Dodgers, Yankees lead the pack of teams that crushed it at the trade deadline

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

It seems like years ago that Manny Machado was dealt from Baltimore to Los Angeles, but his deal represents the Dodgers’ biggest win of the trade deadline season. Adding an MVP quality player is always a useful acquisition.

Even if Machado elects to sign elsewhere in the offseason, this was a gamble worth taking for the Dodgers’ front office. They are a team with legitimate World Series aspirations. Machado is the type of player who can get hot and win a playoff series on his own. There aren’t too many other players in baseball who possess that type of ability.

The Dodgers’ front office was active on deadline day too. Bringing in Brian Dozier from Minnesota will give the middle of the Los Angeles’ infield a serious boost. That group has been beset with injuries this season, but Dozier can help them cover up a significant amount of losses.

Finally, the Dodgers made an under-the-radar move to acquire reliever John Axford from Toronto. He’s just the kind of power pitcher whose stuff plays up in October. Don’t be surprised to see him get a lot of innings in high-leverage situations down the stretch.

Overall, the deal for Machado was enough to get the Dodgers on this list. If they can re-sign him this winter they’ve had one of the best July’s in recent memory. If not, acquiring him still might be enough to get them a World Series title this fall.