The inevitable became official on Wednesday.
Manny Machado is no longer an Oriole as Baltimore traded the four-time All-Star infielder to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for five minor-league prospects, a group headlined by Cuban outfielder Yusniel Diaz. The move boosts the Dodgers’ chances of winning their second straight National League pennant and officially begins a rebuild for the last-place Orioles, who own the most losses in the majors at the All-Star break.
“Manny Machado provided Orioles fans with many great memories over his eight years in Birdland,” executive vice president of baseball operations Dan Duquette said. “We will always appreciate his talent, and we wish him the best in the National League.”
Diaz, a 21-year-old Cuban outfielder, ranked as MLB Pipeline’s No. 4 prospect in the Dodgers system and is the No. 47 prospect in Baseball America’s top 100 list. He hit two home runs in Sunday’s All-Star Futures Game and has seen his stock rise in 2018 with a .314 batting average, 20 extra-base hits, 30 runs batted in, eight stolen bases, and a .905 on-base plus slugging percentage in 264 plate appearance at Double-A Tulsa. Diaz has played all three outfield spots in the minor leagues, but he projects as a major league corner outfielder and could serve as a future leadoff hitter with a .428 on-base percentage this season.
Baltimore also received third baseman Rylan Bannon, right-handed starting pitcher Dean Kremer, right-handed reliever Zach Pop, and infielder Breyvic Valera.
The 22-year-old Bannon has batted .296 with 20 homers, 61 RBIs, and a .961 OPS in 403 plate appearances for Rancho Cucamonga. He was an eighth-round pick out of Xavier in last year’s draft and ranked as MLB Pipeline’s No. 27 prospect in the Dodgers system.
Kremer, 22, could be the most intriguing talent of that secondary group despite ranking as MLB Pipeline’s No. 28 Dodgers prospect. The 14th-round pick of the 2016 draft was recently promoted to the Double-A level and posted a 3.30 ERA and struck out 13.0 per nine innings in 79 innings at high Single-A Rancho Cucamonga.
8
Pop, 21, was a seventh-round pick out of Kentucky in last year’s draft and has posted a combined 1.04 ERA with a 9.8 per nine strikeout rate in 43 1/3 innings split between two Single-A levels.
The 26-year-old Valera is the only one of the group with major league experience, but he projects as no better than a utility infielder. He’s a career .154 hitter in 45 career plate appearances split between the Dodgers and St. Louis. He owns a career .748 OPS in nine minor-league seasons.
“As we begin the task of rebuilding our roster to compete in the AL East, we look forward to the contributions of the five players we added to the organization [Thursday],” Duquette stated. “Diaz is a young and gifted hitter. Valera and Bannon are versatile fielders with excellent on-base skills, and Kremer and Pop’s excellent seasons are indicative of their bright futures.”
Upon announcing the deal Wednesday night, the Orioles optioned Valera to Triple-A Norfolk while Diaz, Bannon, Kremer, and Pop were all assigned to Double-A Bowie.
