The Manny Machado deal is expected to be finalized in the next day or two. An announcement from the Dodgers and Orioles should break either Wednesday or Thursday as we learn all of the details of the blockbuster trade. Reports are indicating that there will be five players going to Baltimore for Machado with 21-year old outfielder Yusniel Diaz being the centerpiece of the swap. Machado will play shortstop for the rest of the season with Chris Taylor probably moving back to the outfield.
I’m ecstatic about the acquisition of one of the best hitting shortstops in baseball coming to Los Angeles. My apologies to Corey Seager but Machado is one of the best players in baseball at the position. This is the first true star that Andrew Friedman has obtained since he rode into town. He’ll likely never sign a star via free agency but getting an impact bat like Machado is a great pick-up, even if he’s just a three month rental.
With the addition of Machado the offense is going to be very good. That doesn’t mean that the Dodgers still don’t need pitching help. Do the Dodgers have any trade chips left in the farm system to acquire some good pitching? I’m not so sure. Maybe the Dodgers can also get former star closer Zach Britton whom the Orioles are also trying to move. The Orioles are terrible and beginning their rebuild. They’re trying to dump as many high priced veterans as they can and possibly could make another deal with the Dodgers.
Because while the hitting is going to be top-notch with Machado hitting third in the middle of the Dodgers lineup and the starting pitching is finally healthy. However the bullpen still needs a lot of work. If you think that the current group of journeyman relievers such as Erik Goeddel and Zac Rosscup will be able to hold leads in the seventh and eighth innings down the stretch and in the postseason then you’ve probably been drinking the blue kool-aid.
The Dodgers currently have a ragtag collection of castoff journeyman relievers and there is no bridge to closer Kenley Jansen. There’s just no way that guys like Daniel Hudson, Dylan Floro or Rosscup are going to be able to retire Paul Goldschmidt or Kyle Schwarber in the seventh innings with runners on base. What about those mentioned relievers facing Aaron Judge, or Mookie Betts in a late inning fall classic matchup? I’m sorry to say but those guys are just not going to cut it.
My main issue with Friedman and the moneyball game is their lack of respect for pitching in general, specifically starting pitching. Simply put the front office just doesn’t value pitching at all continuing to sign injury riddled pitchers or castoff relievers. A couple may work out or surprise performing better than expected but most of the time it doesn’t end well. This trade deadline has to be different. The Dodgers have to get some good pitching or they won’t win the World Series, or even get back there this fall.
The moneyball philosophy that all relievers are a dime a dozen is just false. Their strategy of using 7-8 relievers every single game and hooking starting pitchers after 4 or 5 innings has resulted in not one, not two, but four of the Dodgers primary middle relievers landing on the disabled list with arm/shoulder problems. For the record all of those relievers are still out and while Pedro Baez is expected back soon, it’s still not certain the rest of the guys will be able to pitch again anytime soon or possibly the rest of the season.
As I have stated on this blog for years now, pitching is the name of the game. Without a strong pitching staff you won’t go far even if you have the best lineup in the National League. Innings and health count for something. If you’re not getting 6-7 innings from your starters then you put an unhealthy workload on the bullpen which can’t be sustained over the course of the long season.
The Dodger relief corp ranks 13th out of the 30 clubs with a 3.80 ERA, and 14th out of the 30 teams in WHIP. The Dodger pitching staff overall ranks third in baseball in ERA, but there is a huge difference between the starters and the relievers. Not only that but the Dodger relievers are fifth in innings pitched (362 frames), while the starters rank near the bottom of MLB with only 508 innings logged from their starters. Only the Cubs, Reds and Marlins have gotten less innings from their rotations. This is why four relievers are out with injuries.
The most important part of any midseason acquisition is that the player is that the player is having a good season. The Dodgers acquired Yu Darvish last season around this time but he hadn’t been pitching well. Machado is having a good season so I would expect him to perform well. Britton would probably help the bullpen but he hasn’t had a good season either. He’s had multiple injuries and has not performed up to his career norms. Manny Machado is coming to Los Angeles and that is amazing. The Dodgers still need pitching help and still have some work to do.
Good point about Darvish. He came rather easily for a reason.
I’m not sold that the starting pitching is healthy. If it is, I would add “for now”.
Pitching. We need it and we will audition more starting soon.
It will really be a shame if there isn’t a plan to try and sign him to a long-term deal. I have never ever ever been a fan of short-term rentals when giving up a boat load of prospects and some damn good prospects in particular. The bigger question can one offensive player offset some pretty marginal pitching? No pitching, no prize!
+1.
Totally agree, but I’m not sure this prospect package is going to be that extrodinary.
But I don’t know what the package is.
Reports are the Orioles have concerns over the medical files of one or more of the prospects in the Machado deal. Supposedly not Diaz. So no deal is for sure.
