Phillies

MLB Insider: Phillies ‘Running Ahead’ of Other Teams for Manny Machado

By Bob Wankel

Published: Jul 14th, 2018 · 2:40 PM EDT

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Another day, another rumor strongly linking Orioles shortstop Manny Machado to the Phillies. Here’s MLB Network insider Jon Heyman with the latest:

Phillies are said to be "serious" in their Manny pursuit and are thought to be running ahead of the yankees and maybe most others at this point. also in: brewers, dodgers, dbacks, indians.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 14, 2018

This update follows yesterday’s story from Heyman in which he wrote that the Phillies are interested in “making a huge mark.” More from that story:

The word in circles is that the Phillies would not part with top pitching prospect Sixto Sanchez and also probably Enyel De Los Santos, who had an impressive MLB debut this week, but the names of several other fine prospects are floating.

This meshes with Jim Salisbury’s story from last night that states the Phillies have gotten “aggressive” in their pursuit of Machado. Salisbury also quoted a source who speculated about which prospects the Phillies could include in a potential deal:

The Phillies’ offer for Machado is not known, but a source said the Orioles were seeking some of the Phillies’ top prospects. Names mentioned by the source were pitchers Adonis Medina, Ranger Suarez and Franklyn Kilome, infielder Arquimedes Gamboa and outfielder Jhailyn Ortiz. Pitcher Enyel De Los Santos could also be on the Orioles’ wish list. On the big-league roster, the Phils could part with Maikel Franco and/or Aaron Altherr. The Phillies are reluctant to part with top pitching prospect Sixto Sanchez.

Medina, who earlier today was named Enyel De Los Santos’ replacement for the World Team in the MLB Futures Game, is rated the Phillies’ No. 2 prospect by MLB Pipeline. The 21-year-old has a fastball that sits in the mid-90s and an above average slider, but has struggled a bit in Clearwater this season. He’s posted a 4.92 ERA, but has struck out 75 batters in 71.1 innings pitched.