NEWSLETTER
And … we’ve made it: the Orioles deal to send Manny Machado to Los Angeles is reportedly officially done:
Machado notified. Deal is official.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 18, 2018
.@Dodgers acquire Manny Machado from Orioles for 5-player package, @Ken_Rosenthal reports. #MLBOnTheMove https://t.co/gPR9AmXMQD pic.twitter.com/sSu7QRma0J
— MLB (@MLB) July 18, 2018
Deal is Machado for Diaz, Kremer, Pop, Bannon and Valera.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 18, 2018
I know there have been some roller coaster moments in this one over the past two days, but Rosenthal is about as trusted as they come in this arena and Jon Heyman has been on top of Machado’s rumors all season long. You can go ahead and wait for the press conference for the officially official moniker, but it’s done: Manny Machado to the Orioles in exchange for Yusniel Diaz (4th best prospect in L.A. according to MLB Pipeline, but clearly on the rise), Dean Kremer (28th), Zach Pop (unranked so far), Rylan Bannon (27th), and Breyvic Valera (unranked).
It’s a huge haul for the Orioles in terms of quantity, but also in terms of quality as Diaz looks like the real deal. Good for them.
The return to the Orioles for Manny Machado: OF Yusniel Diaz, 3B Rylan Bannon, RHP Dean Kremer, RHP Zach Pop and 2B Breyvic Valera.
Diaz is the only top-100 type. Kremer could be a dude. Bannon undersized 3B crushing in Cal League. Pop is a reliever, Valera 26-year-old in AAA.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 18, 2018
As Brett has discussed countless times over, we can be mildly upset that Machado found his way onto an NL team this summer – especially one that seems destined for the postseason, where he could be weaponized against the Cubs – but L.A. is a lot further from home than Milwaukee, and the Dodgers won’t likely be courting Machado for an extended stay, so that’s good. There’s probably some dream scenario wherein the Dodgers miss the postseason altogether, but I wouldn’t count on it, especially now.
As for next steps, you might expect the rumors surrounding Orioles reliever and potential Cubs target Zach Britton to pick back up now that this deal is done. And more than that, the rumors might even include some IFA bonus pool money, since it sounds like the Orioles reportedly didn’t include any in this trade:
Sources: No cash going from Orioles to Dodgers in the Manny Machado deal. More surprising, no international bonus-pool money, either. Orioles use theirs as sweeteners in deals since their Latin American presence is near nonexistent.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 18, 2018
Meanwhile, you can expect the rumor mill and activity to accelerate generally through the end of the month with a huge, obvious trade piece now of the market, and other suitors – including the Brewers – left looking at other options.
Brett Taylor contributed to this post.
