Manny Machado’s career statistics (click to enlarge)

Vin Scully and Manny Machado, 2016
(New York Times)

The flame of Manny Machado is lighting the Dodger rumor mill on fire, as noted last week, and today has only fueled the speculation — though as always, you should note that nearly every rumor blows in with its own agenda.

But all the heavy petting still has me wondering about the domino effect of a Machado acquisition on a Dodger lineup that has so many moving parts.

If today were the start of the playoffs instead of the All-Star Game, here’s what a Dodger lineup might easily look like.

C – Yasmani Grandal
1B – Cody Bellinger
2B – Max Muncy
SS – Chris Taylor
3B – Justin Turner (we’re marking him healthy for this exercise)
LF – Joc Pederson
CF – Andrew Toles
RF – Matt Kemp
Bench: Austin Barnes, Kiké Hernández, Logan Forsythe, Chase Utley

Hernández is the hottest missing piece there, but know that he would get into the game somehow — and certainly start against a left-handed pitcher, if not ahead of Toles period.

If Machado takes residence at shortstop, it’s not clear whether Taylor or Bellinger would move to center field, but let’s say Bellinger does for the sake of argument. The overall effect would be something like this.

C – Yasmani Grandal
1B – Max Muncy
2B – Chris Taylor
SS – Manny Machado
3B – Justin Turner
LF – Joc Pederson
CF – Cody Bellinger
RF – Matt Kemp
Bench: Austin Barnes, Kiké Hernández, Logan Forsythe or Andrew Toles, Chase Utley

I don’t think Forsythe has much of a future with the Dodgers if they get Machado — in fact, they might make a bigger deal that unloads his contract (with an extra prospect attached to make it palatable). But it’s certainly simple enough for the Dodgers to option Toles, who has a .639 OPS in 24 plate appearances since his call-up.

The real impact comes if Yasiel Puig returns from the disabled list without anyone else being hurt. Of course, this is the least of the Dodgers’ worries — what are the odds that no one else has to go on the disabled list between August and October? But still, let’s play this out …

C – Yasmani Grandal
1B – Max Muncy
2B – Chris Taylor
SS – Manny Machado
3B – Justin Turner
LF – Matt Kemp
CF – Cody Bellinger
RF – Yasiel Puig
Bench: Austin Barnes, Kiké Hernández, Joc Pederson, Chase Utley

Again, it’s not like they would never play, but that’s one heck of a platoon the Dodgers would have on their bench in Hernández and Pederson, who have a combined 25 doubles, 29 home runs, 57 walks and .800-plus OPS in 538 plate appearances this season.

And don’t forget, not only would Toles be in the minors, but so presumably would be Alex Verdugo or Yusniel Diaz — whichever one isn’t included in the Machado trade.

Machado, who is having a monster season with .963 OPS and 164 OPS+ at age 26, provides insurance for the Dodger lineup in a worst-case scenario and puts the hammer down in a best-case scenario for an offense that is already sixth in the majors and second in the National League in weighted runs created.

Whether or not the cost will be worth depends entirely on what that cost is and certainly worth debating, but in pure 2018 terms, he would be massive.