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O's not ready to sell just yet; Manny Machado reiterates desire to stay

Baltimore Orioles

Despite Baltimore's 8-20 record entering Tuesday, Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette says he isn't in sell mode just yet, even with Manny Machado's name back in the rumor mill due to the season-ending injury of Los Angeles Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager.

"We're still evaluating our club for 2018," Duquette said Tuesday, according to The Baltimore Sun. "Basically, we still need to figure out where we're going to be, so I think we need a little bit more time to do that."

Machado's tenure in Baltimore has been a talking point for some time. The three-time All-Star is in the final year of his contract, and will join a loaded free-agent class next offseason.

"Everyone has waited for the time to become a free agent," Machado said. "You want to go out there and explore your options."

Machado stopped just short of saying he would decline to sign an extension if he were traded.

"There's a price for everything," he said. "At the end of the day, we just wanted to be treated fairly and get what we deserve."

The 25-year-old was put on the trade block this past offseason before Duquette removed him due to lackluster offers.

Machado has said his focus is on Baltimore, something he reiterated Tuesday as Seager's season-ending elbow surgery fueled trade talk.

"Hopefully it doesn't come to (me being traded), we clean it up and start winning games," Machado told reporters. "I'm positive that when we get our 25 guys in here that are healthy, we are going to surprise a lot of people. We had a bad April, but it's time to turn it around and hopefully make a push for this year.

"I would like to stay here. This is a team we've been together the last seven years. I want to win with this team. Come July, come August, come tomorrow, I can't control that destiny. I just got to go out there and do whatever I can today."

Duquette says he'll likely make a decision on which direction to go with the roster later this month.

"I think it's important to find out where our ballclub is going this year," Duquette said. "I think the benchmark is Memorial Day. I think that's the first benchmark, about 60 days, to see how your ballclub is doing and see where you might want to go."

Asked about that deadline, Machado responded: "Everybody in here, we've sat down and we've talked. Everybody wants to win. We know we are way better than what's been happening, how we played the last month.

"I think everyone wants to keep playing together, we've been together for the last seven years, and we want to at least make one more push for it. ... I'm confident in the team we have here. That we can do that."

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