Anthony Mazziotti
The All-Star break is here, and as it stands the Phillies are a half game up on the Atlanta Braves for first place in the National League East. With 67 games left in the regular season, the Phillies need to make a splash at the deadline to ensure their place as legitimate contenders for the National League pennant.
Last week, I wrote a piece on why the Phillies should try to trade for Nolan Arenado; this week, I’m focusing on a more feasible trade option: Manny Machado.
There have been stories linking the two parties for the better part of the last month. Guys like Jon Heyman have been writing stories about the situation on the national scale while local guys like Jim Salisbury think Machado to Philly is a very real possibility.
In my opinion, the Phillies have just as much of chance to trade for Machado as any contender, despite whatever the national media says. This isn’t the homer in me talking, this is a legitimate point. Think about it, the Phillies have a deep prospect pool and are a young team on the upswing. They can give the Orioles the same things that any team can, plus he would come in and be the starting shortstop which is very important to him.
I understand why some people are against trading for Machado, they would rather just sign him in free agency. To that I say this – IF he is traded to the Yankees and they make it to the World Series (they were one game away from making it last season, remember) do you honestly think he would want to test free agency?
The answer there is HELL NO. He would stay in the Bronx and the Yankees would keep doing Yankee shit. Do you really want to see that? No one does. Well, unless you tout around the fact that “your” team won 27 World Series titles (18 of them before 1960).
It would be best for the Phillies to get Machado in their locker room ASAP. My colleague Jigsaw covered something similar earlier this week – but there isn’t a doubt in my mind that Machado would fall in love with the atmosphere in Philadelphia and after a pennant race here he wouldn’t want to test the waters in free agency, the Phillies could still pay him handsomely and our Fightin’ Phils would be contenders for years to come.
The only question is: what is the price tag? To make it easy, I’ll make a list of untouchables: Aaron Nola, Rhys Hoskins, Jorge Alfaro, Sixto Sanchez, Scott Kingery and Seranthony Dominguez. I’d be okay with the Phillies trading anyone else away. The Orioles want a combination of Adonis Medina, Frankyln Kilome, JP Crawford, Maikel Franco, Nick Williams, and a former first-round pick like Adam Haseley, Mickey Moniak or Cornelius Randolph? Sign me up. It’s a small price to pay for a 26-year-old shortstop who’s averaging .315 this season.
To me, it’s a no-brainer to bring in Machado. It’s getting to the point where I damn near don’t care what the Orioles want for him, they should pay the price and bring him in. This could be the franchise altering move that sets the team in the right direction for years to come. This Phillies team is good, and Machado would instantly make this team a contender this season. There’s no reason to wait until free agency, go get him now and chase the ring this season.
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