The Dodgers thinned out their glut of center infielders on Monday, buying and selling second baseman Gavin Lux to the Cincinnati Reds for outfield prospect Mike Sirota and a competitive-balance Spherical A draft choose, based on an individual acquainted with the deal however not licensed to talk publicly about it.
Lux had a productive end to 2024 after lacking 2023 due to torn knee ligaments, batting .304 with an .899 on-base-plus-slugging proportion within the second half after hitting .213 with a .562 OPS within the first half, and he drove within the tying run with an eighth-inning sacrifice fly within the World Sequence Recreation 5-clinching win over the New York Yankees.
However with Mookie Betts shifting from proper area to shortstop this winter and the Dodgers signing slick-fielding Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim, a left-handed hitter whose finest place is second base, to a three-year, $12.5-million deal on Friday, the left-handed-hitting Lux grew to become expendable.
The Dodgers have loads of middle-infield depth behind Betts and Kim, with Tommy Edman, who gives above-average protection at shortstop, second base and middle area, slick-fielding center infielder Miguel Rojas and utility man Chris Taylor on the roster. Betts additionally has appreciable expertise at second base.
Lux, 27, was a first-round choose of the Dodgers out of Indian Path Excessive College in Kenosha, Wis., in 2016, and he was named Baseball America’s minor league participant of the yr in 2019 after batting .347 with a 1.028 OPS, 26 homers and 76 RBIs in 113 video games for double-A Tulsa and triple-A Oklahoma Metropolis.
After enjoying 18 video games for the Dodgers at second base through the pandemic-shorted 2020 season, Lux bounced across the diamond in 2021 and 2022, enjoying shortstop, second base, left area and middle area, the Dodgers getting artistic of their makes an attempt to maintain his bat within the lineup.
However a clumsy slide into third base throughout a spring-training recreation in March 2023 led to season-ending surgical procedure after Lux tore each the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and lateral collateral ligament (LCL) in his proper knee.
Lux was set to take over at shortstop final spring earlier than a collection of throwing errors prompted the group to maneuver Betts to shortstop and Lux again to second base final March.
Lux, who’s projected to make $2.7 million in his second yr of arbitration this season, completed with a .251 batting common, .703 OPS, 10 homers, 24 doubles and 50 RBIs in 129 video games final season.
Dodgers second baseman Gavin Lux throws out a baserunner throughout a recreation towards the Arizona Diamondbacks in July.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Instances)
He acknowledged that he babied his surgically repaired knee for many of the first half, leading to a swing that was extra tentative and produced extra mushy contact.
However he adjusted his mindset and strategy within the week earlier than the All-Star break and went on a tear, batting .347 with a 1.043 OPS, seven homers, 14 doubles and 21 RBIs in 40 video games from July 20 to Sept. 4.
“I don’t think it’s a swing change,” Lux, who was named Nationwide League participant of the week to begin the second half, mentioned on the time. “I’m just trying to be more aggressive, and when I get a decent pitch to hit, put a good swing on it.”
Lux cooled off in September, batting .216 (11 for 51) with 5 RBIs over his final 20 regular-season video games, and he hit solely .176 (six for 34) in 12 postseason video games.
However he had two hits, together with a two-run residence run within the seventh inning, within the Dodgers’ 8-0 win over the San Diego Padres in Recreation 4 of the NL Division Sequence, and he hit a score-tying, bases-loaded sacrifice fly within the eighth inning of an eventual 7-6 win that clinched the World Sequence title for the Dodgers in Yankee Stadium.
Sirota, 21, was chosen by the Dodgers within the sixteenth spherical of the 2021 draft however didn’t signal. He was a third-round choose of the Reds out of Northeastern College in 2024 however didn’t play for a minor league affiliate. The Dodgers may even obtain the thirty seventh general choose in subsequent summer season’s draft within the deal.
