Baltimore Orioles rumors: More talk about Manny Machado

It appears that the soft deadline to quiet the talk about the Baltimore Orioles third baseman was just that – soft.

In the latest rumors about the Baltimore Orioles, teams are still trying to work their magic to get their hands on Manny Machado.

This rumor comes from Jon Morosi, who shared it via Twitter:

Unfortunately, Morosi did not share any details about teams who are continuing to call Dan Duquette about his most valuable player.

Defer and deflect

Could the Orioles simply be in a deflection mode? Like they were with Chris Davis a few years ago. On the website BaltimoreBaseball.com, Dan Connelly called the whole soft deadline completely bogus.

He reminded fans of the Davis signing in 2015 when Duquette explicitly told fans that the O’s were not going after Davis. Then, Davis was signed – for way too much money, for way too long. Baseball general managers have this way of saying one thing, then doing something else. It’s been the modus operandi for way too long.

And, it’s not just the general managers who do this. Players do it, too.

Machado’s words from January

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Back in January 2017, Brittany Ghiroli with MLB.com shared Machado’s words about an extension:

"“There’s other priorities out there, and I got it. I have two years left, and it’s out of my control. I can’t go out there and tell them, ‘Hey, I want this.’ It’s not like that. They know I want to play here. This is my organization. This is the team I want to play for. They drafted me, I came up through the organization. I’ve done everything with this team. This is the only team I know, so I’m all for it.”"

According to a piece by Jon Heyman with FanRagSports.com from September 2017, the Orioles haven’t made an offer yet:

"“Owner Peter Angelos has not yet made the commitment to extend an offer to Machado, which would presumably have to be for at least $200 million, and while it would seem to be a long shot at this point, it couldn’t hurt and they should give it that shot.”"

Remember, it’s just rumors

Despite the rumors continuing to spread, nothing has been decided. Machado has not made any comments and neither have his agents. General managers from interested teams can call and ask about any players that they want. And, Duquette has every right to answer the phone and respond. They also have every right to ask for a big haul in return. And, if they don’t get what they want, they don’t have to make any deals at all.

Next: Austin Hays is on the cover of Baseball America

But, this fan is hoping that Machado can stay in Baltimore for the rest of his career. Many describe him as a young Brooks Robinson out there at third base. Robinson spent his 23-year career playing only for the Orioles. Hopefully, Machado can be a career Oriole, too.