What had been the worst-kept secret in Major League Baseball has become good Harmon Killebrew Jersey , old-fashioned real news.Manny Machado is headed to the Los Angeles Dodgers.After months of speculation and rumors about where the Baltimore Orioles would send Machado when they were finally ready to trade the slugging shortstop, the Dodgers emerged as the team to beat shortly before the All-Star break. A few twists and turns later, the two sides finalized a trade Wednesday.Per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports, these are the terms:Jeff Passan JeffPassanThe return to the Orioles for Manny Machado: OF Yusniel Diaz, 3B Rylan Bannon, RHP Dean Kremer, RHP Zach Pop and 2B Breyvic Valera. Diaz is the only top-100 type. Kremer could be a dude. Bannon undersized 3B crushing in Cal League. Pop is a reliever, Valera 26-year-old in AAA.Jeff Passan JeffPassanSources: No cash going from Orioles to Dodgers in the Manny Machado deal. More surprising, no international bonus-pool money, either. Orioles use theirs as sweeteners in deals since their Latin American presence is near nonexistent.Although Yusniel Diaz only checks in as MLB.com's No. 84 prospect, he's been pushing his value northward with a .905 OPS for Double-A Tulsa.The fact that he's one of only five prospects leaving Los Angeles in a trade that's bringingzero dollars back from Baltimore speaks to how badly the Dodgers wanted Machado, even if he's only two-and-a-half months away from free agency.But while it's not a steal, this deal isn't without silver linings for the Dodgers.For one thing, the club's bestyoung assets鈥攊.e., right-hander Walker Buehler, outfielder Alex Verdugo and catcher Keibert Ruiz鈥攔emain in the organization. This trade thus fits the Dodgers' usual pattern of being willing to deal young players only as long as they're not the cream of their crop.For another thing, there's the kinda-sorta important detail that the Dodgers just added one of MLB's best players to their quest to snap a World Series championship drought that dates back to 1988.Patrick Semansky/Associated PressAlthough Machado, who has four All-Star nods and two Gold Gloves, should need no introduction at this point Paul Molitor Jersey , the degree to which he's raised his game in 2018 can't be overlooked.Before this season, the 26-year-old's offensive peak involved an .876 OPS and 37 home runs in 2016. With a .963 OPS and 24 homers through his first 96 games of 2018, he's on track to blow that peak away.Even when the hitter friendly environment of Oriole Park at Camden Yards is factored into the equation via OPS+, Machado still checks in as the fifth-best hitter among batting title qualifiers at the halfway mark:1.Mookie Betts: 2002.Mike Trout: 1933.J.D. Martinez: 1724.Jose Ramirez: 1695.Manny Machado: 164For other teams in the National League, word of a hitter like this joining the Dodgers is the polar opposite of good news.After a slow start, the Dodgers have climbed to the top of the NL West largely because of their offense. It's averaged a .793 OPS and 5.1 runs per game in the team's 37-17 stretch since May 17. In general, there seems to be no going backward for the Dodgers offense:Getting to this point has been a group effort to which Max Muncy, Matt Kemp, Cody Bellinger, Chris Taylor, Joc Pederson, Yasmani Grandal, Enrique Hernandez and (when healthy) Yasiel Puig have all contributed.At worst, Machado's arrival means the Dodgers now have a great deal of protection against any regression their incumbent hitters might experience down the stretch. At best, his arrival will boost the Dodgers offense to a point where it's on par with any in MLB.One catch is that it might mean living with a downgraded defense."I'm a shortstop. I play shortstop," Machado insisted when he was asked if he would move back to third base if a new team asked him to, per Marc Carig of The Athletic.Assuming the Dodgers honor Machado's desire to remain at shortstop, they stand to bear the brunt of a defensive performance that has produced minus-19 defensive runs saved and a minus-7.7 ultimate zone rating. Machado simply hasn't been the lockdown defender at short that he was at the hot corner.However, it takes a stretch of the imagination to perceive this as the Dodgers' doom. Whereas Machado was playing on MLB'sleast efficient defense in Baltimore http://www.twinsfanproshop.com/authentic-tony-oliva-jersey , his new defense is right in the middle of the pack (14th) in efficiency. The Dodgers should have an easier time downplaying any defensive struggles Machado might experience.Besides, the appeal for the Dodgers is all about the offense. Not because they need it to finish off their comeback and clinch a sixth straight NL West title, but more so because extra offense figures to be instrumental in getting them through the postseason.No thanks to Clayton Kershaw's ongoing decline, manager Dave Roberts has had to do even more mixing and matching with his pitchers than he did in 2017. It's mostly worked, but the Dodgers may not have the arms to walk the same path to the World Series that they did last year. That one involved an NL-best 3.38 ERA in the regular season (up to 3.49 this year) and a 2.28 ERA through the first two rounds of the playoffs.And even that path wasn't good enough to take them the distance. Although the Dodgers put up a good fight in the World Series, their arms were ultimately no match for the Houston Astros' bats.Assuming they can get there, an easier challenge isn't likely to be awaiting the Dodgers in the World Series this time around. The Astros still have a high-powered offense, and the ones belonging to the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees are even better. As such, any NL team that plans on winning the World Series had better be able to win a slugfest.If the Dodgers weren't already equal to the task, they sure are now. All they need now is for Machado and the rest of their hitters to go to work. Stats courtesy of Baseball Reference and Baseball Prospectus. HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Astros were in a celebratory mood after helping Charlie Morton get a milestone win.George Springer had four hits and scored three runs to back Morton in his career-high 15th victory as the Astros beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 10-4 Saturday night.