Machado has approximately $6.3M of his $16M salary left this season after the tradeGETTY IMAGES
Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and GM Farhan Zaidi "outbid a sizable field of suitors" and landed SS Manny Machado from the Orioles, representing the "latest midseason rental brought to town in hopes of ending the team's 30-season championship drought," according to Andy McCullough of the L.A. TIMES. Machado "lacks the worldwide fame and unparalleled game" of recent Lakers addition LeBron James, but he might "help bring a championship to Dodger Stadium before James can return a title to Staples Center" (L.A. TIMES, 7/19). In California, Bill Plunkett notes before the trade, the Dodgers had between $6-10M worth of room below the $197M threshold at which "punitive tax measures would kick in." Machado has approximately $6.3M of his $16M salary "left this season, eating up most if not all of the Dodgers’ cushion" (ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER, 7/19). In L.A., Bill Plaschke writes Machado becomes the "biggest acquisition of the front office's four-year tenure," and the cost was a "handful of mostly unknown names." Friedman and Zaidi "pushed all their chips to the center of the table without really making a big bet" (L.A. TIMES, 7/19).
MAKING A STATEMENT: In L.A., Mark Whicker writes, "When you lose Game 7 of the World Series there is only one acceptable outcome left." Making Machado a Dodger was "important." Whicker: "Making sure he wasn’t a Phillie or a Diamondback was more so" (L.A. DAILY NEWS, 7/19). ESPN's Tim Kurkjian said the Dodgers "added one of the best players in the game, and they did so without disrupting their 25-man roster." Kurkjian: "Maybe, more important than anything, they kept Machado away from the Diamondbacks, away from the Brewers" ("Get Up!," ESPN, 7/19). USA TODAY's Bob Nightengale writes the Machado trade was "hardly a giveaway, not when they had to part with five prospects." Yet, when you have "riches greater than anyone in baseball, a deep farm system, a brilliant front office, and talented scouts, you can find the finest 1,000 prospects in the world, and they’ll never become the player of Machado." When you have a chance to "go for the gusto, and see how flawed the National League playoff landscape is this year, you don’t hesitate" (USA TODAY, 7/19).
WIN-NOW MODE: ESPN's Jason Fitz said the Dodgers "have to think about what your market is and what you're going for." Fitz: "In L.A. when they acquired LeBron for the Lakers, you have an emphasis on the dollars to be spent by the people in L.A. and entertainment value." He added "no matter what that means for the future, helping yourself right now in L.A. is important with the Dodgers, who are in a window where they feel like they can at least contend to get to the World Series, if not win it." ESPN's Mike Golic Jr.: "The Chargers and the Rams have very real chances of being good, LeBron James and the Lakers just became one of the more interesting shows in town and now you add this to the Dodgers and it's become a place where you really have to fight for your piece" ("Golic & Wingo," ESPN Radio, 7/19).
L.A. STORIES: Bleacher Report tweeted, "First @KingJames, now Manny Machado. What a summer for LA sports." Fox Sports' Colin Cowherd: "Arrived in LA three years ago. Since then the Rams, Chargers, Chip Kelly, Lebron and Manny Machado have arrived. I would, however, like to apologize for @CP3 leaving." Lakers reporter Joey Ramirez: "LeBron James, Clayton Kershaw, Manny Machado, Aaron Donald, Todd Gurley, Anze Kopitar, Candace Parker and Zlatan Ibrahimovic all play in Los Angeles." Fox Sports Radio's Jason Smith: "It won't be that hard to convince him to stay. After all, it's Los Angeles" (TWITTER.com, 7/19).
TIME TO MOVE ON: Orioles Exec VP/Baseball Operations Dan Duquette said, "Today is the start of a rebuilding process. We aim to retool our roster and get our organization back to the competitive stature that we've been used to. We've had some good years here. We were almost able to fulfill the ultimate goal for our fans, but we didn't quite get there. But, I think now, it's clear that we have a solid strategy for the future to rebuild our ballclub" (BALTIMORE SUN, 7/19).
