MLB trade rumors: Yankees passing Phillies in Manny Machado sweepstakes?

by Felix Pantaleón

Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Manny Machado will be a free agent after the 2018 MLB season. The New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies are expected to make a run at the four-time All-Star, who was traded by the Baltimore Orioles before the July 31, 2018 (7/31/18) non-waiver deadline. Machado is hitting .300 this season with 30 home runs and 88 RBI.

Good news for Yankees fans. One of the front-runners for Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Manny Machado is losing its ace in the hole, according to The Athletic:

Joe Jordan, the Phillies‘ director of player development, will not return in 2019, three sources said this week. Those sources described a rift over how the farm system was run within a front office evolving under general manager Matt Klentak, who inherited Jordan from the previous regime.

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Jordan’s roots were in amateur scouting before he assumed control of Baltimore’s drafts in 2005. As scouting director for the Orioles, he selected Manny Machado with the third pick in the 2010 draft. Machado, the Phillies’ top target this offseason, will likely not be swayed by old connections. Money is expected to drive his decision. But part of the Phillies’ hypothetical pitch to Machado was that it would come from some familiar faces. Now, there is one fewer.

Yanks’ potential wild card lineup vs. A’s

Jordan’s departure might not mean anything, because Fancred’s Jon Heyman has reported that the Yankees are Machado’s dream team:

People close to Machado suggest the Yankees might just be his first choice. One Machado friend went so far as to say that Machado — who has professed his love for shortstop — would easily give up shortstop to play for the Yankees. If he did so, that would be reminiscent of his mentor Alex Rodriguez, another Miami wunderkind who moved to third base in order to don the pinstripes.

Machado isn’t going to give away his preferences now, particularly while playing for a different marquee franchise, but multiple people say Machado and his family — who live in Miami — are all in on their love of the Yankees and New York, which fits his big-city preference and desire to get back to the East Coast.

The Baltimore Orioles traded Machado to the Dodgers in July. For the season, he’s hitting .300 with 30 home runs and 88 RBI.

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