“I think our guys were genuinely happy for me,” said the 34-year-old Morton, who made his fist All-Star appearance earlier this summer. “The wins — I guess it means a lot to me because of this group. We’ve been through a lot and it means a lot to me. It was fun.”Morton (15-3) limited Arizona to two runs and three hits while striking out seven in six innings. He was perfect through three innings before the Diamondbacks scored on a sacrifice fly from David Peralta in the fourth to pull to 2-1.“He’s already entered uncharted waters and he continues to tack onto his career,” Houston manager A.J. Hinch said. “These last two seasons, he’s been pushed, he’s been challenged, he’s had to endure a few things, and he’s done his part by continuing to post and do his routine and be incredibly effective. The back of the baseball card matters.”After struggling to get hits in a 4-2 loss to the Diamondbacks the previous night, the Astros managed 12 hits — including 10 singles — and drew seven walks in the bounce-back win. Coupled with Oakland’s 7-5 loss at Tampa Bay, the Astros extended their lead in the AL West to 3 1/2 games over the Athletics with 14 games remaining.Springer http://www.twinsfanproshop.com/authentic-kent-hrbek-jersey , who finished 4 for 5, said he didn’t have any lingering shoulder discomfort after exiting Friday’s loss early as a precaution following a diving attempt in the field. Instead, the Astros’ leadoff hitter had his first four-hit game since May.The Astros put together a three-run rally in the fourth inning with a string of singles from Springer, Jose Altuve, Marwin Gonzalez and Yuli Gurriel. Gonzalez’s hit drove in two, and he advanced to third on Gurriel’s dribbler into right field and came around to score when the ball went under the glove of right fielder Steven Souza.That chased Zack Godley (14-10), who gave up five runs and seven hits, while matching a season-high with six walks in 3 2/3 innings. He lost his third straight start, failing to make it to the sixth inning for the fifth time in his last six outings — going 1-4 in that stretch.“I’m at a point where it’s one outing after another where it’s kind of a snowball effect,” Godley said. “I’ve got to figure out a way to put a stop to it and put up a clean outing.”Ketel Marte homered off Morton in the fifth to cut Houston’s lead to 5-2.The Astros answered with another three-run inning in the sixth, again using exclusively singles from Springer, Alex Bregman and Gurriel to push the lead to 8-2. Altuve had a two-run double in the seventh.Eduardo Escobar hit his 22nd homer of the year in the eighth inning into the right-field upper deck off Chris Devenski to make it 10-3. Marte’s RBI double in the ninth capped the scoring.“We played sloppy baseball today in a couple of situations,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “We can’t do that, especially in this environment, this time of the year against this team. We’ve got to figure that out.”Jose Reddick homered, his 14th, off Godley in the second inning to get the Astros on the scoreboard first, and Gurriel made it 2-0 with run-scoring grounder in the third.The Astros left the bases loaded in the first and third innings and stranded 10 runners in the game.TRAINER’S ROOMDiamondbacks: Arizona placed RHP Clay Buchholz (right elbow flexor strain) on the 60-day disabled list. Buchholz, 34 Kennys Vargas Jersey , was 7-2 with a 2.01 ERA in 16 starts for Arizona this season and was a late scratch from his last scheduled start Thursday in Colorado. RHP Randall Delgado was recalled from Triple-A Reno.Astros: RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (forearm strain) pitched a bullpen session on Saturday at the Astros’ spring training facility in Florida, facing one hitter and mixing in all of his pitches, Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. McCullers, who has been out since Aug. 4, will have a similar session on Tuesday.BREGMAN’S STREAKBregman went 1 for 2 with a run and two walks, extending his on-base streak to 41 games, the longest active streak in the majors and tied for the fourth-longest streak in franchise history.ASTROS ADD SPEEDOF Myles Straw made his major league debut as a pinch runner in the seventh after being called up from Triple-A Fresno on Saturday. Straw, 24, batted .291 with 70 stolen bases across Double-A and Triple-A this season. The Astros are hopeful that the speedy Straw can be a baserunning threat in the playoffs. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Astros transferred RHP Jandel Gustave to the 60-day disabled list.UP NEXTDiamondbacks: RHP Zack Greinke (14-9, 3.11 ERA) is 7-3 with a 2.75 ERA in his last 11 road starts. In 10 career starts against Houston, Greinke is 6-2 with a 2.24 ERA.Astros: RHP Justin Verlander (15-9, 2.72 ERA) will close out Houston’s three-game series against Arizona on Sunday. Verlander is two strikeouts behind teammate Gerrit Cole (260) for the American League lead, and just 11 shy of his career high of 269 in 2009.