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The Baltimore Orioles are known for shooting for the moon when it comes to asking for returns on trades, and that’s exactly what they’re doing in talks with the Cleveland Indians.
According to Jon Morosi, the club is asking for either Shane Bieber or Triston McKenzie to be included in a potential deal for the superstar, meaning they’re also asking for more.
Source: In Manny Machado trade talks, #Orioles have asked that #Indians include one of the organization’s top young pitchers, Triston McKenzie or Shane Bieber, who has a 3.47 ERA in six @MLB starts and is currently on the 25-man roster. @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 11, 2018
I don’t negotiate on behalf of the Indians, but allow me to interject on the idea of dealing away half a decade of either potentially great pitcher for two and a half months of Manny Machado, most of which will be spent helping the Indians expand their division from lead from double-digits to even more double-digits:
Nope.
The Indians aren’t signing Machado long-term, so there’s now way this isn’t a rental. And with how many teams are reportedly in on Machado, it’s no wonder there’s a bidding war for his services, no matter how short they may be. Combine that with the fact that he doesn’t even want to play third base.
Bieber has already earned himself a spot in the rotation, at least in the short-term, with a series of quality major-league starts. McKenzie, while injured to start the season, has an electric combination of pitches that have scouts salivating at the idea of him playing in the majors. Currently, he holds an earned run average of 3.05 in 38.1 innings for the Double-A Akron RubberDucks.
I’ve written about it at length before, and holds even more true if this is the kind of return Baltimore is digging for: The Indians shouldn’t trade for Manny Machado.