One of the biggest questions regarding the Orioles’ 2018 season — and one that moves to the forefront given the team’s rocky start as well as a new development Monday — is when and if the club will deal shortstop Manny Machado.
The team shopped Machado during the winter and didn’t get an offer it deemed worthwhile, deciding to keep Machado to start this season and make a run in a stacked American League East.
For all intents and purposes, Machado’s days in an Orioles uniform are numbered. He becomes a free agent at the end of the season, so if he chooses free agency, declines a qualifying offer and signs elsewhere, the Orioles would receive only a compensatory draft pick after the first round.