Orioles trade ace Machado to Dodgers

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 NL West division fight with the campaign to resume tomorrow for most clubs after a break for the 89th MLB All-Star Game.

The Dodgers, who lost to the Houston Astros 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.

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 AllStar 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.