The Los Angeles Dodgers officially announced their five-player trade with the Oakland Athletics, acquiring Rich Hill and Josh Reddick in exchange for pitching prospects Jharel Cotton, Grant Holmes and Frankie Montas.
Both Hill and Reddick are eligible for free agency after this season. The 36-year-old Hill was removed in the first inning of his July 17 start and currently is on the 15-day disabled list due to a blister on the middle finger of his throwing hand.
The DL stint is retroactive to July 20, which means he’s eligible to be reinstated come Thursday. Hill this season is 9-3 with a 2.25 ERA, 2.53 FIP and 1.09 WHIP. Among American League pitchers with a minimum of 75 innings pitched, Hill leads in ERA and home runs allowed per nine innings (0.24).
He’s second in opponents’ batting average (.201), and ninth in WHIP and strikeouts per nine innings (10.66).
Meanwhile, Reddick is enjoying the best season of his career after missing six weeks with a fractured left thumb. Overall, he’s hitting .296/.368/.449 with eight home runs, 28 RBIs, a .348 wOBA, 124 OPS+ and 121 wRC+.
Reddick has been particularly effective against right-handed pitching, batting .341/.408/.547 with all 20 of his extra-base hits (11 doubles, one triple, eight home runs). The 2012 Gold Glove Award winner is a career .255/.317/.436 hitter with 94 home runs and 337 RBIs over parts of eight seasons in the Majors.
Cotton went 8-5 with a 4.90 ERA in 22 games (16 starts) with Triple-A Oklahoma City this season, and earned a selection to the All-Star Futures Game. He was selected by the Dodgers in the 20th round of the 2012 Draft.
Holmes was 8-4 with a 4.02 ERA in 20 games (18 starts) in his first season High-A Rancho Cucamonga. Holmes went 16-11 with a 3.61 ERA in 55 games (52 starts) across four Minor League levels since being drafted No. 22 overall by the Dodgers in 2014.
For Montas, this marks the second time he’s been traded in the past eight months. Montas underwent rib resection surgery in February and suffered another rib injury in June, which prevented him from joining the Dodgers when they were in need of a spot starter.
Manager Dave Roberts said on Sunday he envisioned the hard-throwing Montas returning by September to make an impact out of the bullpen. The 23-year-old had a 2.25 ERA and 22 strikeouts over 16 innings pitched in seven games (four starts) during time spent with Double-A Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
