It might be better but when a team keeps their top 3 prospects.. And it doesn't matter if they would be good for Detroit. One top 100 prospect.. And that's why the Orioles should have just resigned him.. Sometimes it's best to keep good players you drafted..
When I say "bona fide"...I mean they have a real chance to be career major leaguers, not Dawel Lugo types. You are getting hung up on where they are ranked (Lugo was ranked in Top 100). I am looking at the career progressions and their metrics. I would be thrilled to have all 5, every one of them, in DET's system. We got 3x low end minor league middle infielders for J.D. Martinez. None of those project like any of these 5. Not even close.
Yusniel Diaz, 21, OF, (AA) hits for average. Walks big time. Star of the All-Star Futures Game. He will be ranked in the top 50, if not top 25 by year's end. Potentially starting for the Orioles next year or later this year if injuries happens.
Dean Kremer, 22, RHP, (A+) 125 Strikeouts in just 86 IP with a reasonable walk rate. 1 bad season in minors as a blemish. He has the arm, whether he starts at MLB or is a back end reliever, time will tell. Enough said.
Rylan Bannon, 22, 3B, (A+) Career .308 BAVG .409 OBP .569 SLG .978 OPS Outstanding plate discipline. Hit tool and slugging. Prototypical power hitting 3B. No red flags to say he won't make it. Just needs to advance and proof himself.
Zach Pop, 21, RHP. Reliever pitcher who is closing at low levels. Probably the player hardest to forecast in this group, but still has tons of upside.
Breyvic Valera, 26, UTIL. Think Niko Goodrum. Same age. Same utility. Almost identical skillsets. Serviceable player to have, but probably not going to be a star, especially at 26.
The Orioles were not going to sign Machado. Period. They are rebuilding and have too many high prices duds on the team (Chris Davis, Mark Trumbo, Adam Jones, Alex Cobb). Prior to this trade, their farm system was probably the worst in MLB or at least near the bottom (and like DET, has been for years). A good friend of mine (grew up in Baltimore, lives in L.A.) absolutely loves this trade. Feels they could NOT have done any better given the circumstances. He is now looking forward to them getting something for Zach Britton. The problem with Britton has been health and they are probably not going to get full value for him. They hung on too long. Even their free agent signings this offseason were ill advised (Cobb, Cashner, etc).
Keep in mind, if they don't trade Machado, he walks at the end of the year and they get the equivalent of a 2nd round pick for him. That is the comparison. There was no question that he was staying, none. Same with J.D. Martinez and the Tigers. Sure, they could have gotten more during last off season (same with DET and J.D.). But like DET, they were waiting for that overwhelming offer and still had delusions they could compete this year.
