Cody Snavely
Happy Wednesday! The 2024 Major League Baseball trade deadline has offically come and gone, and the Dodgers were quite active in the final forty-eight hours, bringing in five total players to help solidify their roster for the home stretch of the 2024 regular season.
In that process, the Los Angeles Dodgers only gave up one top-fifteen prospect in what was perceived by many as a seller’s market while also providing depth to the bench and strengthening the holes on defense with two web gems joining the fray.
But in case you couldn’t follow along, here are all the Dodgers’ moves in the last three days leading up to the climax of the 2024 deadline.
A three-team deal gets the deadline started
On Monday, the Dodgers made their first trade of the deadline, and it was a three-team trade that also involved the Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals in a move that brought over utilityman Tommy Edman and right-handed relief pitcher Michael Kopech.
In the trade, the Los Angeles Dodgers would send away former top prospect Miguel Vargas, who spent time with the big league club sparingly from late 2022 until the trade, splitting time in left field and second base.
Joining Vargas on the trade to the South Side of Chicago would be second baseman Jeral Perez (No. 17 per MLB Pipeline) and INF Alexander Albertus (No. 23).
The White Sox would send right-handed pitcher Erick Fedde and veteran outfielder Tommy Pham to the Cardinals, while Tommy Edman would join the Dodgers.
Tommy Edman, 29, is currently on the 60-day injured list due to an off-season wrist surgery this past offseason and lingering pain in a sprained ankle. However, according to David Vassegh of AM 570, his sources within the Cardinals organization expected Edman back within the next ten days.
Edman has joined the Dodgers on their current road trip to be evaluated by team trainers. If all goes well, he will start back up his rehab assignment and hopefully join the Dodgers during the Oakland A’s series or when they return home to face the Philadelphia Phillies.
Throughout his career, Edman has put up league-average numbers offensively, posting a 99 wRC+, but has excelled defensively, playing multiple games in center field, shortstop, second base, and third base.
He ranks in the 96th percentile in OAA (outs-above-average) while shifting around the diamond. Edman put together a combined forty-five DRS (defensive runs saved) in his career as a Cardinal.
Edman has also played at least five different positions at least three hundred innings throughout his career.
- 2B (2277 innings) 15 OAA
- 3B (570 innings) 8 OAA
- SS (1140 innings) 11 OAA
- CF (316 innings) 4 OAA
- RF (495.2 innings) 3 OAA
As for Michael Kopech, the former starting pitcher for the Chicago White Sox shifted to the bullpen this season after going 12-22 as a starter from 2018 until 2023.
While Kopech’s 4.74 ERA this season will jump out at you, it does not tell the whole story. He has shown an elite arsenal at his disposal, which will benefit a Dodgers bullpen that has been overworked all season.
Kopech currently ranks in the 89th percentile in xBA, 99th in Fastball Velocity, 86th in Whiff%, and 92nd in K% with a whopping 30.9 strikeout rate. Kopech was the White Sox closer, but since they haven’t won many games this season, he also entered the game before the ninth inning. With Evan Phillips‘s struggles, Kopech could get more opportunities to close.
Déjà vu: The Dodgers reacquire utilityman Amed Rosario
On the same day, the Dodgers made a three-team trade to kick-start their deadline activity. They also made a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, bringing back utilityman Amed Rosario.
It was a one-for-one swap with the Dodgers sending back minor league pitcher Michael Flynn, and to make room on the active roster for Rosario, left-handed pitcher Ryan Yarbrough was DFA’d.
In his short stint with Los Angeles last season, Rosario hit .256/.301/.408 in forty-eight games, hitting three home runs and driving in eighteen runs. Over the offseason, Rosario signed a one-year deal with the Tampa Bay Rays and has put together a fantastic season, hitting .307/.331/.417 with a 114 OPS+ in 264 at-bats.
The Dodgers, who valued Rosario for his defensive versatility and ability to hit left-handed pitching, brought him back to add an extra layer of depth with Mookie Betts, Miguel Rojas, and Chris Taylor all out with injuries.
According to MLB.com’s Juan Toribio, Rosario will play against left-handed pitching again, but he has shown an ability to hit both lefties (.316/.340/.449) and righties (.301/.326/.398) this season.
Former Ray migrates west
The Dodgers continued to revamp their bench this deadline by adding a former Tampa Bay Ray to the fold, trading for recently waived Kevin Kiermaier from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for recently DFA’d lefty Ryan Yarbrough.
Prior to the deadline, Kiermaier stated that this would be his last season in Major League Baseball and that the left-handed defensive guru would hang up the cleats at the end of the season.
Kiermaier, who was placed on waivers a few weeks back, was hopeful a contending team would be interested in his services, and the Los Angeles Dodgers would be that contending team finally acquiring him after having interest as recently as the 2022/2023 offseason before he signed with the Blue Jays.
It has not been the best offensive season for Kiermaier, who is hitting an abysmal .195 with a rather lackluster OPS of .546. However, he has still shown that his glove is indeed gold, ranking in the 97th percentile in OAA and 96th percentile in fielding run value.
While Kiermaier won’t be starting many games, he will be a tremendous late-inning defensive replacement as the outfield defense has been a struggle for the Dodgers this season, specifically the center field where Andy Pages has had his moments out there.
Despite his offense, Kiermaier is a clear upgrade over Miguel Vargas for his defense alone. His veteran presence, along with his hunger to compete for a championship in his final year, will be a welcome addition to the roster.
Dodgers get their impact starter
Entering the 2024 season, the Dodgers’ starting rotation was supposed to be one of the team’s strengths. However, as usual, the injury bug hit the rotation hard, along with some down years from Bobby Miller and Walker Buehler.
The Dodgers are getting left-handed pitcher Clayton Kershaw back off the 60-day injured list as the veteran rehabbed from offseason shoulder surgery and recently activated righty Tyler Glasnow off the 15-day injured list with back tightness and tightness. However, the Dodgers are still without their $325 million investment in Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who has been out since June with a strained rotator cuff.
While rookie starter Gavin Stone has been blessed with a breakout season, he has shown some regression since the calendar turned to July, allowing four or more runs in three of his last four starts. While the Dodgers hope to have Buehler and Miller back, it is not a given due to their inconsistencies this season.
The Dodgers needed a starter to help alleviate innings during the regular season and someone who could start a postseason game.
The Dodgers were linked to multiple “big dawgs,” such as left-handed pitchers from the American League Central: Tarik Skubal and Garrett Crochet.
However, after an unfathomable asking price for Skubal and recent comments made by Crochet’s camp about not pitching in October without an extension, the Dodgers shifted their plan to Detroit Tigers starter Jack Flaherty.
The former Cardinals ace has been chasing his 2019 success after going 11-8 with a 2.75 ERA and finishing fourth in the National League Cy Young voting that year.
The Cardinals, during a disastrous year, had no plans to keep Flaherty after the 2023 season. They shipped the righty to the contending Baltimore Orioles, who needed pitching depth, and it could not have been worse, as he posted an ERA of over six and was shifted to the bullpen before the postseason began.
The Detroit Tigers signed Flaherty to a one-year deal this past offseason, so far, have reaped the benefits of trading the righty after a solid season, starting all eighteen games and pitching to a 2.95 ERA in 106.1 innings, striking out 133 batters while posting a 0.956 WHIP.
Flaherty also ranks 94th percentile in Whiff%, K%, and BB% and in the 88th percentile in potching run value, all while staying healthy and producing significant numbers.
After this season, Flaherty, a free agent, was acquired for minor league catcher Thayron Liranzo and shortstop Trey Sweeney.
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