Hello, friends.
This is a day that I never wanted to arrive. Manny Machado is not an Oriole any more. It had to be done, of course. We all know that. When you are 28-69 and you have a star free agent-to-be who is in demand from at least a half-dozen playoff teams, there is no other choice but to do what the O’s have now done.
After a month of rumors and ballyhooing, the deal was Machado traded to the Dodgers for five players: Outfielder Yusniel Diaz, righty starter Dean Kremer, righty reliever Zach (Soda) Pop, third baseman Rylan Bannon, and infielder Breyvic Valera.