Introduction to Dodgers Dugout
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. For you movie buffs, it’s nice to see a genuine Superman back on the big screen again.
The Trade Deadline
The trade deadline is over and the Dodgers made moderate upgrades to their bullpen and outfield and some nice additions to their farm system. Before we can appraise the overall picture, let’s see what happened (all numbers are from the time they were traded). So, as an old friend would say, pull up a chair and spend part of the day with us.
—Dodgers acquire right-handed reliever Brock Stewart from Minnesota for outfielder James Outman.
If Stewart’s name sounds familiar to you, it’s because he pitched for the Dodgers from 2016-19, throwing 84 innings for a 5.46 ERA. And in the rare case of a pitcher getting better after leaving the Dodgers, he eventually landed in Minnesota, where he has pitched the last three season, throwing 77.1 innings with a 2.33 ERA. His fastball was 91 mph with the Dodgers, it is 96 mph now. A setup man with the Twins, Stewart has 14 holds and only blown one lead this season and right-handers are hitting only .104 against him. Dave Roberts said he wouldn’t hesitate to use Stewart in the ninth inning.
However, in a phrase I should have saved so I can cut and paste it whenever the Dodgers acquire a pitcher, Stewart has quite the injury history. He has never pitched more than 34.1 innings in a season, and that was in 2017. He was at 34 innings this season before the Dodgers acquired him. He had Tommy John surgery in 2021, because the Dodgers are apparently legally required to only acquire pitchers who have had that operation. In 2023, he was shut down in June because of an elbow injury. Last season, he appeared in only 16 games because of shoulder surgery. He started this season on the IL because of a strained left hamstring. So, while he’s been good when he pitches, he doesn’t pitch all that often.
Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes to reporters on Stewart: “We felt like he’s in the upper tier of right-handed relievers. He’s been absolutely dominant against righties this year and performing really well.”
Outman finished third in Rookie of the Year voting in 2023 but has been terrible at the major league level since then, hitting .137/.245/.269. This is his final option year, so the Dodgers would have had to expose him to waivers if they tried to send him down next season. Trading him for Stewart is a pretty good deal for the Dodgers, and for Outman. Hopefully he rediscovers his swing in the majors (he remains a good hitter in triple A).
—Dodgers acquire minor league outfielders James Tibbs and Zach Ehrhard from Boston for pitcher Dustin May.
Tibbs was the Giants’ first-round pick in 2024 and the Giants traded him to Boston in June for Rafael Devers. He’s a left-handed hitter who can play left, right and first base. He hit .246/.379/.479 in High-A with the Giants. The Red Sox promoted him to double-A and he hit .207/.319/.267, which isn’t great, but he’s only 22. Either the Red Sox saw something they didn’t like, or they gave up on him way too soon. MLB has him as the No. 7 prospect in the Dodgers’ system.
Ehrhard was selected by the Red Sox in the fourth round of the 2024 draft. He’s a right-hander who can play left or right, and has some speed, stealing 23 bases in 88 minor league games this season while hitting .270/.371/.434 split between High-A and double-A. He is now the 25th-ranked prospect in the Dodger system.
Injuries sidetracked what looked like was going to be a great career for May. He has shown flashes of his old form this season, but has a 4.84 ERA in 104 innings (the first time he has pitched over 100 innings). With Tony Gonsolin and Blake Snell back, there was no room in the rotation for May, and apparently he didn’t want to pitch in the bullpen. He is going to be a free agent after this season, so getting two good prospects for him is a good deal. He will probably become Boston’s fifth starter, joining former teammate Walker Buehler in the Red Sox rotation.
Gomes on the trade: “We had a lot of really respectful conversations with D-May, and he’s been a huge part of the organization for a long time. Through those conversations, it was apparent that starting was very important to him. And while we felt like he could have been a contributor out of the bullpen and an impact-type piece, trying to understand the mindset and his desire to continue to start, we took that into consideration.”
—Dodgers acquired outfielder Alex Call from Washington for minor league pitchers Eriq Swan and Sean Paul Linan.
Call, 30, can play all three outfield positions and has a good defensive reputation. If nothing else, he can sub in for Michael Conforto or Teoscar Hernández at the end of games to get a better glove in the game. He is hitting .274/.371/.386 over 237 plate appearances this season, and could become a platoon partner with Conforto, with Call starting against left-handers, against whom he has much better success (.262/.345/.403 in his career versus .230/340/349 against righties). In his one season as a regular, he hit .200/.307/.307, so he’s not cut out to be an everyday starter. He has two minor league option years remaining and is under team control through 2029. He works the count and draws walks.
Swan was the 16th-ranked prospect and Linan 20th. Swan has a high-90s fastball and had a 4.43 ERA in High-A this season, but gave up almost as many walks (46) as hits (49) in 79 innings. Linan’s out pitch is a changeup. He had a 2.01 ERA in 67 innings while striking out 89 spread across High-A and Low-A. He is only 20.
Gomes to reporters on Call: “This guy’s just a straight grinder, works at-bats. Playing against him, he’s always incredibly frustrating to try to game plan for and get out. So I think it was a nice balance to fill some holes and continue to build out with a really, like, functional roster on top of the already really strong talent we had.”
—In a three-team deal, Dodgers acquired minor league pitcher Adam Serwinowski from Cincinnati and pitcher Paul Gervase and minor league catcher Ben Rortvedt from the Rays for catcher Hunter Feduccia.
Serwinowski is considered the class of this part of the deal, as he was a top 10 prospect for the Reds and is ranked 14th with the Dodgers. He’s 6-5 and left-handed, and scouts do love the tall left-handers. He has struck out 242 in 188.1 minor league innings, but has struggled somewhat in High-A this season, with a 5.45 ERA, giving up 68 hits and 39 walks in 74.1 innings. Gervase is a 6-10 right-hander who joins the Dodgers in the majors. He is 25 and pitched only six inning with the Rays, but had a 3.12 ERA in triple-A with 63 strikeouts in 40.1 inning, giving up 27 hits and 12 walks. He’s tall, but his fastball reaches “only” 94, and he also throws a slider and a cutter. Rortvedt, with all due respect, basically provides minor league depth at catcher for the Dodgers. He has hit .186/.276/.265 in 209 games in the majors.
Feduccia was squeezed out when the Dodgers decided it was time to let Dalton Rushing play in the majors. He’s 28 and will get more of a chance to play elsewhere, as his path to the majors in L.A. was limited to someone getting hurt.
So there you have it. Nothing earth-shaking.
What does it mean? It means the Dodgers have decided to go all-in on the team they have. The team that made some people get carried way with themselves and predict 120 wins. The team that many consider a disappointment despite them being in first place most of the season. The Dodgers believe that getting Glasnow and Snell back, and possibly Roki Sasaki, will stabilize the rotation. Then getting Blake Treinen back, and hopefully getting Brusdar Graterol, Michael Kopech, Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates back will stabilize the bullpen. That Freddie Freeman, Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani and Teoscar Hernández will start hitting like themselves again (Freeman is already showing signs of it). That Max Muncy will return and hit like he did before he was injured. That’s a lot to hope for, but it could happen.
When the season began, Andrew Friedman said he signed guys like Scott and Yates and Sasaki so the team wouldn’t have to overpay to acquire anyone at the trade deadline. And it appears we should have believed him. They have almost all of their top prospects still, while the Padres traded 10 of their top 30 prospects in a bid to win it all this year.
The Dodgers have acquired big names at the deadline before, names that seemed to put them over the top, only to see it not happen. Yu Darvish. Max Scherzer. Trea
