MLB Trade Rumors: Is There Still a Chance for Manny Machado to End Up With the Arizona Diamondbacks This Offseason?
Diamondbacks have previously been described as the 'most persistent' team interested in acquiring Machado
Earlier this month, a somewhat surprising revelation involving the Arizona Diamondbacks and current Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado emerged online.
For those who may have missed it, The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported a little while back that the Diamondbacks were the "most persistent" of the teams that have expressed an interest in acquiring Machado.
Previous rumors have pointed to the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees as potential suitors for Machado, which made sense given that those two teams are also regarded as clubs that may go after the 25-year-old when he reaches free agency next winter.
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The Diamondbacks were not really getting that much buzz as a potential landing spot for Machado next offseason, so them suddenly popping up on the radar was quite eye-catching.
It has been nearly two weeks since that report from Rosenthal came out, and to this point, Machado is still with the Orioles.
Does the lack of a trade mean that the Diamondbacks are not quite as persistent as before and could be content to move on from trying to acquire Machado this offseason?
In a recent article, MLB.com's Steve Gilbert noted that a possible reason for why no deal has been agreed upon by the Diamondbacks and the Orioles could be because the 2017 NL Wild Card game winners may not be willing to surrender the prospects needed.
It is worth pointing out that a deal for Machado really could be costly for the Diamondbacks in terms of prospect capital, especially since they do not have too many upper echelon youngsters. Only one of the team's Minor Leaguers made Baseball America's recently released list of top 100 prospects.
If anything, there is a case to be made that the Diamondbacks should focus more on adding young and talented prospects as opposed to sending them away in a trade.
The Diamondbacks may still be highly interested in adding Machado, but it seems like they will have to try accomplishing that through free agency instead of a trade.
