Phillies shouldn't trade top prospects for Manny Machado

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The Phillies have been connected to Manny Machado for a while and will continue to be with the Orioles superstar entering the final year of his contract.

As Jim Salisbury pointed out Sunday, the Phillies have the depth to try to swing a deal for Machado at some point over the next year. 

Could it happen sooner rather than later?

Orioles beat writer Roch Kubatko of MASN reported Monday that the Orioles "covet" Phillies top pitching prospect Sixto Sanchez and also like Scott Kingery.

The Phillies are very high on both prospects. Sanchez is a potential future ace, and Kingery is a potential opening day infielder for the Phillies in 2018. It would seem highly unlikely the Phils would trade one or both for Machado, even if they knew Machado would re-sign here. Why not just wait it out and try to sign Machado next winter when you wouldn't have to give up Sanchez or Kingery?

It would make a lot of sense for Baltimore to trade Machado over the next eight months. The O's have next to no chance of re-signing him so getting something in return is the way to go. As Kubatko points out, if Machado is traded, his new team would have a 72-hour window to sign him to an extension.

Another name mentioned in the report is Freddy Galvis, who is also a free agent after 2018. Obviously, Galvis is not netting you Machado, but it's a more reasonable starting point for a player who is effectively on a one-year deal.

Could a package involving two of Galvis, Maikel Franco and Cesar Hernandez entice the O's? It's not an equivalent to Machado from a talent standpoint, but a player with theoretical upside like Franco might move the needle a bit, especially if Baltimore would also be adding a few other consistent pieces.

The Phillies have a lot of young depth, both in the minors and at the major-league level — players who could be appealing to another team but who probably wouldn't be sorely missed here. One of Andrew Knapp or Cameron Rupp would be expendable. So too, obviously, would be a couple middle infielders. Tom Eshelman has had impressive minor-league results, but will he succeed at the major-league level? Roman Quinn has enough upside to attract other clubs, but enough injury questions to get the Phillies thinking. Vince Velasquez, Nick Pivetta, Tommy Joseph ... all of these players could be used as sweeteners in the right trade.

The news will be fast and furious coming out of the winter meetings this week in Orlando, always one of the most exciting times on the baseball calendar.

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