Per Crasnick:
The Orioles and Dodgers have worked through the final hurdles in their trade talks, and Manny Machado is heading to Los Angeles, sources confirm.
Things are looking up.
Remember that lineup I gave you after this deal went down? We have a very crowded outfield now. Somebody will be sent off for pitching soon. And your choice for that is?????
Has to be a major leaguer, the team is very close to the threshold and has too many OFs.
McCullough is well plugged-in, so Puig may be indicative of things he has heard.
The Dodgers are sending Diaz, infielders Rylan Bannon & Bryevic Valera and right-handed pitchers Dean Kremer & Zach Pop to Baltimore.
It appears May, a higher ranked prospect, was kept out and lower level prospects were provided. Maybe May was the price to pay for shipping out Forsythe, but that was called off.
None of the prospects are consensus too 100 prospects.
We paid a very good price for Machado here. I’m excited this got done.
Now we are very close to the lux tax threshold. I’m not sure there’s enough room there to get quality relievers without getting other teams to take some of our salary.
Think outfielders YF. Think trading of an outfielder.
Badger
Thinking outfielders, I can think of only 2 that would help the money picture and that is Kemp and Puig. Don’t think I would want to trade either for salary purposes.
If we add a starting pitcher, one of the other starters could help out in the bullpen. What starter might be available for the right price?
When I was trading Pederson last year, you remember that period, I read an article that was headlined “Mets should trade for Joc Pederson”.
Yeah, maybe they should.
Or….. Puig?
They should DFA Forsythe now. The worst that could happen is they would be paying him his remaining $3MM while he sits at home, NOT TAKING UP A ROSTER SPACE!!! Better would be for someone to claim him off waivers and have to pay his salary. Not going to happen… Next someone may make a trade offer for him. Only a possibility. Next to worst option is someone waits til he clears waivers, then signs him and has to pay only the pro-rated minimum pay while we pay the rest. All of those options are better than the situation we now have.
They could attach a prospect to him and clear enough to afford another pitcher. Or trade Puig. Or Pederson. Or do all three of those things.
I still can’t believe it happened?
But I can’t wait until Friday!
I’m with you on that MJ. I didn’t think they would do it. I’m impressed.
https://twitter.com/BNightengale/status/1019725907014115328
Yeah, I’ve read that too in various places Jonah. I still think I would pursue a starter and move Maeda to the bridge inning. Wood could do it too. Those guys seem to fade a bit each year so it makes sense to consider it.
As you and I have discussed privately, the FAZ model is not 7-1-1. It’s now more a 5-1-1-1-1 or at best 6-1-1-1 These guys work the 7-9 late innings according to matchups. Maeda has proven he can do it. Trying to put my FAZ hat on, I say trade Pederson/Puig+ for another quality 5 inning starter and head into the pennant drive stacked with pitching.
You guys keep forgetting that Puig is on the DL. And he is most likely going to be out for a lot more than the 10 days. They were saying at least a month after the injury. A player on DL is not likely to be traded. If they make any moves, the salaries are going to have to be close. They are basically up against the luxury tax with no leeway. They move any outfielder it will likely be a LH hitter. That’s where they have the most flexibility and Verdugo is still in the pipeline as a low cost replacement. Bigger question is will Muncy relinquish #13. Jansen has offered to pay him to do so. Also most reports say, and Zaidi said yesterday on the radio that up grading the bullpen was a priority, not the starting pitching since they have 2 returning from injury soon, Ryu, Urias, and Buehler at AAA. And Scott, you are right on about their lack of respect for pitching proven over their almost 3 year run at the helm. Britton is likely too expensive for their budget.
As I said Bear, Puig and deGrom balance out close with $. Puig $9.2, FA ‘20, deGrom $7.4, FA ‘21. Puig is 27, deGrom is 30. It’s true that deGrom has a higher 3 year WAR, but a 30 year old strike out pitcher is considered old now. The Mets are going nowhere this year. A 27 year old everyday corner outfielder and a couple prospects just might interest them. There is also Syndergaard and Wheeler, though they are younger.
Being in the DL is not a problem. Remove him before the 31st.
And, we upgrade the bullpen by adding a starter. Who would be better in the 7th and 8th than Maeda? We also may have Urias back in August.
He will not be healthy by the 31st. He would not pass the physical. And the Mets would most likely want a lot more. Puig is in the last year of his deal also. There used to be a rule that a player could not be traded or released while on the DL. I know that no longer stands. Because the Dodgers got Arroyo when he was on the DL in the Lato’s deal. I just am pretty sure the Mets on not moving either of those guys unless they are knocked over by the offer. Yasiel by himself does not do that and they are also loaded with outfielders. I might be wrong about Puig’s contract and maybe it is that he is arbitration eligible…but I know something is going on there.