During a surprisingly quiet 2016 off-season, it’s time for articles to be written about juicy rumors that garner attention. This year, that story seems to be why the Baltimore Orioles need to trade star third baseman Manny Machado. Machado, the 24 year old cornerstone of the Orioles, is a free agent after the 2018 season. That’s right, 2018, as in two full baseball seasons away. Yet, before the 2017 season even begins, talk is that the Orioles need to trade Machado.
Why is this story circulating? Well, recently, news came out about another potential 2018 superstar free agent, Bryce Harper, wanting a $400 million dollar contract from the Washington Nationals in order to stay. That lead to speculation and frenzy about that 2018 free agent class, which includes Machado, who is near or at the same talent level as Harper. The thought is that Machado will command a similar contract, and that the Orioles in their wildest dreams couldn’t afford that, so that they should trade him now for a boatload of prospects, similar to what the White Sox did with Chris Sale, instead of losing him to free agency.
Now, there are a few problems with this. The Orioles are coming off an 89 win season in which they reached the postseason for the third time in the last five years after not reaching the postseason in 15 consecutive season. Of course, no one cares because they “over performed,” and they are destined to finish in the bottom of the AL East with the on-paper-winter -champion Boston Red Sox dominating the division. So, people (reporters and “experts”), are clamoring for the Orioles to blow up a team just because projections once again have them out of the race by July. They’ve been out of the race for five years now, yet have three playoff appearances in that time span. It’s convenient to call for a trade of Machado, because everyone is obsessed with top prospects that could, and could is important, be good. But, the Orioles aren’t giving up just because the same experts that have counted them out the last five years are counting them out again.
The Orioles still have the same shutdown bullpen from a year ago, a lineup that will mash home runs and still may see upgrades as the off-season continues, as well as a rotation that after showing improvement last year could surprise many with two young pitchers, Kevin Gausman and Dylan Bundy, finally showing the potential they have. There’s no reason to signal the white flag, which trading Machado would do, before the season even starts. Instead, they should continue to improve the team and make a run at the playoffs as they have always done under Buck Showalter and Dan Duquette.
The other important issue with the “trade Machado bandwagon” is that it brings to light a critical problem Major League Baseball has always had. The only reason people think the Orioles need to trade Machado is because most think the O’s have no chance at signing Machado at the price he’ll demand. Turn on MLB Network, and you’ll see analysts salivating over the Yankees throwing money at Machado and Harper and even Clayton Kershaw in the 2018 off-season, because their recent three month rebuild points all signs to them setting themselves to spend that money to once again build up an empire only the Yankees could. As an Orioles fan, it’s incredibly sad to even have to think about a star player leaving the team two years before he’s even a free agent. However, that’s the world we live in, where big market teams continue to eat up small market teams.
Hopefully, the baseball world is proven wrong over the next two years and the small market teams beat the bully-like big market franchises that seem to do whatever they want. For now, maybe reporters should focus on the upcoming season instead of stirring up rumors about two years from now.