The Dodgers went shopping in Arizona because too many bats have gone quiet — and now Alek Thomas is a Dodger. Welcome to Dodgers Daily — and, yeah, we’re already reshuffling the lineup for the Giants, which is a pretty great time to make a statement. We’ll get into the Thomas trade grades, what it does to the outfield picture, and why Teoscar Hernandez batting eighth tells you exactly where his bat is right now. Teoscar eighth against the Giants. Yeah, I’ve got opinions. From Joey Mistretta at ClutchPoints:
The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired outfielder Alek Thomas in a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday. The deal was announced days after Thomas was designated for assignment. LA traded outfield prospect Jose Requena to Arizona in return. The Dodgers also announced that outfielder Michael Siani was designated for assignment.
The Dodgers pick up Alek Thomas from Arizona — he was DFA’d by the Diamondbacks, and now he’s in LA for outfield prospect Jose Requena. He’s headed to the minors to start, and Michael Siani gets designated for assignment on the way out. I do love when Arizona cuts a guy and the Dodgers just scoop him up. That’s basically the franchise equivalent of twisting the knife. Thomas was hitting .181 in Arizona, so this isn’t some grand reclamation project — it’s a depth move. And with Tucker, Hernandez, and Pages ahead of him, there’s room for him to help without being asked to carry anything. Right, it’s roster chess, not a headline grab. But think about how wild that is — there was a time when we couldn’t even do this kind of quiet depth move, and now we’re just collecting outfielders. Katie Woo, writing in Inside MLB News:
Dodgers POBO Andrew Friedman on Roki Sasaki, via Katie Woo: “We definitely see him as a long-term starting pitcher. We are very firm believers that he has the ability and the upside to be an elite starting pitcher in this game.”
Andrew Friedman said Tuesday that Roki Sasaki is a long-term starter in their plans — his words were basically ‘elite starting pitcher upside.’ That’s not the kind of line you throw out casually when you pick every word so carefully. Good. Because the chatter about moving Sasaki to the bullpen was making me nuts. He’s 24 years old with a splitter that falls off a table — you don’t stick that in the seventh of a blowout. Friedman isn’t exactly going to come out and say, ‘we have no idea what to do with him,’ so sure, take the optimism with a grain of salt. But the direction is obvious: they’re building around this kid, not around him. Here's Noah Camras at Sports Illustrated:
The Los Angeles Dodgers were embarrassed by the San Francisco Giants on Monday night, losing 9-3. The Dodgers have now lost three of four games against the Giants this season, and are currently riding a three-game losing streak. The LA offense has been dormant for the better part of the last two weeks.
The Dodgers drop another one to San Francisco, 9-3, and that’s three of four against the Giants this season. It’s also a three-game losing streak, and the offense has been basically asleep for two weeks — Tuesday night they’ve got Yamamoto against Adrian Houser, who’s sitting on a 6.19 ERA. Six-point-nineteen ERA and we still might not score runs — that’s where we are right now. And, of course, it’s the Giants. Of course it’s the Giants. Their fans are already unbearable and we’re just handing them a series. Teoscar Hernandez batting eighth tells you exactly where his bat is right now. Kim gets the start, which is fine — Roberts is mixing things up and trying to find a spark. On paper, this heavily favors LA. Yamamoto against a guy who can’t find the zone. I’ve heard ‘on paper’ before, Cassidy. You know what happened on paper in 2017, 2018, 2019? We had the best team on paper. Paper doesn’t throw the first inning for Yamamoto, and he’s been bleeding runs early all year. You’ll find links to every story we covered today in the show notes. If something caught your ear, it’s all there if you want a closer read.
That’s Dodgers Daily Podcast for this Wednesday, May thirteenth. Thanks for listening. This is a Lantern Podcast.