Dodgers trade Victor Gonzalez to Yankees

Yankees acquire left-handed reliever Victor Gonzalez And the possibility of minor league Jorbet Vivas From the Dodgers in exchange for a minor league player Trey Sweeney, Reports ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez. Yesterday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported that the Yankees were acquiring a pair of 40-man shortstops from the Dodgers in exchange for a prospect who is not New York’s 40-man shortstop. The trade clears a pair of spots on LA’s roster to accommodate signings Shuhei Otani And Joe Kelly.

Gonzalez, 28, has a minor league option remaining but also comes to the Yankees with a proven MLB track record. It is able to go directly to the manager Aaron Boone‘s bullpen and will likely be viewed as the favorite to do so. He has much more major league experience than his fellow southpaw Crook died. Gonzalez made the choice to join Nick Ramirez As a second option southpaw for Boone.

Gonzalez missed the 2022 season with an elbow injury that required arthroscopic debridement, but he logged 89 1/3 innings for the Dodgers from 2020-23, pitching to a 3.22 earned run average with strong strikeout and walk rates (23.2% and 8.4%). respectively) as well as a massive grounding rate of 58.1%. The Yankees tend to gravitate toward relievers with plus ground ball rates and better-than-average speed, and Gonzalez checks both boxes, averaging just under 95 mph with a sinker in the high 90s.

Gonzalez’s 2023 season wasn’t as sharp as his 2020 MLB debut, but he still posted a 4.01 ERA with strikeout and walk rates that were actually improvements over his 2021 levels. The lefty is also among the best in the game at inducing soft contact, as Evidenced by an average exit velocity of 84.9 mph and a hard strike rate of 30.7% – both significantly below last season’s league averages of 89 mph and 39.2%.

The Yankees can control Gonzalez for three more seasons. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz has projected that he will earn just $1 million in salary in 2024 and will be due subsequent raises based on that basis in 2025 and 2026 before hitting the open market in the 2026-27 season. Gonzalez offers a skill set similar to that of a free agent Andy Peraltawho the Yankees are reportedly interested in re-signing, but Gonzalez would come at a fraction of the financial cost.

New York also acquires 22-year-old Vivas, generally considered one of the top prospects in the Dodgers’ deep farm. MLB.com pegs him 10th in the system, while FanGraphs has him 11th and Baseball America has him 20th. All of these ratings are dated a few months ago now, but Vivas has done little during its 2023 campaign to radically drop its stock. He posted an excellent .280/.391/.436 slash line with 12 homers, 21 steals and more walks than strikeouts in 109 games as a 22-year-old against older competition in Double-A last year.

The Vivas jumped up to Triple-A late in the season and hit a lackluster .225/.339/.294 at the minor league level, but that came in a small sample of 121 plate appearances and still comes with elite career (12.4%) strikeout rates. (15.7%). He has seen time at both second base and third base, although scouting reports on him question whether he will have the arm to eventually handle the hot corner in the Majors. Even if he doesn’t, Vivas is a near-MLB-ready second baseman with a plus hitter, double-digit home run power and strong base running instincts.

In exchange for an affordable trade for Peralta and a quality second base prospect, the Yankees would surrender Sweeney, whom they selected with the 20th overall pick in the 2021 draft. Sweeney briefly reached Double-A as a 22-year-old in 2022, but the 2023 season has been his year The first with notable experience at this level. The 23-year-old handled himself well, batting .252/.367/.411 in a generally pitcher-friendly environment, popping 13 homers and hitting 20 bases with a gaudy 13.8% walk rate and a below-average 19.1% strikeout rate.

Sweeney himself is a highly respected prospect, but perhaps a step below the grade many Yankees fans expect based on his draft pedigree. FanGraphs ranked him third in the Yankees’ system, but MLB.com had him eighth and Baseball America ranked him 15th. Sweeney is a first-place prospect whose long-term future hinges on whether he can remain at shortstop, move to third base on a full-time basis, or settle in as a utility player who can bounce around the diamond. He is a relatively close MLB addition to the Dodgers’ system, effectively replacing Vivas but doing so without needing a spot on the 40-man roster until next season.