Hello Tony… Goodbye Gavin!
Tony Gonsolin looks to be back. His fastball was generally in the 92 to 94 MPH range, but occasionally he hit 95 MPH and even touched 96 MPH. At this stage of the season, I would slot Tony ahead of Dustin May, and May has also shown nice progress. Next week, the Dodgers get…
Tony Gonsolin looks to be back. His fastball was generally in the 92 to 94 MPH range, but occasionally he hit 95 MPH and even touched 96 MPH. At this stage of the season, I would slot Tony ahead of Dustin May, and May has also shown nice progress. Next week, the Dodgers get Kershaw back and Emmet Sheehan could very well be a rotation option soon. Roki Sasaki may have to go to OKC to learn how to pitch. The Dodgers will need some pitchers to eat some innings until Snell and Glasnow make it back… IF they make it back! Right now, Ben Casparius is 4th on the team in innings pitched, and Jack Dreyer and Tanner Scott are 5th and 6th. That needs to change. Landon Kanck and Matt Sauer will hopefully fill the void. We’ve got a week until Clayton returns, and I think he will surprise many of you with his effectiveness.
Still Pining for Gavin Lux… Don’t! Here’s why…
The Los Angeles Dodgers traded Gavin Lux to the Cincinnati Reds in January 2025 for several strategic reasons. But there was an unspoken reason: the Dodgers felt misled by him. How did he mislead the team? Well, in Spring Training of 2023… actually before that (over the Winter), Gavin had begged the Dodgers to let him go back to the “position I feel at home with.” It wasn’t so much that Andrew Friedman and the Dodgers felt he was a shortstop; it was his insistence that he could play there. The plan was for Mookie to go to 2B, but then, about two weeks before the end of Spring Training, Gavin lost confidence in his ability to play there. Thus, Mookie had to slide over to SS without any preparation. Gavin then blew out his knee and was finished for the season.
Gavin came back in 2024 and platooned at 2B (let’s face it: he is a platoon player, as he struggles against LHP). He hit .251 in 2024 with an OPS of .703. This season (mostly playing LF for the Reds), he is also platooning, hitting .282 with a .766 OPS. He’s a nice player, but just like Andrew Friedman did when he traded Michael Busch for Hope and Ferris, he traded Gavin Lux, a player who was not essential for a potential CF star. Mike Sirota is lean, athletic, strong, and has an intriguing collection of tools. He has plus bat speed and excellent bat-to-ball skills from the right side of the plate. Sirota entered the 2024 season as one of the top prospects in the draft class from a mid-major college program, with a chance to be a top 10 overall pick. The Dodgers wanted to draft him, but the Reds took him before they had the chance. Simply put: the Dodgers really, really wanted Sirota, and we are starting to see why: As I write this, in 99 at-bats, Mike Sirota is hitting .354 with a .443 OB% and 1.130 OPS and has 7 HRs.
Where would Gavin Lux play for the Dodgers? He is an average to below-average 2B defensively. The Dodgers signed Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim to a three-year contract. Kim’s defensive versatility and offensive potential made him a strong candidate for middle infield positions, creating direct competition for Lux. He is also more versatile, being able to play just about anywhere. This acquisition signaled the Dodgers’ intent to restructure their infield, making Lux’s role less certain. With Tommy Edman, or MiggyRo, or CT3, or Kike, or Kim at 2B, the Dodgers thought that Lux was a good choice to trade for Sirota, who profiles as a very good centerfielder. He also has a great arm to go with his speed.
After missing the entire 2023 season due to an ACL injury, Lux returned in 2024 but posted a modest .703 OPS over 139 games. The Dodgers may have assessed that Lux had reached his performance ceiling within their system, prompting them to explore other options. Despite his recent challenges, Lux retained value as a young, controllable infielder with postseason experience. By trading him to the Reds, the Dodgers acquired outfield prospect Mike Sirota and a Competitive Balance Round A draft pick, assets that could benefit their long-term plans. Andrew Friedman is about six steps of us all.
