Of all the acquisition scenarios that have been presented to the Red Sox, the one they should most vigorously pursue is the Orioles’ Manny Machado.
The Red Sox did speak with the Orioles at the Winter Meetings and may have made a trade offer, though that hasn’t been confirmed. The Sox would have to give up a significant everyday player (Xander Bogaerts?) and a significant pitcher (Drew Pomeranz or Eduardo Rodriguez). Not even sure that would get a deal done. They’d likely have to throw in a prospect such as Michael Chavis or Sam Travis.
In this aggressive scenario, Machado would take over for Bogaerts at shortstop, which Machado says is his natural position, even after winning two Gold Gloves at third base. That would give the Sox a pretty impressive infield of Rafael Devers at third, Machado at shortstop, Dustin Pedroia at second base (when he returns by early June), and Hanley Ramirez at first base.
With Machado in the middle of the order, the Sox could sign a one-year DH like Matt Holliday or Jayson Werth.
The problem in trading for Machado is in keeping him. He’s under contract for one more year and his next deal will likely hit the $30 million per year mark. The Red Sox already have a $30 million per year pitcher in David Price and are likely to have another in Chris Sale after next season.
But this Red Sox lineup needs a game changer. Machado, who turns 26 next July, is still young enough to play shortstop for a few years. Would he wear down more playing shortstop instead of third base? That’s debatable. But Machado will likely hit more homers as he gets older. He has hit 35, 37, and 33 the last three seasons. He has a career OPS of .805. He should hit as many homers if not more playing his home games at Fenway Park, though in 42 career games there he’s hit only seven (with a .767 OPS).
Could this trade happen?
Orioles general manager Dan Duquette has had no problem making deals with the Red Sox. Don’t forget, he traded Rodriguez to Boston for Andrew Miller. The Orioles need pitching and they have pretty much concluded that they’re not going to be able to meet Machado’s future salary demands.
Duquette said nobody has asked for a sign-and-trade deal. And it doesn’t appear that Machado would go for that anyway.
“I don’t see that as a viable option,’’ Duquette said. “I don’t think it’s necessary.’’
If Machado has a monster season, he may indeed get what some market experts say could be a record $400 million deal. And it will take a commitment of eight to 10 years to make it happen. Machado is expected to earn about $17.5 million this season in his third and final arbitration year, according to mlbtraderumors.com.
You can tell Duquette doesn’t want to trade Machado, but he really has no choice. The Orioles have heard from several teams regarding Machado.
“We are trying to find the right fit,’’ Duquette said. “We’re going to do what we can to put together the best club we can, and obviously there’s a lot of interest in our players on our roster who are going to be free agents. So we need to sort through the extent of that interest and see if a trade makes sense.’’
As of late in the week, the White Sox were considered to be the front-runners in the Machado sweepstakes, somewhat surprising for a team that’s supposed to be rebuilding. But the offer the White Sox made, according to one team source, didn’t include Yoan Moncada or Michael Kopech. The White Sox were trying to sell the Orioles on some of their major league talent.
The Yankees always seem to be lurking, though the Angelos family would be dead against trading Machado there. The Yankees need a third baseman with Didi Gregorius entrenched at shortstop, but New York could part with Gregorius in a deal of that magnitude.
The Cardinals seem to have the young arms that Baltimore so desperately needs. The Giants would also be interested.
Machado would be an expensive option for the Red Sox, but so would J.D. Martinez and Eric Hosmer. Machado is nearly three years younger than Hosmer and one of the youngest potential free agents in a long time.
structure in order
Kapler ready for new challenge
New Phillies manager Gabe Kapler won’t be holding his players to too many rules.
“Not having rules doesn’t mean not having expectations,’’ Kapler said. “Not having rules doesn’t mean not demonstrating to a player where he needs to improve.
