National Harbor — This offseason, it might be natural for the Orioles to at least explore the trade markets for All-Star closer Zach Britton and third baseman Manny Machado, a pair of superstar talents with two years of club control left.

With relievers drawing premium talent via trade and in line for major free-agent contracts, and with generational talents rarely available in trades, some believe the Orioles would do well to at least see whether there's an offer out there that they can't refuse.

That hasn't happened, executive vice president Dan Duquette said. And they don't come up in talks because Duquette doesn't let them.

“There's always interest in your best players, but I don't really talk about our best players in trade talks because people take that the wrong way,” Duquette said.

Orioles won't pursue ‘villain' Bautista:The agent of veteran slugger Jose Bautista has reached out to the Orioles numerous times, including at this week's winter meetings. But Duquette said he has rebuffed him at every turn because he knows the team's fan base would not be receptive to any notion of pursuing Bautista.

“That's true,” Duquette told The Baltimore Sun on Wednesday morning. “The agent called and I said, ‘Really? Jose is a villain in Baltimore and I'm not going to go tell our fans that we're courting Jose Bautista for the Orioles because they're not going to be happy.'?”

Bautista, 36, is also one of several free-agent sluggers tied to draft-pick compensation, which Duquette added was another reason for the lack of interest. Asked later in the day whether his stance would change if Bautista's price tag dropped, Duquette smiled and said, “I'll have to check with the fans.”

Showalter on Orioles' targets: Manager Buck Showalter, in his annual media availability at the winter meetings, said free-agent catchers Welington Castillo and Nick Hundley have been discussed by the team's brass, as have outfielders Michael Saunders and Michael Bourn.

Warning that Duquette could be working quietly on some players, Showalter shot down any interest in a trade for New York Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner and Seattle Mariners outfielder Seth Smith, as well as free-agent slugger Chris Carter.

Kim set for bigger role: Outfielder Hyun Soo Kim, who began 2016 as an encumbrance on the Orioles and barely played for the first two months of the season, is being welcomed into 2017 with a different tune.

Showalter tapped Kim as a growth stock for 2017, saying the team will ask more of him and has reason to expect it.

“I think about all the things that challenged him last year that are not going to challenge him this year, and we talk about guys that could go to another level, I think he's got that potential,” Showalter said. “We saw flashes of it. You know, the left-handed-pitching thing just kind of snowballed. He's a lot better than that. I think he's an adequate defender, a guy that I could play right field instead of left field if we needed to, especially in our ballpark.”

A year of experience in the United States for the South Korean star will help him start stronger next year, the team hopes, though the World Baseball Classic could complicate that.

Kim was one of four major league players announced on the preliminary roster for South Korea in the March tournament, and the Orioles will support him if he wants to play. It's unclear whether it will help or hurt his preparation, though.

“That's an interesting question, because one of the things about Kim last year was he didn't get off to a very good start because he was used to a much longer preparation period,” Duquette said. “Spring training was a lot longer in Korea, so there's two ways to look at that. If he's out playing competitive games early on in spring training, he's probably getting the reps there to get ready for the season. But I don't know what his decision is going to be. That's a personal decision.”

Around the horn: Britton will not be accepting an invitation to play for the United States in the WBC. “He cited the need to spend more time with his family. He just had a baby recently, and he'll be in camp with us preparing for the season,” Duquette said. ... Asked about capitalizing on their final two years of club control over Machado, Showalter said his own contract is up that day, too. “Timing is everything,” Showalter joked. “Manny's not going to be here? There's your answer. If he goes, I go — there's a headline.”

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Baltimore Sun reporter Eduardo A. Encina contributed to this article.