Stuck in fourth place in their division and receiving little production from their incumbent shortstop Addison Russell, the Chicago Cubs expect to discuss a Manny Machado trade with the floundering Baltimore Orioles in the coming weeks, insiders told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times.

The Cubs inquired about his availability this winter, but the Orioles opted not to move Machado, a free agent at season's end. Now, though, with the Orioles off to an 8-26 start and facing a potential rebuild, a Machado trade seems inevitable, and while the three-time All-Star is liable to sign elsewhere this winter, the Cubs' front office still has ownership's blessing to pursue him.

"We leave all the baseball decisions up to the baseball guys," Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said a few days ago. "To the extent there’s a window where they want to sign more guys or not sign more guys, that’s their decision."

Machado, who could command up to $300 million next winter, is off to an outstanding start this season, hitting .346/.430/.623 (188 OPS+) with nine home runs and nine doubles through 34 games heading into Tuesday's series opener against the Kansas City Royals.

Manny Machado vs. Addison Russell, 2018

Player WAR AVG OPS wRC+ Machado 1.8 .346 1.054 176 Russell 0.4 .250 0.656 80

For what it's worth, Cubs center fielder Albert Almora would love to see his club acquire Machado, a childhood friend.

"That would be special," Almora said. "It's something we've always talked about growing up. We were always so confident. We always said, 'Man, we've got to try to play together in our (big-league) careers one day.'"

The Cubs improved to 17-15 on Monday with a 14-2 victory over the Miami Marlins, bringing them within 2 1/2 games of the first-place St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central.