Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
Obviously there are far more pressing issues at the moment in Los Angeles due to the ongoing battle against the deadly wildfires, though sports teams like the Dodgers are involved in trying to help those victimized and maybe providing a sliver of distraction for people as well.
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Starting things off on the Dodgers side of things was Chris Taylor through his CT3 Foundation, raising money for the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation.
By the way, CT3 Foundation has donations setup to support the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation. It only seems to work on mobile, tho (for me, at least). https://t.co/wRAAMEqWIO
— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) January 10, 2025
Freddie Freeman and his wife then donated $300,000 across three charities to help with the wildfire relief efforts.
Good deeds by good people: Los Angeles Dodgers star Freddie Freeman and his wife, Chelsea, are donating $300,000 — $100,000 each to the Los Angeles Fire Department Foundation, the Pasadena Fire Department and the Salvation Army — for wild-fire relief efforts in Los Angeles.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 10, 2025
The Dodgers themselves also issued a statement…
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) January 11, 2025
…and then announced the LA Strong shirts that they and other teams are participating in to raise money.
#LAStrong ?
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) January 11, 2025
The Dodgers have teamed up with @Fanatics and the LA sports community to support those impacted by the tragic wildfires: https://t.co/gSKtCYNPUU
Fanatics, Leagues, and the participating sports organizations will not profit from the sale of the LA Strong… pic.twitter.com/xfv1pHIbE9
I got a couple myself and you should too.
12 locals teams and Fanatics also donated $11 million to relief efforts.
Additionally, if you can, here’s a list of ways to donate/help and also a list of resources for victims (hopefully doesn’t apply to many who read here).
Stay safe.
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Speaking of the stuff that doesn’t seem to matter as much anymore, let’s read some analysis.
The Athletic: On the trade of Gavin Lux for Mike Sirota and a draft pick, Keith Law thinks it makes sense for both sides.
I know it’s not the most exciting answer, but I like the trade for both sides. Sirota could turn out to be a star, of course, but the probability of that right now isn’t terribly high — he had the bad spring I noted and didn’t play after signing, so he hasn’t had a chance to increase his perceived value yet. The extra draft pick has value too, of course.
Lux, however, has value to the Reds, even if it’s only as a part-time DH and second baseman who plays against righties. He produced 2.7 fWAR in 2022, then 1.5 last year; even if the Reds use him at multiple spots, a 1.5-win upgrade is huge for them given how many positions were below replacement level for them in 2024. It’s the kind of small move that can make a huge difference for a team operating with a low payroll, and though the cost was real, the Reds are trying to win now, and this is exactly the kind of move they should be making.
FanGraphs: Eric Longenhagen mostly feels the same, though he likes the context around the Dodgers’ side more.
So the Dodgers turn essentially a part-time player into a draft asset of comparable value (albeit a slow-to-mature one) and a likely lesser, but decent young prospect in Sirota. In a vacuum it’s a pretty even trade, but knowing they arguably replaced Lux with a better roster fit in a separate deal, and then cashed him in for multiple pieces feels like vintage Rays-era Andrew Friedman snowballing assets. For the Reds, Lux’s fit on their roster and their desire to compete for the NL Central crown helps justify things on their end, though it’s tougher to swallow a smaller market team coughing up such a high draft pick.
ESPN: The trade nets them a B from Bradford Doolittle of ESPN, who gave the Reds a C-.
Still, the Dodgers’ baseline forecast doesn’t move at all with this redistribution of playing time and the switch to Kim gives the roster a different dynamic. In clearing the way for Kim by trading Lux, they also snag a pretty nice return. The competitive balance pick alone gives the Dodgers a shot at adding another upside talent next summer, but don’t sleep on Sirota.
It’s difficult to not trust the Dodgers in terms of prospect evaluation at this point, and Lux had essentially become relatively fungible to the team despite being a better player than most give him credit for.
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FanGraphs: As for the signing of Hyeseong Kim, there’s not a ton of optimism in the profile from Michael Baumann, but he notes there’s not a lot of risk either.
