All-Star shortstop Manny Machado was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers from the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday, filling a key need as the reigning National League champions seek their first Major League Baseball title since 1988.
“The Los Angeles Dodgers today acquired four-time All-Star shortstop Manny Machado from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Rylan Bannon, Yusniel Diaz, Dean Kremer, Zach Pop and Breyvic Valera,” the Dodgers said in a statement posted on Twitter – confirming a deal that had been reported to be in the works for days.
The Orioles, with the second-worst record in the major leagues, received five prospects in a deal hammered out two weeks before the trade deadline, one which helps Baltimore to rebuild for the future and the Dodgers to chase a championship now.
At 53-43, the Dodgers are only one-half game ahead of the Arizona Diamondbacks and two games atop Colorado in a tense National League West division fight with the campaign to resume Friday for most clubs after a break for the 89th MLB All-Star Game.
The Dodgers, who lost to Houston in last year’s World Series in a seventh-game winner-take-all showdown for the crown, lost shortstop Corey Seager just a month into the 2018 campaign to elbow reconstruction surgery, ending his season after only 26 games. While Los Angeles has battled to the top of the division with fill-ins at shortstop, going 17-9 in June and 10-4 to start July, landing a superstar shortstop in Machado would be just what the Dodgers need.
Machado, an American of Dominican heritage, was considered the top impact player on a struggling team that would be available for a move.
The 26-year-old is a four-time All-Star who boasts a.283 batting average with 977 hits and 162 home runs with 471 runs batted in over a seven-season career, all with the Orioles.
He entered the All-Star break with a.315 batting average for the season, 24 home runs and a.963 on-base-plus-slugging percentage – ranking among the American League’s top six in each category.
Machado had said at the All-Star Game that he looked forward to knowing where he would go after weeks of speculation about his fate with half a dozen clubs involved.
The Dodgers sent to Baltimore in exchange outfielder Yusniel Diaz, pitchers Dean Kremer and Zach Pop, second baseman Breyvic Valera and third baseman Rylan Bannon.
Diaz, who on Sunday became only the second player with two homers in the All-Star Futures Game, is considered the most talented player of the lot.
Machado is still owed about $6.3 million for this season but the Dodgers will remain under the $197 million luxury tax limit under MLB salary rules.

Indians acquire Padres closer Hand
Closer Brad Hand was traded from the San Diego Padres to the Cleveland Indians on Thursday, MLB Network reported.
The Indians also acquired submarining right-hander Adam Cimber, who was a 3.17 ERA with 51 strikeouts in 48 1/3 innings as a rookie, and received Cleveland’s top prospect, Francisco Mejia, in return.
Hand, 28, posted a 3.05 ERA and 24 saves in 44 1/3 innings pitched this season. An All-Star in 2017, Hand registered a career-low 2.16 ERA last season.
Hand is under contract for the next two seasons for a total of $13.5 million and has a team option for 2021.
Mejia, rated as the top prospect in the Indians system by Baseball America and No. 15 overall on MLB.com’s Top 100 list, was batting .279 with 22 doubles, one triple, seven home runs and 45 RBI in 79 games for Triple-A Columbus this season. Mejia, a 22-year-old switch-hitter, has played games at catcher (41), third base (1), left field (23) and right field (7) in 2018.
Cleveland’s pitching staff has been one of the best in baseball anchored by right-hander Corey Kluber. The bullpen, which helped the team to the 2016 World Series, remains a strength with Andrew Miller and Cody Allen at the back end. Miller and Allen can both hit free agency after this season.
Hand spent the first five seasons of his career with the Marlins before a trade to the Padres.