One major free agent for 2019’s Phillies

Manny being Manny:

Baltimore owner Peter Angelos does not want a division rival to acquire Machado or another club to play him for four months and flip him to the Yankees near the trade deadline. So, the Orioles will probably move him in late July for a smaller return because Machado won’t consider an extension with a new team either.

The young superstar will primarily be a two-month rental and is too close to free agency to re-up. The O’s should have extended his contract two years ago to avoid this situation. Checkmate!

In 2012, Baltimore called up Machado near mid-August, but they moved him to third base because they had a regular shortstop through ’17: Hardy. Therefore, Machado will return to his preferred position.

Because of the Freddy Galvis swap, Crawford will have two months to claim the shortstop job before Kingery’s promotion. And Crawford’s offensive production will matter for ’19. But if he hits as he did for the second half with the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs, he could switch to third if the hometown nine sign Machado.

For Franco, Klentak is giving him another 162 to live up to his potential or something satisfactory. He needs to bat .260 with 25 bombs and 80 RBIs to keep his spot at the hot corner. But keep in mind, Machado would come here as a shortstop, and Crawford, Franco or Kingery could be the regular third sacker.

The wild card here is Kingery and his offensive impact. But if he makes a splash like Nick Williams or Hoskins, he could earn the third base job by outdoing Franco and Crawford.