By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
After much speculation through Tuesday leading up to the 89th Midsummer Classic at Nationals Park, it appears that the Los Angeles Dodgers are on the brink of officially acquiring superstar slugger Manny Machado from the Baltimore Orioles, according to The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and NBC Los Angeles' Fred Roggin.
The Philadelphia Phillies were deemed as the "favorite" to acquire Machado as late as Monday evening, but the Dodgers ultimately came in and offered a more enticing, not-yet-reported package for the Hialeah, Florida, native.
Can report with more certainty: Machado to #Dodgers happening. Among remaining questions, in addition to specifics of return beyond OF Yusniel Diaz: How much money, if any, #Orioles will send #Dodgers to secure a better package and help ease LAD’s luxury-tax concerns.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 18, 2018
UPDATE, 7/18, 6:22 p.m. – Roch Kubatko, MASN: "Looks like the Machado trade to the #dodgers will go through. #orioles getting back 5 players. Told just some "final points to review" and that medical concerns have been "all but addressed." Not a deal-breaker. So stay tuned."
UPDATE, 7/18, 9:10 pm. – Trade Official: Dodgers acquire SS Manny Machado from the Orioles for OF Yusniel Diaz, RHP Zach Pop, RHP Dean Kremer, 3B Rylan Bannon, and INF Breyvic Valera.
Machado, 26, is a four-time All-Star, two-time Gold Glove Award winner at third base, and has finished in the top-10 in American League Most Valuable Player Award race three times (2013, 2015, 2016).
This season in the American League, Machado ranked fourth in RBI (65), fifth in slugging percentage (.575) and OPS (.963), and sixth in batting average (.315) and home runs (24).
Machado began the first six seasons of his big league career at the hot corner — earning Gold Glove Awards in 2013 and 2015 — but has since transitioned to his original position at shortstop. Machado has insisted he would like to continue playing short, given it is "where his heart is," but said it is "out of his hands" if the acquiring team asks him to play third base, per Fancred's Jon Heyman report.
With the Dodgers, Machado will surely retain his shortstop position. He will replace injured shortstop Corey Seager, who underwent Tommy John surgery in early May following a right ulnar collateral ligament sprain.