“So by way of example, if you don’t have a rule about facial hair, and a man comes to the ballpark and his facial hair is down to his belly button, we might just say, ‘Hey, this is how this looks to your teammates. There’s no rule against not having a beard down to your belly button, but I just want to hold up an accurate mirror for you.’ Society passes judgment, whether we like it or not. So it’s almost like every decision you make in a Major League Baseball clubhouse has repercussions.
“So one of the ways that you sort of police it is by challenging. And when people aren’t living up to expectations, it’s sharing that there’s no rule against what you just did; however, there is a consequence for the action, and here’s what it is. It’s not always the same. It’s not always that you pull a guy out of the game. It might be that he might lose his teammate in the locker next to him. His teammate might have less confidence in him because of that decision.’’
Kapler cut his teeth managing the Red Sox’ Single A Greenville Drive in 2007, when he worked with Josh Reddick, Lars Anderson, Daniel Bard, and Felix Doubront.
He was the Dodgers’ farm director when hired by the Phillies.
“It’s interesting with the Dodgers in player development, where I was coming from, we didn’t have any rules, and what we found is very rarely did players break the traditional rules,’’ Kapler said. “You’d talk to them. A guy didn’t show up on time, we had that conversation. Everybody knew that it wasn’t acceptable. You actually don’t have to post a list of rules on the wall for there to be a philosophical agreement that we have expectations.’’
Kapler said he’s had conversations with Charlie Manuel, Joe Torre, and Pat Gillick and has a better understanding of what’s ahead for him and how to get the most out of his players.
He says he will be open-minded and treat players like adults. He has been a huge advocate for nutrition playing a big role in player performance. Kapler will definitely be the most fit manager in baseball.
“I would say that the philosophy and the strategy is educate, educate, educate,’’ Kapler said. “Present our players with the best possible options, the most nutrient-dense options, and then say, here are how these nutrients work in your body and how they have a chance to make you a more effective baseball player. Now go choose. You’re grown-ups.
“And I think that’s one of the things, sort of talking through the rules concept, grown-ups don’t like to be — in my opinion, grown-ups don’t like being told what to do. They like to be given choices and given the chance to make sensible ones. It doesn’t always play out the way you expect it to, but I think through a relentless approach of educating, educating, educating, you get there over the course of time.’’
Apropos of nothing
1. You hear a lot of stuff at the Winter Meetings. Here’s one rumor told to me by a longtime, major force in the baseball world. It involves the Yankees and Giancarlo Stanton. The story goes that after 2018, the Yankees deal Stanton to the Dodgers and sign Bryce Harper. Your first reaction is, “Wow! Never happen.’’ Then you start to think about it. Stanton is an LA kid. The Dodgers didn’t have great interest in Stanton this offseason, but perhaps by the end of next year? The Yankees have always coveted Harper and his lefthanded stroke at Yankee Stadium. It starts to make more sense, doesn’t it?
2. Pawtucket Red Sox owner Larry Lucchino won’t wait forever for a stadium deal to come to fruition in Pawtucket. As the demands grow on the Lucchino group, the more likely it is that Worcester could sneak in and steal the team. PawSox ownership is awaiting Worcester’s plan for a 10,000-seat stadium in the The Canal District at the Wyman-Gordon property between Green Street and Lamartine Street. Luring of the PawSox appears to have the backing of Governor Charlie Baker, but it’s unknown how much the state, city, and PawSox would contribute to the stadium.
3. When you hear that someone named Giancarlo loves to vacation in Europe in the offseason, are you really surprised? Stanton’s agent, Joel Wolfe, gave us that nugget at the trade press conference last week.
4. I’ve been getting a lot of e-mails from fans who say they don’t want the Red Sox dealing with Scott Boras because he’ll make Boston sign J.D. Martinez and Eric Hosmer to contracts that the team will regret later. So what do you do, just punt?
5. It seems silly that neither Dave Dombrowski nor Boras could confirm that Martinez had dinner with the Red Sox. My goodness, what has happened to this game?
6. The Red Sox signed J.D. Drew on Feb. 14, 2007. Could the Red Sox sign another Boras client named J.D. 10 years later?
7. The Cardinals are not too dissimilar to the Yankees — they have money and pitching prospects to be able to do whatever they want.
