Get To Know the Newest Members of The Orioles
Manny Machado has officially been traded to the L.A. Dodgers for five prospects, and L.A. will be Mannywood yet again. In return, the Baltimore Orioles will get five prospects, three of which were in the Dodgers top 30 prospects.
The biggest piece in this deal was the Dodgers number four prospect, Yusniel Díaz. Good news is that he is already accustomed to the DMV air. He hit two bombs during the Futures Game in D.C. over the weekend.
That’s right, we’re tied up again! Courtesy of @Dodgers prospect Yusniel Diaz. #FuturesGame pic.twitter.com/r0yGfeHWt1
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) July 15, 2018
And just like that, we’re tied again!!
Yusniel Diaz crushes his second homer of the game! ??? #FuturesGame @Dodgers pic.twitter.com/R1syAfKHqB
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) July 15, 2018
The Dodgers originally signed Diaz out of Cuba in 2015 for a $15.5 million signing bonus.
Diaz made his American debut in advanced A ball in 2016 with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes where he spent all but three games. In his first year he slashed .267/.326/.415 with nine home runs and 57 RBI.
He stayed with the Quakes for the start of the next season before being promoted to AA Tulsa Drillers. Across A+ and AA, Diaz slashed .292/.354/.433 with 11 home runs and 52 RBI.
Before being traded to the Orioles, Diaz was enjoying his best season yet. He started off by slashing .314/.428/.477 with 6 home runs and 30 RBI. He also improved his strikeout to walk ratio. He has walked 41 times compared to 39 strikeouts. That is a drastic improvement from his 45 walks and 102 strikeouts last season.
Diaz will join an already stacked minor league outfield for the orioles. Three of the Orioles top ten prospects are in the outfield (Austin Hays, Cedric Mullins, DJ Stewart.)
Next it in the deal is the Dodgers number 27 prospect, Rylan Bannon. Bannon was drafted by the Dodgers in the eighth round out of Xavier University in 2017. He will be joining his former Xavier teammate Zach Lowther on the Orioles.
Bannon has been quite the slugger since his senior year of College when he lead the Big East in Home Runs and was named Big East Player of the Year.
After being drafted by the Dodgers, Bannon was sent to the Pioneer rookie league. He played 40 games in the pioneer league .336/.425/.591 with 10 home runs and 30 RBI.
Bannon was promoted to the Quakes for the 2018 season where he kept up the power numbers. He has slashed .296/.402/.559 with 20 home runs and 61 RBI.
His biggest downside has been his fielding. Though hes spent more time at third, hes also spent time playing second. In 749 innings, Bannon has 21 errors at third base and a .916 fielding percentage. In 182 innings at second base he has two errors and a .974 fielding percentage.
The next prospect is the Dodgers number 28 prospect, Dean Kremer. The 22-year-old pitcher was selected by the Dodgers in the 2016 draft out of UNLV in the 14th round.
Kremer was sent to the Rookie League after being drafted and made six starts where he had a 3.86 ERA. He was then promoted to Low A Great Lakes. He made six appearances out of the bullpen and carried a 0.59 ERA.
He spent the entire 2017 season with the Quakes. He played in 33 games including six start, and pitched to a 5.18 ERA and 96 Ks over 80 innings.
He started this season with the Quakes making 16 appearances all as a starter. Over 79 innings he had an ERA 3.03 and struck out 114 batters.
He only made one appearances in AA so far this season before he was traded. In that start he pitched a complete game shutout (seven innings) only allowing three hits and striking out 11.
The other pitching prospect is Zach Pop. The 21-year-old was drafted out of The University of Kentucky in the seventh round of the 2017 draft.
He started his pro career in the Arizona Rookie League where he made five scoreless appearances striking out 5.
He spent the first month of the 2018 season in low A with the Great Lake Loons. In 16.1 innings over 11 games he had a 2.20 ERA and struck out 24. His strong start got him promoted to A+ where he continued his strong season. He pitched 27 innings in 19 games allowing only one run and earning seven saves.
The final player involved in the trade, Breyvic Valera, the only player involved to see Major League action. Valera had success in the minors, hitting .303 over nine minor league seasons. Despite his minor league success he has only hit .154 in 39 at-bats. Valera is a classic utility player. He has spent time at just about every position.
While it is likely that none of these players will live up to the standard of Manny Machado, at least the Orioles were able to be competent enough to get something for him.
