Manny Machado thinks goodbye to O fans on Instagram

So the Orioles made the headlines earlier this week. I do not know if you've heard, but minor league pitcher Asher Wojciechowski has exercised his opt-out clause and is no longer with the organization. Please keep the Orioles fans in your thoughts during this difficult time.

As everyone may already read, the Orioles * also traded yesterday, sending Manny Machado, a 26-year-old superstar, to the Los Angeles Dodgers. In exchange for their unique talent, the Orioles received five perspectives from the Dodgers minor league system

Yusniel Diaz, OF, 21

Trade is compared to the trade of Erik Bedard , which was also a five for one, because Diaz could be a poor Adam Jones. He was not Jones's prospect, but he could become a very good player.

Talented evaluators are divided on its ultimate ceiling. Some describe it as a real stud farm, and others leave it off their top 100 lists. I saw it ranked 31st overall (by Baseball Flyer), which, if accurate, is a centerpiece in a star rental package.

Most view Diaz's main flaw as a possibility of being his power at stake, though anyone who looks at the 2018 MLB Futures Game is puzzled, since he became the second player to reach multiple circuits in the match. It is possible that more power develops as it matures, and it certainly would not be the first player to hit for more power once it will reach the majors, but for the first time. moment, it's not a force. I would not expect him to be leading the 20 home runs in most seasons.

His ball-to-ball ability is his most obvious strength, since he plans to consistently hit for a high average. His drummer's eye, while he was a weakness, became a force in 2018 because he walked more times than it was (a rarity nowadays). This will play well with O fans who are tired of watching their players challenge the withdrawal records.

Dean Kremer, RHP, 22

Kremer is not a major name, which is a disappointment for O fans and one of the reasons why their trait felt so uninspiring. Compared to other hopefuls like Dustin May, Kremer looks like the team that has settled down.

That said, it currently displays the best K / 9 ratio among miners and could become a diamond in the rough. It has come a long way since it became a 14th round choice two years ago, and you have to ask yourself if the development of the Orioles throws can continue where the most successful Dodgers instructors have gone. arrested.

for being the first player born in Israel to be recruited in Major League Baseball.

Rylan Bannon, IF, 22

Bannon was an 8th player last year. He is leading the league in home runs, although playing in a notorious band box of a home park is skewing those numbers.

Bannon is undersized, but has the reputation of being good, if not elite. He is a third baseman, but will likely spend time in second place. If the power outage is real, it could end up with a good start for the Orioles on the road. Again, that's about all you can expect in trades of this nature.

Zach Pop, RHP, 21

Pop was described as potentially a future "right-handed Zach Britton", who every O fan would take a heartbeat. Of course, it is not clbadified as a future All-Star because even in the weaker farming system of the Orioles, it's probably not better than 25th.

Yet, filling players in big trades like this one are just lottery tickets, and given his lack of pedigree, Pop seems to be a relatively "safe" pitcher with projectability. He hits a lot of hitters and gets a lot of ground balls, and at the very least can probably become a decent medium relief way.

Breyvic Valera, IF, 26

In a best-scenario, Valera becomes the replacement for the Orioles Ryan Flaherty. If you squint, you can see a pretty decent improvement in each of the other players back, even despite their modest perspective rankings, but Valera is a clear utilitarian player.

He gets on base and strikes for contact pretty well to stay and has proven able to defend several positions, so he could actually have a place for him at the end of the Orioles bench.

This trade has been described as going from an adequate and somewhat deflating level to a lot of things that O fans should be excited about. Four of the five players have decent ceilings, though the odds of all four (or even just two of them) reaching those caps is highly unlikely. It's just the nature of baseball.

In the end, this trade will be judged on the success or failure of Yusniel Diaz, who is clearly the centerpiece of the package. The fact that he succeeds or not will be partly to him, and partially to the front office and player development team.

If this craft is the beginning of the core for the next competitive Orioles team, then it will have to be considered a success. If each of these players came out of the league, it was always the right decision to trade Machado instead of settling for a repechage compensation, but that would be all the more serious for O fans that Manny would reach new heights elsewhere.