Per Dan Duquette- "We're not actively engaged in long-term extension talks with Manny Machado." Annnnnnnnd I'm Dead.
Kill me right now. It’s Sunday night, and I get this dumped on my plate? I don’t need this right now. With the Winter Meetings starting this week in DC, I was waiting for the hot stove to heat up. Rumors are that Edwin Encarnacion will likely make a decision this week, Mark Trumbo could find a new home, I was just hoping for some decent Orioles news.
Manny Machado is a once in a generation player for the Orioles. He is a player who can be a top 5 talent in MLB for years to come, a poster boy for the league. They HAVE to keep him, they have to. Dan Duquette and the rest of the front office have to open up the checkbook to keep him. Every front office in baseball has the start of free agency after the 2018 season circled on their calendar to try and get him. This has to be priority number one for the Orioles to get a deal done. They are very outspoken about not doing extensions during the season, but they’ve done it with Adam Jones and J.J. Hardy, and you could combine their contracts and double them and it still won’t equal what Machado will likely receive. This is a special set of circumstances where you throw the rules out. You give Manny whatever he wants, if he wants to own part of the Inner Harbor, the aquarium, 3/4 of Fed Hill, and his name on the warehouse, you give it to him.
Machado is only 24, has had two major knee surgeries, and still finishes in the top 10 of MVP voting when he plays a full season. He’s a 3-time All Star, two time Gold Glove winner, 2014 Platinum Glove winner, and is still getting better. He is going to switch to shortstop soon, the position he has played his whole life, and it’s scary that he will be the best player at that position too. If I’m the Orioles I offer him a deal to buy out his arbitration years, even if it is a 7-8 year deal, as he will still be in his prime when he reaches free agency and has time for one more big contract. And while I am in the boat of “if you make it clear you aren’t going to re-sign him than you have to trade him”, I’m not sure that will happen. I just don’t see that happening because of how loyal they are to their guys.
I fully understand the problem of the club signing Machado to a mega deal, and having that potentially cripple the rest of the spending. Machado is a guy that people want to play with, free agents will want to come to Baltimore to play next to him. He already has his best friend playing across the diamond from him in Jonathan Schoop, there has to be a thought in his head reminding him that in 2 or 3 years, Schoop and Machado could be the best double play combo in the league. Will this cost the Orioles a few players? Absolutely, signing Manny will probably mean some of the younger guys won’t get the contract they want here, but in this case, you have to do it. You can’t put into words how valuable a guy like Machado is. The Orioles have proved that they are trying to win and want to be in it for the long haul with the Chris Davis signing, and their young pitchers showing improvement. Mark my words, they will not field competitive teams if Machado signs with New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, or somewhere else.
If they do end up trading him for prospects, he would get an insane return and would be able to compete a few seasons after the trade, but that’s not what anyone wants. I need Machado in orange and black until he retires, I want to see that #13 on a plaque in the middle of the summer in a hot ass field in Cooperstown. He is the engine that makes this team go. Without him, I can easily see this team morphing back into one from the mid 2000’s and being out of it by the All Star break.
As I mentioned before, Manny is a once in a generation player and you have to do everything in your power to keep him. He was a HUGE part in bringing the winning culture back to Baltimore, reward him. He is by far the most important Oriole to come into Baltimore since Calvin Edwin Ripken Jr. Give him what he deserves, the biggest contract in Orioles history. So please, Dan Duquette, do the right thing, and get a deal done with this superstar. Put this team in an even better position to win by making Baltimore a permanent home for Manny Machado.