The Baltimore Orioles may be getting closer to dealing away franchise star Manny Machado, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, and the sweepstakes appear to be down to four teams.

Rosenthal listed two division leaders, Arizona Diamondbacks and Cleveland Indians, as the two clubs that "might be the teams most motivated to trade for Machado." This is only speculation on his end, but the D-Backs and Indians certainly could use Machado's bat and defense at shortstop, and both have the right amount of assets to make a trade.

Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports reported that the Los Angeles Dodgers are "aggressively pursuing" Machado, and that the Orioles are "heavily scouting" their minor league system. And though the Philadelphia Phillies apparently love Machado, they'd likely try to pursue him in free agency this winter - and not in a trade, per Todd Zolecki of MLB.com.

With that, it looks like there are four teams that will make a move to try and land Machado, though the Phillies are long shots. With the deadline less than a month away, Machado's services now come down to the highest bidder.

Machado - who turns 26 on Friday - is batting .308 with 21 home runs, 59 RBI and has an OPS of .943. The Orioles own the worst record in baseball, however, and don't have the financial resources to outbid other suitors in free agency. As such, there's no doubting that they will deal the face of their franchise.

Machado is a three-time All-Star and two-time Gold Glove winner. Whichever team lands him will significantly boost their World Series championship hopes, but they'll have to put together a strong package to get him.

He is easily the biggest trade chip on the market this year, and Machado can single-handedly make the difference in a playoff series. Now, we just wait and see who the lucky winners of the Macho sweepstakes are.

NEXT: ONE MOVE THAT EVERY MLB TEAM MUST MAKE BEFORE THE 2018 TRADE DEADLINE