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Even in a rebuild, the Orioles need to add a reliable shortstop

There are nine positions on a baseball diamond. Shortstop, it can be argued, is among the most important. As it stands, the Orioles don’t have an everyday-caliber major league shortstop on their roster. They will need to fix that at some point this offseason.

Baltimore’s three most frequent shortstops in 2018, in order, were Manny Machado, Tim Beckham and Jonathan Villar. Machado (traded in July, now a free agent) and Beckham (non-tendered) are no longer on the team. Villar filled in admirably down the stretch, but his track record suggests he’s a better fit at second base.