It looks like Manny Machado’s participation in last night’s All-Star Game will be his last game as an American Leaguer for a while.
After months of speculation (and attempted interference by certain Yankees players who shall remain nameless), we finally know where Manny Machado will be spending the second half of his season.
Today, news broke that the Dodgers had acquired the shortstop from the Orioles in exchange for five prospects. Per Ken Rosenthal, the Orioles will receive OF Yusniel Diaz, 3B Rylan Bannon, RHP Dean Kremer, RHP Zach Pop, and 2B Breyvic Valera. On paper, Diaz is the most valuable of the group: Dodgers’ #4 prospect, ranked 84 in MLB Pipeline.
It’s pretty good deal for the Orioles, who are currently the worst team in baseball by a mile. And that’s me being nice. They came into the All-Star break a shocking 39.5 games out of first, with Machado the obnoxious, yet talented bright spot on an otherwise pathetic team. Machado leaving before the trade deadline was inevitable, the only question was where he’d go. A group of prospects will help the Orioles begin to rebuild, though it will likely be a long process.
There were plenty of people speculating Machado would stay on the east coast, with both the Red Sox and Yankees expressing interest. But despite some trouble with Eduardo Nuñez and Rafael Devers, the Red Sox need bullpen upgrades far more than another defensive infielder. That is and should be Dave Dombrowski’s focus as the trade deadline looms.
The Yankees also should focus on upgrading their pitching, though I’m perfectly happy to let them keep looking for players they don’t need.
Machado is a 4-time All-Star and twice Gold Glover with a career .283 batting average. This season, he has 24 homers and 65 RBIs, close to the top of MLB leaderboards, but still well behind JD Martinez, who leads in both categories.
Photo: Newsday
