MacPhail is gun shy yet again

The Red Sox have agreed in principle to acquire first base slugger Adrian Gonzalez from the Padres, sources told ESPN’s Buster Olney.

Boston lands one of the top first base hitters in the majors. The three-time All-Star hit .298 with 31 home runs and 101 RBIs for the Padres last season. He is a two-time Gold Glove winner.

The move hurts the O’s in two ways: 1. The very slim chance of trading for the slugger has evaporated. 2. We will be reminded of this throughout the season when we face the Sox.

In reality, O’s fans didn’t have a chance in seeing Gonzalez in a Baltimore uniform. President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail has made it clear he will not trade away future talent.

With most of our young talent surfacing in the majors, trading away key prospects for the slugger would almost certainly decimate our minor league system.

The Red Sox reportedly will give the Padres top pitching prospect Casey Kelly, first basemen Anthony Rizzo, and outfield Reymond Fuentes.

The O’s would certainly have had to part ways with either lefty Brian Matusz or Zach Britton. The two are widely regarded as our two best young pitchers. Alongside one of them, the team could have packaged reliever David Hernandez and first basemen Joe Mahoney.

Earlier last month, the Tampa Bay Rays brought up Hernandez’s name when the O’s called about shortstop Jason Bartlett’s availability. MacPhail quickly nixed that idea.

Even though MacPhail has stated everyone is susceptible to a trade, including our young nucleus, he has yet to demonstrate that. Until he pulls the trigger on trading for a big name we will have to settle for picking up the scraps from free agency.

Victor Martinez…no. Adam Dunn…no thank you. Who will be the next free agent to turn down the Orioles reported offer?