'Dreams come true': Machado, Caminero swap jerseys

ST. PETERSBURG -- Junior Caminero could hardly keep the smile off his face or the emotion out of his words.

About a decade after meeting one of his baseball idols, one of the reasons he now wears a No. 13 jersey for the Rays, baseball’s top prospect got to share a Major League field -- and swap signed jerseys -- with Manny Machado.

“It’s a dream, honestly,” Caminero said quietly through team interpreter Manny Navarro on Friday afternoon.

As detailed in this profile on Caminero, he first met Machado when he was a young teenager playing in an international tournament featuring Dominican, American and Japanese teams in the United States. During the trip, Caminero went to Baltimore’s Oriole Park at Camden Yards and landed passes to watch batting practice.

Standing on the field, a young Caminero met Machado, then a young star with the Orioles. They took a picture, capturing a moment that Caminero still treasures.

“For a long time, I was writing him on Instagram. I was trying to reach out, reach out, reach out,” Caminero said. “And he did tell me, he's like, 'One day we're gonna be in the big leagues together.'”

It happened Friday. The two spoke during batting practice, this time much closer in height than their previous meeting. Caminero said Machado encouraged him to “keep on working hard and just to have fun in this game.”

The Padres star said Saturday that swapping jerseys with Caminero was a "very special" moment.

"We want to impact the younger generation, kids around the world," Machado said. "For me to be a part of that and see it firsthand, now playing with [Caminero] 10 years later, it's incredible."

Prior to Friday, Machado told MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell that he had initially heard about Caminero from his brother-in-law, former big leaguer Yonder Alonso, who told Machado about an “up-and-coming prospect” who was “going to be in the big leagues pretty soon.” It was Caminero, and indeed he was on his way to the Majors.

“Then he hits me up on Instagram, sent me that picture, and I had met him,” Machado told Cassavell. “He hit me up again, said you're my favorite player, told me this big story. It's crazy, man. … Time flies. Now, he's in the big leagues."

Shortly after the Padres’ 13-5 win over the Rays, in which Machado went 3-for-5 with a homer and four RBIs, they met on the field, traded jerseys and posed for a few more photos that Caminero won’t soon forget.

Caminero posted both pictures on Instagram late Friday night, with the perfect caption: “Dreams come true.”