The Baltimore Orioles forged ahead with what was becoming an increasing likelihood by trading All-Star shortstop Manny Machado to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Orioles received five prospects in return, with Cuban outfielder Yusniel Diaz representing the centerpiece.
Diaz received a $15.5 million signing bonus when he joined the Dodgers during the 2015-16 international signing period. He’d since gone on to become one of the organization’s highly-rated prospects.
Heading into the regular season, Diaz was ranked the Dodgers’ sixth-best prospect by Baseball America. MLB Pipeline rated Diaz as the No. 4 prospect in the Dodgers farm system at the time of the trade.