Well folks, it has finally happened. Manny Machado, 4 time all-star SS/3B for the Baltimore Orioles, was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was something that, in my opinion, any baseball fan should’ve saw coming, because it was obviously the destination best suited for him. I mean, there were teams that were interested in him, like the Brewers, but after the offer for him leaked it was quite obvious the Dodgers were always the team with the best chance to get him. In this article, I will break down the trade and talk about how it’ll affect the Dodgers and Orioles now and in the distant/far away future.

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Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images

He’ll definitely impact the Dodgers in a big way, especially in his career years. As an Oriole, he hit a .315 BA, 24 HR, 65 RBI, .387 OBP, .575 SLG, .963 OPS, 45 walks, 51 strikeouts, 115 H, 21 2B, and 1 3B in 413 plate appearances. The Dodgers have been looking for a replacement shortstop since Corey Seager was announced to have Tommy John surgery. This obviously will only be temporary so they have been looking for a rental shortstop. Machado is a perfect fit, having a career year and will be a free agent at the end of the year. This will include his stats in a loaded hitting core with Max Muncy, Cody Bellinger, and Matt Kemp. I will breakdown how this trade will work for the NL West and MLB in the distant future in a bit, but first I’ll get into what the Orioles recieved in this trade.

The Orioles recieved a bounty and possibly a surplus of prospects from LA, including 3 position players and 2 pitchers. Here are all of their stats from this season in the Dodgers’ minor league systems:

  • OF Yusniel Diaz: .314 BA, 6 HR, 30 RBI, .428 OBP, .477 SLG, .905 OPS, 41 BB, 39 SO, 69 H, 10 2B, and 4 3B in 220 at-bats in AA
  • RHP Dean Kremer: 6-3 record, 3.03 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 125 SO, 29 BB, and a .233 BAA in 86 innings pitched in A+ and AA
  • 3B Rylan Bannon: .296 BA, 20 HR, 61 RBI, .402 OBP, .559 SLG, .961 OPS, 59 BB, 103 SO, 100 H, 17 2B, and 6 3B in 338 at-bats in A+
  • RHP Zach Pop: 1-3 record, 1.66 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, 47 SO, 15 BB, and a .179 BAA in 43.1 innings pitched in A and A+
  • 2B Breyvic Valera: .284 BA, 6 HR, 25 RBI, .350 OBP, .433 SLG, .783 OPS, 21 BB, 20 SO, 57 H, 8 2B, and 2 3B in 201 at-bats in AAA

If I had to guess who wins this trade, I’d say it’s too early to tell. A lot of pressure to win this trade is on Los Angeles I think, because if they don’t win a pennant or get to the NLCS with Machado then I’d say that Baltimore will have won the trade. Even though any of the prospects they got aren’t ranked high in the top 100, as Diaz is ranked the highest at 84th overall, they still boast some very good stats in the minors and could be threats in the majors if they make it to that level. They got some infielders to replace Machado, an outfielder to add to their future bounty of outfielders, and a couple of pitchers to add to their rotation or bullpen.

Now, this trade is big trouble to both the Diamondbacks and Rockies. Both teams are still 1 and 1.5 games back, but in the future and as Machado adjusts to the NL then it could prove trouble for them. Before this trade, both of them had relatively similar hitting cores before Machado arrived in LA. Although the Diamondbacks have a much worse team OPS than the Dodgers, but the Rockies have a better one than the Dodgers. This trade will boost the Dodgers above both of them even more in my opinion and if neither of them make a trade to help their hitting/pitching cores the Dodgers will have that opinion. In my opinion, the Diamondbacks should get either Brian Dozier, Eduardo Escobar, or Shin-Soo Choo, The Rockies should get a pitcher like Steven Matz.

Right now, we aren’t seeing many trade rumors from either team, so the Dodgers should definitely get a big breather if the D-Backs or Rockies don’t make any big deadline moves. Adding a .963 OPS Machado to their roster adds a huge load of pressure to both of the teams to make a deadline move. If they want to contend for the NL West division title this season, they both have to make big moves. The D-Backs need a few hitters and the Rockies need a few starting pitchers or relievers. If we don’t see any big movrs from them then the Dodgers should win the division again this season.

For the MLB this is big trouble for some big contenders. Right now, the team with the best record in the NL are my favorite hometown Cubs, but teams like Phillies and Brewers aren’t far behind. The Dodgers have had the worst winning percentage out of every team who would be in the playoffs if the season ended right now. Having Machado will boost them up and could get them the best record in the MLB. For the playoffs, people have had them dropping lower in the pennant race, but this trade could boost them back up.

This acquisition reminds me of the Darvish trade the Dodgers made last year. They improved an already good rotation with an even better player and that boosted them to the World Series. Obviously, this is different because Machado is a hitter, but at the same time you have to see that the Dodgers infield is already solid and Machado will boost that similar to what Darvish did for their rotation. If this ends up being like the Darvish trade, then Machado could boost the Dodgers to a pennant with good postseason hitting stats. At the same time, the playoffs are a lot of pressure and Machado, unlike Darvish, hasn’t played in many postseasons. This is unpredictable, so we don’t know which route this trade is going to end up.

In conclusion, this trade will be decided for a winner by the end of the season. As I have listed, Machado could affect the Dodgers for the rest of the season and the postseason in a number of unpredictable ways. Rentals are risky for trades, and for every trade I have seen this is the most number of prospects I’ve ever seen given up and Machado being a rental makes it an even more risky deal. It’s certainly possible that this entire trade won’t be decided until at least 3 of the prospects given up have had major league experience. Overall, this trade is very cloudy and I am just listing my predictions for how it will end up both in the distant and far away future.