MLB Winter Meetings rumors: Yes, the Yankees are interested in Manny Machado

The Yankees may not be done collecting stars

The story of the 2017 Winter Meetings so far is the Orioles' willingness to discuss franchise player Manny Machado in trades. Machado is a year away from free agency and the O's don't want to lose him for nothing next winter, so they'll entertain offers. They have no choice but to listen, really.

One of the teams that has expressed interest in Machado? The New York Yankees, of course. Even after adding Giancarlo Stanton, the Yankees checked in with the O's about Machado.

The Yankees are one of the teams that has expressed interest in Manny Machado. There would be major questions about whether the two division rivals would actually conclude a deal, but Orioles are listening, Yankees have a loaded farm system. White Sox also interested.

— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) December 12, 2017

A few things about this. One: Machado reportedly wants to play shortstop, and the Yankees already have a pretty good shortstop in Didi Gregorius. Would they move Gregorius to third base, a position he has basically never played? Two: O's owner Peter Angelos and late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner had a long-running feud, and Angelos has all but sworn off trading with the Yankees. I can't imagine he's eager to send Machado to New York.

And three: Machado possibly being traded to the Yankees has already been shot down, or at least some of those involved have said it's very unlikely.

Have learned never to say never, but 3 people who would be involved for #Yankees #Orioles said either no way on a Machado trade or haven't heard that as a real possibility. Don't think this version of NYY would trade big prospects for player 1 yr from free agency.

— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) December 12, 2017

The Yankees do have a stacked farm system and could blow the Orioles away with an offer -- including top prospect Gleyber Torres as part of a package for one year of Machado would catch Baltimore's attention, I imagine -- though that is not GM Brian Cashman's M.O. He tend to shop for bargains, similar to the Stanton trade.

For all intents and purposes, the Yankees called the Orioles about Machado out of due diligence. He's a great player and you've got to at least show some interest. You never know when a great deal will fall into your lap. As the Stanton trade showed, sometimes things just fall into place.