....in the Spanish-American War, of course.
In retrospect, US leaders regretted annexing the Philippines as early as Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, because of its distant, exposed geographical position and the political complications inherent in pacifying millions of people who wanted to be independent.
Now TR and other expansionists of 1898 did think gaining some territory in the western Pacific was important for asserting American interests in East Asian trade.
Could the American leaders have regarded getting the Spanish Marianas, with the the islands of Saipan and Guam, as "close enough" to help show the flag in the western Pacific and East Asian waters, without taking up the burdens of administering so many people and so much land?
Alternatively, could the Spanish Pacific fleet have been somewhere else besides Manila or the Philippines leading to to any Pacific battles between the US and Spain, far from the archipelago, possibly leading to far less American interest in the islands?