That Manny Machado trade rumor mill sure has revved up early. Last week, we had the re-rumor of Addison Russell for Machado. This week, the Dodgers are “maybe” interested (but doubtful) with shortstop Corey Seager sidelined by Tommy John surgery.
Rumor drama aside, it’s safe to say Machado will be traded by July 31. We also know Theo Epstein flagged the woeful playoff offense as among a trio of key improvement areas at his year-end news conference last October (In case you were wondering, the other two were replace free agent starting pitchers and reduce the bullpen’s league-high walk rate).