Dodgers Blue Jays Trade Breakdown

The Dodgers made another trade, acquiring another pitcher from Toronto.

We all knew the Dodgers weren’t done after acquiring Josh Reddick and Rich Hill.

This is pretty much equal to the Chris Archer rumors right?

Jesse Chavez has seemingly been attached to the Dodgers for years. Unsurprisingly, he’s a former Oakland A. Chavez had spent a couple years as a spot starter/long reliever, and has taken the latter role in Toronto this year. Chavez showed promise in Oakland, but was traded in November for Liam Hendricks.

In 41 innings of relief for the Blue Jays this year, Chavez owns a 4.57 ERA/4.80 FIP. He’s striking out just over a batter/inning, but his home run rate has doubled (playing in the AL East will do that). He’ll be 33 next month and is a free agent at the end of the season.

Mike Bolsinger‘s Dodger career is over as he heads north of the border. Bolsinger kept the Dodgers afloat in 2015 with a 2.83 ERA in 16 pre-trade deadline starts. He lost his job when the Dodgers acquired Alex Wood and Mat Latos. He returned for some September starts when Latos was a bust, but allowed 16 runs in five starts. He struggled hard in six starts this year, with a 6.83 ERA/5.81 FIP. He’s under team control and isn’t even eligible for arbitration until 2018, so that’s probably the most painful aspect of this deal. His upside is limited, but he’s solid as an organization depth piece.

Overall, this trade is hard to have feelings about. Chavez probably becomes Ross Stripling‘s replacement at the very end of the bullpen and could be a spot starter if/when more starters get hurt after like seven pitches. It was highly underwhelming waiting for an Archer deal or waiting to see if Yasiel Puig would get moved, and seeing Rosenthal’s tweet about Chavez. But it looks like the Dodgers’ front office are small-game hunting. Bolsinger will be missed and provided some value for the Dodgers considering they acquired him from Arizona for cash, but the Dodgers have at least five arms in the minors that could provide what Bolsinger provided this year. There’s still a little bit of time before all deals are off, but if the Dodgers walk out of the deadline without an embarrassing overpay and a slight improvement to the roster.