Report: Red Sox recently contacted Orioles about Machado

It appears the New York Yankees aren't the only division rival talking to the Baltimore Orioles about Manny Machado.

Sources told Peter Schmuck of the Baltimore Sun that the Boston Red Sox have been in recent contact with the Orioles about the superstar shortstop.

The Red Sox don't appear to be a natural fit for Machado, with Xander Bogaerts at shortstop and under team control through the 2019 season. After a white-hot start to the season, Bogaerts has regressed somewhat, but he still owns a .277/.350/.516 slash line in the first half. And, even if Machado were willing to play elsewhere, 21-year-old third baseman Rafael Devers has warmed up over the past month.

However, in light of recent news that manager Alex Cora doesn't expect injured second baseman Dustin Pedroia to return anytime soon, some roster shuffling could potentially make it work, depending on what Boston would trade away as well. Meanwhile, Eduardo Nunez, who's filling in for Pedroia, has failed to live up to his 2017 production, hitting 25 percent lower than the league average, by wRC+.

Both the first-place Red Sox and second-place Yankees are on pace to win more than 100 games, with 3 1/2 games separating them. Aside from the Orioles' division rivals, the Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Arizona Diamondbacks have been consistently linked to Machado.