Los Angeles Dodgers won the Manny Machado sweepstakes, getting the prized MLB All-Star shortstop from the Baltimore Orioles in a trade.
The Dogers get a four-time American League All-Star with two Gold Gloves who has 129 homers over the past three.
Machado was drafted third overall by the Orioles in 2010, made his big league debut in 2012 and spent his entire major league career in Baltimore.
In Wednesday's trade the Orioles received five prospects: outfielder Yusniel Diaz, right-handers Dean Kremer and Zach Pop, and third basemen Rylan Bannon and Breyvic Valera.
Machado, a 26-year-old power hitter with extraordinary fielding skills, greatly improves the Dodgers' chances of reaching the World Series for a second consecutive year.
He led Baltimore in batting average (.315), home runs (24) and RBIs (65).
Machado is expected to be introduced in Milwaukee on Friday before the Dodgers open a series against the Brewers.
"We viewed Manny Machado as a big difference maker," Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi said.
The Dodgers are in a close race in the NL West, leading Arizona by a half-game going into the second half.
"Our first hope is we have a division-winning roster," Zaidi said.
"Any time you have a chance to add an impact player in a tight division race that's something you have to look at closely."
Machado's contract expires at the end of the season and the last-place Orioles decided against negotiating an expensive, multi-year extension because they have too many holes as the team moves into a rebuilding mode.
"We tried to maintain a competitive club this year and that's why we resisted the offers we had in the off-season to trade Manny," Dan Duquette, the Orioles' executive vice president of baseball operations, said.
"But when it became obvious that it was time to look to the future, trading Manny is the first step in the plan to rebuild our ballclub."
Asked if the Dodgers would re-sign Machado, Zaidi demurred.
"Let's have him at least show up in a Dodger uniform before we start asking those questions," he said.
"We hope he plays well and creates a good market for himself. We're not worried about what happens past 2018."
