Around, around we go, wherever Manny Machado ends up, nobody knows.
The Merry-Go-Round of where the Baltimore Orioles shortstop lands prior to the conclusion of July's trade deadline continues to spin and on Sunday, the picture might have become more clear as sources of The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal told him the Los Angeles Dodgers and Milwaukee Brewers are now the most serious players for Machado.
Both the Dodgers and Brewers were also listed as aggressive suitors in a separate report from the Baltimore Sun's Eduardo A. Encina on Saturday.
The other teams with increasing interest in the three-time All-Star, according to Encina's industry source, included the Arizona Diamondbacks, Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves, and Chicago Cubs, while the Cleveland Indians already made an apparent offer to the Orioles for Machado's services.
L.A. is without All-Star shortstop Corey Seager for the remainder of the season, and while Chris Taylor has filled in admirably (19 doubles, 37 RBIs, .802 OPS), the addition of a player the caliber of Machado might be enough to get them to the World Series for a second-consecutive season.
Milwaukee owns the best record in the NL (53-36 entering Sunday), but haven't received much consistency at short this season. Orlando Arcia struggled with the bat (.482 OPS) before a recent demotion to Triple-A, while Tyler Saladino is getting most of the reps of late.
The 26-year-old Machado will become a free agent at season's end and is having a career year offensively. He entered Sunday hitting .310/.380/.557 with 21 home runs and 60 RBIs in 87 games.
