Manny Machado of the Baltimore Orioles bats in the fourth inning against the Texas Rangers at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. —Patrick Smith/Getty Images

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Buster Olney suggested the Red Sox could or should make a push to try to get Manny Machado from the Orioles. Is that even reasonable? Do the Red Sox have enough in the farm system to make a fair offer? – Butch D.

Here’s what Olney said on SportsCenter the other day:

If you know you’re probably not going to win in 2018, you might as well put Machado out there and see if you can draw a big offer from a team like the Red Sox, who right now have a big hole at third base. They have this terrific high-end prospect, Rafael Devers, down in their system, and maybe you coax the Red Sox into putting Devers on the table for a year and a half of Manny Machado. It’s something the Orioles should at least explore.

Coax the Red Sox? I don’t think Dave Dombrowski would need to be coaxed. Based on his history, if Dombrowski coveted Machado – and why wouldn’t he? – I suspect Devers would just be the first piece in the price he’d be willing to pay.

I’d do it, too. I know, I love my prospect babies, sometimes a little too much, but Machado is one of the top 5-10 players in baseball. He’d fill the most glaring need on the roster, is an electric defensive player, and while he’s having a weird year at the place (he’s hitting just .238, albeit with 18 homers), chances are he’d thrive in the Red Sox’ lineup. A change of scenery might do him some good. He’s had to listen to Buck Showalter for a lot of years now.


Still, I can’t imagine that Devers – a top-10 prospect, but one who comes with questions– would be close to enough to make Dan Duquette consider trading Machado to a division rival, especially one with which he has a lot of contentious personal history.

Machado has a full year left on his contract after this season, so he’s not a flat-out rental. I bet Duquette would shoot for the moon and ask for Xander Bogaerts as well as prospects. The logistics of dealing with Duquette make trading for Machado seem unlikely without a steep overpay.

You never know what Dombrowski might do, but the farm system is thin already, and it doesn’t seem like a match here. It’s fun to think about Machado on the Sox, but it’s hard to envision it right now.

What do you guys think? Do the Red Sox have a shot at trading for Manny Machado? And what would you be willing to give up? I’ll see you in the comments.