The trade gave the Dodgers greater flexibility to adjust their roster and pursue other strategic objectives. It also opened opportunities for other players within their organization to step into more prominent roles. In summary, the Dodgers’ decision to trade Gavin Lux was influenced by roster dynamics, performance evaluations, and strategic planning for the future. I don’t find it any more curious than trading Michael Busch. The Dodgers did not need Busch, and they certainly do not need Lux.
Sirota is due to move up to Great Lakes very soon. The last week of June, the Loons play six games in Ft. Wayne at one of the most beautiful venues in the minor leagues, Parkview Field. I plan to be there to see Hope, DePaula, and Sirota. That could be the Dodgers’ outfield in 2027. It doesn’t hurt that my daughter lives in Ft. Wayne…
X-CITES
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Discussion (70)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Mookie and Freddie with Mother’s Day homers, Freddie is the best player on this team. He hit’s em when they need em. His .376 BA is 52 points higher than #2, Machado. Judge is hitting .409. Cody Bellinger is hitting just .221 and striking out a lot. Seager is set to meet with the Texas doctors to find out why his hammy is still barking at him. Paul Goldschmidt is batting .349. Not homering as much, but getting a lot of hits, in line for comeback player of the year. Arenado is hitting .270, but has just 4 homers and 16 driven in.
Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow will both meet with Dr. Neal ElAttrache this week!
YIKES!
Great news on Clayton and Emmett! Any progress report on Gavin Stone love watching that kid pitch!… so what do the Dodgers do when Tommy and Teo come back? I would hate to see Kim sent back down. But who would you let go? Kim has played in Way fewer games than Taylor and has more hits. The Dodgers haven’t had that kind of speed they can bring off the bench and steal a base in a long time so what would you do mark? I’m not advocating to cut Taylor or even try to trade him, but so far Kim is proved to be valuable now yesterday he probably should’ve stopped at first, and then just stole second. But that kid can fly! I don’t know how much more being in the minors can help him…. Nice to see Conforto pick up a couple of base knocks yesterday I said earlier I thought he would come out of it and the signs are there…. Give Max credit, that was a heck of a play at third base yesterday! Just wish his bat would come around. There are some signs just like Conforto, so let’s keep our fingers crossed!…. As I said yesterday, Barnes looked awful, throwing the ball the second base on steal attempts. Just how strong is Dalton’s arm? …. Well in a more somber note, the Rockies finally made the decision for Bud Black. Why he stayed as long as he did I have no clue! He’s a good baseball man and a decent manager. He was in a no win situation.! Hopefully he’s financially set so he doesn’t have to go through anything like this again… speaking of managers, I thought Derek Shelton got a bit of a raw deal. The owner won’t spend any money to improve the team, so what does he expect? The same thing probably happens in Baltimore. Brandon Hyde is probably next if the Orioles continue to struggle. Well at least Dave Roberts has nothing to worry about supposed to rain here all day in Southwest Virginia. The Dodgers have a day off, so I guess I’ll just sit here and watch it rain! The athletics should provide some excellent competition for the Dodgers this week! Much improve team with a good manager. !
I was pining for Lux more when he was hitting .354 and playing LF, while Conforto’s BA was barely triple digits while playing sub-par defense.
Conforto’s still bad, but Lux’s tailspin back to his statistical mean makes me pine a lot less. Funny how that works.
BTW, Lux is hitting .080 against LHP … and his D is not good.
Much as I hate to admit when Mark is right, he’s right, at least here.
Can we move on from Outman??
Agree Lux didn’t fit, same as Busch. Nice players but we move on…..
DODGER MINOR LEAGUE STANDINGS 5/12/25
Oklahoma City AAA 25-14 1st place 4 games ahead
Tulsa AA 14-19 last place 5 games behind
Great Lakes A+ 17-16 5th place 4 games behind
Rancho Cucamongo A 23-10 1st place 8 games ahead
ACL Dodgers Rookie 4-2 2nd place 0.5 games behind
For more detailed recaps,stats,schedules, standings and box scores for Dodger minor league teams go to the top of this page and cIick on MINOR LEAGUE AFFLIATES.
Sirota really really needs to be promoted! He’s earned it