Kim is purportedly an exceptional defensive second baseman who should be capable of playing an MLB-caliber shortstop as well. He can also run — for evidence, consider his seven consecutive seasons of 20 or more stolen bases, with a career high of 46 and a career success rate of 85.4%. So he can run, he doesn’t strike out much, and let’s assume he’s a good glove up the middle. Is this… Isiah Kiner-Falefa in a good year?
That’d sound underwhelming to some, but consider the context. The Dodgers can not only afford to hand out guaranteed multi-year contracts to their utility infielders, they do it routinely. And they kind of have to.
The Athletic: This article from Law wasn’t about Kim, but he included his thoughts on the player within it, and his evaluation comes out more optimistic than I thought it would.
The Dodgers didn’t need Lux now that they’ve signed Kim, a star in Korea who makes contact at extremely high rates but puts the ball on the ground 60 percent of the time. The Dodgers have had a ton of success at getting guys to elevate the ball more, including Smith, Chris Taylor and Max Muncy, so I’ll be 0 percent surprised if Kim starts hitting the ball in the air more this year and generates more power.
He’s a solid defender and likely to hit for a high average as it is, so another half-grade of power probably makes him an average regular. Mookie Betts isn’t going anywhere, so the Dodgers’ middle infield was set, leaving no room at the inn for Lux.
ESPN: They get a B+ here from Doolittle, again mostly because there’s not a lot of risk.
There is very little downside to this deal given Kim’s secondary skills. At worse, he’ll be a plus threat on the bases who provides above-average defense all over the field and contributes competitive at-bats. If he hits at all, the Dodgers will come out way ahead on the contract, as if they really needed to.
The risk is effectively the 40-man roster spot, not even the 26-man because they can send him to the minors. I’m still skeptical of how much the Dodgers can get out of his bat, but … yeah, I mean it’s worth a shot as there’s minimal downside.
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Baseball Prospectus: In other moves, Jarrett Seidler does something of a post-mortem on Diego Cartaya‘s prospect hype.
Ironically, the missing piece on Cartaya might have been eye scouting all along. He was physically mature at a young age. His swing is pretty as right-handed swings go, but his bat path is kind of grooved. Low-A pitching got a whole lot worse coming out of the pandemic because of the minor-league contraction, and Cartaya destroyed it. Once the pitching got better, his quality of contact and contact ability both imploded.
Several decades ago, John Sickels identified something called “Young Catcher Offensive Stagnation Syndrome.” He posited that “[y]oung catchers often stop hitting for no apparent reason, and many of them stop hitting completely, failing to develop as expected.” He was right then, and he’s still right now: catching is hard. I threw Young Catcher Offensive Stagnation Syndrome out as a failure risk for Joey Bart six years ago when he was almost identically ranked to Cartaya, and well, he failed too.
Sometimes, catchers are just weird.
Indeed.
FanGraphs: Longenhagen has more on the new Dodger, Jose Vasquez.
Despite his strike-throwing improvement, Vasquez is still most likely going to be a reliever. He’s a physical, 220ish-pound 20-year-old who has had trouble harnessing his 94-97 mph fastball, which sometimes has very heavy late sink. His 84-88 mph slider is curt and cuttery at times, but it flashes bat-missing two-plane shape and above-average length. Vasquez’s realistic ceiling is better than a generic middle reliever, but he’s maybe a half decade away from the bigs. He’ll probably begin his Dodgers career in Extended Spring Training.
The Dodgers do love themselves some Extended Spring Training assignments.
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Baseball America: Speaking of prospects, pre-season lists are starting to come out, and Dalton Rushing tops their Top 10 here, with Alex Freeland pulling up just behind.
Baseball Prospectus: They go 20 deep, including naming seven others of note. Zyhir Hope leapfrogs both Josue De Paula and Rushing for the top spot.
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Wishing everybody impacted by the wildfires well and hoping things continue to get better soon.
