Phillies justified in not including Sixto Sanchez in a Manny Machado trade

Phillies unwilling to part with top prospect Sanchez

The Philadelphia Phillies appear to have lost out in their pursuit of shortstop Manny Machado for the time being by the narrowest of margins.

I say for the time being because, as most already are aware, Machado is due to be a free agent this coming off-season. The Phillies will be considered as perhaps the leading contender to lure him with a long-term contract at that time.

But for now, the club finished as runners-up to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who acquired Machado from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for five prospects.

The lead prospect in the Dodgers offer, and the one who made the difference, was 21-year-old Cuban outfielder Yusniel Diaz. The fourth-rated prospect in the Los Angeles system at the time of the deal, Diaz punctuated his attractiveness to the Orioles brain trust by homering twice in the MLB Futures Game this past Sunday.

The other four prospects acquired by the Orioles will receive fine write-ups and every positive aspect of their various scouting reports will be highlighted. But in the end, it will be the success or failure of Diaz to make the big leagues and become an impact player which makes or breaks this deal from the Baltimore perspective.

So, this leads to the question of why the Phillies were unable to put together a package that would have enticed Baltimore even more. With one of the game’s top farm systems, they certainly could have matched those four back-end prospects that the Orioles received from Los Angeles.

It comes down to that lead piece in the deal. The Orioles group, led by general manager Dan Duquette, simply liked Diaz better than the best player the Phillies and GM Matt Klentak were willing to include.

That player is believed to be pitcher Adonis Medina, a 21-year-old right-hander who is the Phillies current second-ranked prospect. On the just released Baseball America mid-season Top 100 prospects list, Diaz came in at #47. Medina does not make the list.

The current MLB .com Top 100 rankings show Medina as the #73 prospect, with Diaz down in the #84 slot. Quite obviously the O’s evaluation leaned closer to that of the folks at Baseball America.

To win this particular battle and land Machado for their lineup in the here-and-now, only one thing would have gotten it done. The Phillies would have needed to make their top prospect, pitcher Sixto Sanchez, available in the package.

Including Sanchez was apparently never going to happen, and so Machado heads off to Hollywood to join the AL West-leading Dodgers lineup.

Outside of the hardcore followers, many Phillies fans may be wondering who is this Sanchez kid? Why wouldn’t the Phillies include a prospect – any prospect – if it would land a true superstar? Especially one such as Machado, who seemed to ideally fit what the club needed. A proven run-producer for the middle of the lineup.

Phillies may fall short in the Manny Machado Derby

Manny Machado (picture: Yahoo Sports)

While Rhys Hoskins was getting passed by Kyle Schwarber in the semi-finals of the Home Run Derby last night, it appears that the Los Angeles Dodgers may have also passed the Phillies in the Manny Machado Derby.

MLB insider Jon Heyman of Fancred Sports was first out with the story on Twitter this morning:

Breaking; The Dodgers appear to be the leading contender for superstar Manny Machado as talks head toward the finish line. The situation is fluid and brewers and phillies may still have an outside chance. Barring turnabout, deal should be done this week. Story comin on @Fancred
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 17, 2018

Just yesterday it was the Phillies who were considered the leader to land the services of the superstar Baltimore Orioles shortstop. They were willing to include the organizational number two prospect in pitcher Adonis Medina in a deal. That seemed to be a potential deal clincher.

However, Heyman believes that Los Angeles GM Farhan Zaidi may be willing to include their own fourth-rankedorganizational prospect, outfielder Yusniel Diaz, which may have tipped the scales in the Dodgers favor.

It’s difficult to believe that Diaz, a former Cuban defector as a teenager, would make that much of a difference. He is an intriguing prospect. However, scouting reports on his ultimate ceiling have always been mixed. However, perhaps the Orioles see something they really like in the 21-year old outfielder.

The Dodgers lost their own young superstar shortstop, Corey Seager, to injury for the season before it even got underway. He will be back next year, and Machado has stated that he wishes to play shortstop. Heyman addressed this in a full piece later in the morning:

“If he moves to Los Angeles, Machado will effectively be filling in for injured shortstop Corey Seager, the 24-year-old budding star who was lost for the season. That makes it highly likely that he would be a rental for the remainder of the season and then sign with a different organization in the offseason, though that would be re-evaluated after the season.”

Another respected MLB insider, Buster Olney, put out more information on Tuesday morning:

Sources: The Orioles have structure of a deal in place, and are going through the medicals/paperwork portion of the transaction. Dodgers have been very invested in their pursuit of Machado, as have the Phillies and other teams, but this in not finished yet.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 17, 2018

If it is the Dodgers, that might make it easier for the Phillies to lure him with a long-term contract in the coming off-season. That would allow them to keep their top prospects. But it would also mean that the Phillies don’t land the proven impact run producer for which the present lineup is desperate.

Until a deal is actually completed and announced with some team, the Phillies are still in it. But it may be difficult to see them actually being the winner in this Machado derby without including pitching phenom Sixto Sanchez. His inclusion would appear to be a deal-breaker, as it probably should be at this point.