The Los Angeles Dodgers traded Victor González and Jorbit Vivas to the New York Yankees for former first-round pick Trey Sweeney.
Reports of the Dodgers and Yankees working on a trade surfaced Sunday afternoon, but the players involved were not revealed until early Monday morning. The Dodgers then made the trade official roughly one hour later.
González spent parts of three seasons pitching for the Dodgers and made his biggest impact during their 2020 World Series run. The left-hander emerged as a key reliever for the team in his rookie season, posting a 1.33 ERA across 20.1 innings, but regressed in 2021 and took another step back this year.
González went 9-4 with a 3.22 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and one save during his career with the Dodgers. He was essentially the odd man out of a crowded Dodgers bullpen with Caleb Ferguson and Alex Vesia ahead of him on the depth chart as left-handed relievers, and Ryan Yarbrough potentially filling that role as well.
Moreover, González is out of Minor League options and thus needed to be on the active roster or designated for assignment if the Dodgers wanted to remove him.
MLB Pipeline had ranked Vivas the No. 10 prospect in the Dodgers farm system. He’s someone with a solid profile as a versatile infielder with strong contact skills, but lacks power in his swing.
Vivas signed with the Dodgers out of Venezuela in 2017 and produced at every Minor League level before struggling in 26 games after being promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City this past season.
Vivas has yet to make his MLB debut despite being added to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft in 2021.
Why did Dodgers trade for Trey Sweeney?
The Yankees drafted Sweeney in the first round in 2021, and he now joins the Dodgers organization with some questions about his swing. Sweeney appeared in 100 games for Double-A Somerset this year, batting .252/.367/.411 with 13 home runs and 49 RBI.
There’s more upside with Sweeney if he can make some changes with his swing to unlock more power. He has played shortstop but projects to potentially move to third base.
A key to the trade for the Dodgers was clearing two spots on their 40-man roster, which are expected to be filled by Shohei Ohtani and Joe Kelly as both signings are still pending.
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