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.¡±