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Steve Davis: Sign Up Manny

One of the Orioles most important things to cross of the "to do list" this off-season is to sign up Manny Machado long-term.

The Orioles have his rights for 3 more years, so he can't become a free agent until after the 2018 season. At that point, he will be 26 years old, right in the middle of his prime. He is one of those players that you sign to a 6 or 7 year deal and buy out some of his free agency years. You can say there is no rush, but the longer you wait, the closer he gets to tempting free agency. Machado looks like he has Cooperstown written all over him. You don't let those kinds of players enter free agency in their prime.

If Machado doesn't get signed this off-season, then by the following off-season, he only has 2 years left. His agent might just say to wait to get to free agency. They tried to sign Davis and Wieters with 2 years to go before free agency and couldn't get a deal with either one. Now, they looked smart last year for not getting it done when Davis had an awful year and Wieters get hurt. But both of those guys are playing well and both are probably gone in free agency. Neither one is a Hall of Fame talent in their early 20's.

To me, if Machado gets through the rest of the year without an injury and continues at this pace, the Orioles should open the checkbook and give him a market deal, which would be the highest deal they've ever paid out, well over $100 million.

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