While we continue to wait for the Orioles to tear down their roster and embrace a full rebuild, we still have to watch players like Joey Rickard play on a nightly basis. There are a lot of aspects of this season that are extremely frustrating, but the lack of change on any level may rank at the top. I really hope that the All-Star break and/or the trade deadline is when there is a mass exodus and we start seeing players who we all hope will have a future on the next wave of good teams in Baltimore.

Yankees Enter Manny Sweepstakes

This should come as no surprise, but the Yankees want Manny Machado for the stretch run, according to Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic.

From last night: #Yankees showing increased interest in Machado. https://t.co/Vm58CQmFUc $

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 10, 2018

Also no surprise, O’s fans aren’t happy about this. Taking off our orange-colored glasses, the Yankees may be the only team that can provide what the O’s organization needs: infield depth and major league-ready starting pitching. I also think they are the only team that would pull the trigger on a “fair” deal, as they only care about winning a World Series.

Do the Milwaukee Brewers? Arizona Diamondbacks? I’m not sure. Maybe the Los Angeles Dodgers, but they proved last year with Justin Verlander that they won’t do everything necessary to win a title. If the Yankees are willing to give up Miguel Andujar and/or Justus Sheffield, we have a starting point in discussions and one of those players alone is better than any prospect the other teams would be willing to part with.

If the rumors are true that the Orioles could package Zach Britton in a deal then that will only increase the talent level that comes back.

I know it would be extremely painful seeing Machado and/or Britton in pinstripes in October, but this is the exact team we need to be in trade discussions if we want this rebuild to be accelerated.

Other Trade Candidates

Since we really don’t know who is making decisions, we also don’t know how capable the organization is when it comes to multi-tasking. Machado is priority one so who knows if the front office is talking to other teams about Britton, Mark Trumbo, Adam Jones and Danny Valencia? I’m not even mentioning Brad Brach as I don’t see how a contender would want to acquire him.

Packaging Britton with Machado would at least knock off two of the big names, but it needs to happen sooner than later so they can focus on the other trade chips. Even though he has been in a slump, I still believe Valencia has value to a playoff contender as a guy off the bench or a starter against lefties. We know what Jones can mean to a playoff team and he is still an offensive contributor.

As for Trumbo, he ranks seventh in baseball in average exit velocity and is looking more like the player from 2016 than 2017. He is another player that can help a contender down the stretch.

Unless they have a postgame ritual that he gets mad about and puts the organization in a tailspin that they have to recover from…but I digress.