado. "We are making good progress on that. Did some of that last night also. That's moving along."
Duquette didn't rule out rival American League East teams, though it still seems highly unlikely ownership would approve trading a player of Machado's magnitude to the Yankees or Red Sox.
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"We've made trades with the Yankees," Duquette said. "We've made trades with the Red Sox. It's in the club's interest to see what the market is and canvas the entire market. See what the opportunities are and the options are."
Even if that option required the Orioles to see Machado in an opposing uniform 19 times next season?
"Right now, we control that," Duquette said. "A year from now, we're not going to be controlling that."
• Winter Meetings interview with Buck Showalter
The O's arrived at the Winter Meetings trying to fill their pitching holes. They've canvased the market, made a few offers to free agents and discussed potential trades. So far, they've come up empty-handed. But that could change at any moment with the Cardinals, White Sox and Phillies among the teams linked to Machado.
While interesting, the Orioles can't listen to offers on Machado forever. They've got a long list of needs and will have to be more aggressive than past offseasons in filling them.
"Clubs are putting their teams together now," Duquette said. "That window, when clubs are adding key pieces to their ballclub that usually goes on now till the first of the year.
"There's a lot more work to be done in the offseason. At some point you have to decide, are you going to fish or cut bait, right? That's a little ways down the track. ….We are making good progress on that."
Should the O's swing a deal for Machado -- or one of their relievers -- they'd ideally like to get back Major League-ready starting pitching. But that's a tall order around the Majors.
"We'd like to try to staff our club to be as strong as it can be this year," Duquette said of netting starting pitching in a trade. "That would be our first choice. Whether we can do that or not, that's another story."