8. Keep an eye on the Nationals. GM Mike Rizzo always thinks big. Don’t be shocked to see Washington get involved with Jake Arrieta or Yu Darvish. There is some sentiment that the Nationals want insurance in case Stephen Strasburg and/or Max Scherzer break down.
Updates on nine
1. Brian Cashman, GM, Yankees — Cashman hasn’t lost his fastball after all these years. As impressive as the Giancarlo Stanton deal was, Cashman made a more impressive trade in sending Chase Headley to the Padres as he looks to free up money for starting pitching. Cashman’s next challenge would be to move some of the $68 million on Jacoby Ellsbury’s contract.
2. Christian Yelich, CF, Marlins — Yelich is the next Marlin who could be traded. The franchise might as well completely rip it apart rather than just go halfway. Yelich will draw some interest from the Giants and Phillies. The Giants may not have enough to give back, though.
3. Gerrit Cole, RHP, Pirates — Whether he’s available or not, the Pirates are getting calls. There’s no doubt that the Yankees and Orioles have shown considerable interest. The Orioles need front-line pitching and the Yankees are looking to get younger in their rotation.
4. Mike Moustakas, 3B, free agent — There aren’t many options for Moustakas at the moment. The Angels have backed off in their interest for the Southern California native. The Giants may look to Moustakas if they strike out on other options, including J.D. Martinez. The Cardinals could also get involved. The Yankees need a third baseman, but they don’t appear to want to spend in this direction.
5. Bud Black, manager, Rockies — Black is confident the Rockies can re-sign some of their free agents and fill holes with others. They have signed Bryan Shaw, re-signed Jake McGee, and been aggressive in trying to re-up Greg Holland. The Rockies need to replace first baseman Mark Reynolds and outfielder Carlos Gonzalez.
6. Zack Cozart, 3B, Angels — You can tell Angels GM Billy Eppler learned his craft from Cashman in his many years as the Yankees’ assistant GM. Eppler has done a nice job this winter, picking off Shohei Ohtani and making a bold move to sign Cozart, the former Reds shortstop, to a three-year deal and move him to third. The Angels saved a ton of money by moving away from Moustakas, who really wanted to play there but would have required a five-year deal at north of $100 million. Eppler also acquired veteran second baseman Ian Kinsler from the Tigers.
7. A.J. Preller, GM, Padres — Preller’s name is mud in Boston after withholding medical information from the Red Sox in the Drew Pomeranz deal. The joke was on him, though, as Pomeranz won 17 games in 2017 while Anderson Espinoza, Boston’s top pitching prospect who was sent to San Diego, missed the season with Tommy John surgery. But give Preller credit. He’s making some good moves. He traded for Phillies shortstop Freddy Galvis, and has been hot after Yelich and Eric Hosmer.
8. Jose Bautista, RF/DH, free agent — Bautista’s agent, Jay Alou, said Bautista may have found the reason for his down season, specifically why sliders ate him up. Alou feels Bautista will make an adjustment and rebound at the plate. Right now, Bautista hasn’t drawn a lot of interest.
9. Tommy Hunter, RHP, Phillies — Is it me or are relievers being paid extraordinary amounts? Hunter was signed for $18 million over two years by the Phillies, who also signed Pat Neshek for two years at $16.5 million. McGee could make up to $50 million over four years on his new Rockies deal.
Extra innings
From the Bill Chuck files — “Babe Ruth, the Shohei Ohtani of America, in 130 games in 1919, hit .322 with 29 HRs and 113 RBIs. He also went 9-5 with a 2.97 ERA in 133⅓ IP.’’ . . . Also, “Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge combined for 371 strikeouts last season; Joe DiMaggio struck out 369 times in his career.’’ . . . Happy 50th birthday (Friday), Mo Vaughn.
Nick Cafardo can be reached at cafardo@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @nickcafardo. Material from interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.
