Baltimore Orioles: Manny Machado decision could be made today

The Baltimore Orioles All-Star third baseman has been the subject of Hot Stove rumors for nearly two weeks.

All of this could end today as the Baltimore Orioles general manager and owner could decide whether they are going to keep or trade Manny Machado.

According to a Tweet on Dec. 20 from Roch Kubatko from MASN, Duquette told interested teams that Machado could be off the table soon. As soon as Thursday (Dec. 21):

The offers are not good enough

The Orioles have complained that teams who are making offers aren’t making good enough offers. Jon Heyman with Fanrag Sports Network wrote:

"“[With] a trade and free-agent market flush with very good third basemen (Mike Moustakas, Todd Frazier, Evan Longoria and perhaps Josh Donaldson), the offers for Machado haven’t come close to even tempting to this point.”"

There are plenty of third basemen available. While Machado is the best of them all, he has one problem: his one year of control. If a team wants him for 2018, he is nothing more than an expensive rental. Teams would have to give up quite a bit, in a sense, mortgaging their future for one guaranteed year with Machado. It’s easy to see why teams are not going to give what Duquette and Peter Angelos want for him.

What the O’s want

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Even though the front office has declared that today could be a decision day, it still doesn’t mean Machado is completely off the table. Now that Zach Britton is out for what could be all of 2018, Machado has become an even more important trading piece. But, only if the O’s can get what they want for him.

While Duquette does give away a few details about his plans, he has not revealed what the interested teams want to trade. The rumor from sources like Heyman is that the O’s want a deal like the Jason Heyward and Shelby Miller trade between the Atlanta Braves and Arizona Diamondbacks.

Next: Could Nestor Cortes pitch for the O's in 2018?

Other sources, like Eduardo A. Encina with the Baltimore Sun, say that Duquette wants two MLB ready pitchers in exchange for Machado. Along with being ready for the MLB, Duquette wants them to be young and controllable for several years.