Roger Arrieta
Welcome to L.A., Manny!
Well, it’s official. After some last-minute (rumored) uncertainty around the physical of one of the Dodger’s trade pieces, the deal of the season finally went through.
Manny Machado is coming to Los Angeles.
The Dodgers are trading five prospects to the Orioles for the 26-year-old All Star in what can only be described as a blockbuster deal, setting the stage for the Dodgers to make another run at the World Series.
Dodger’s GM Farhan Zaidi stated on AM 570 yesterday that “we’re in first place by the slimmest of margins and four teams are within a few games… improving the team in this period was imperative.” Machado has been confirmed to be in the lineup against the Brewers in Friday night’s return to regular season baseball, most likely at shortstop. “He’s going to move around,” Zaidi also stated, adding another element to an already versatile defense.
Machado, like Yu Darvish in 2017, is (likely) a rental and will be a free agent at the end of the season. Yet unlike 2017, the Dodgers went after the hottest commodity on the trade market (Justin Verlander, arguably the hottest commodity on the 2017 market went to… well, you know where.)
With the trade deadline still over a week away, Zaidi also went on to say the Dodgers are still after relief pitchers.
The pieces are falling into place, and 30 is a nice round number.
