Phillies Called “Favorites” to Land Machado; Deal Imminent?

On Sunday afternoon, eyebrows were raised when Orioles star shortstop Manny Machado was lifted from a Baltimore Orioles - Texas Rangers match up in Baltimore in the top of the fifth inning.  There is no baseball reason to explain why Jace Peterson would be batting for Machado at any time in the ballgame.  Afterwards, Orioles manager Buck Showalter confirmed everyone's suspicions: it's a matter of an upcoming trade  The Phillies appear to be heavily involved.

Here is a rundown on the latest in the Machado sweepstakes.

Roch Kubatko of MASN has Showalter's confirmation that something is going on, after Machado failed to return to the game after a rain delay:

Since there there have been a number of reports indicating that the move is imminent.

Jim Bowden of SiriusXM Radio and The Athletic reports that Machado's last appearance in an Orioles uniform should be tomorrow's All-Star game:

Morning morning, Jayson Stark of the Athletic joined Philadelphia's ESPN-affiliated station, 97.5 the Fanatic, and voiced that executives and scouts at last night's Futures Game generally believe that Machado is headed to Philadelphia, calling the Phillies the "favorite" to land him:

"There's even some sense that the Orioles are essentially in agreement on a deal with somebody, but we don't know any of that with positivity. ... I'm just telling you kind of the way the wind seems to be blowing," Stark said. "We kind of expected for awhile that the Orioles would like to delay this until after the All-Star Game. He is their only All-Star. The game's in Washington ... it's 40 miles up the road."

Stark mentioned that the Phillies have downplayed their interest in Machado, but have "never hung up the phone" in terms of involvement in Machado talk.

A move now would give the Phillies and other teams involved the opportunity to look at other alternatives in advance of the July 31 trade deadline.  The Phillies have been linked to third baseman Mike Moustakas, third baseman Adrian Beltre and loosely to third baseman Josh Donaldson, who has yet to return from a hamstring injury.

The above quotes were transcribed by Sports Talk Philly's Matt Rappa.