Here’s who the Dodgers acquired in 3-team trade with Phillies and Rays

The Dodgers acquired a pitcher from the Phillies in a three-team trade on Tuesday.

The Los Angeles Dodgers‘ quietly active offseason continued on Tuesday after the team worked out a three-team trade with the Tampa Bay Rays and Philadelphia Phillies. With Tampa looking to re-tool after trading Blake Snell and the Phils hoping to make a splash with Dave Dombrowski running the show, the Dodgers felt like the perfect partner to hop in this deal.

The headliner here was Jose Alvarado, who will be going from Tampa to Philadelphia. The 25-year-old is under club control through 2024, which should help the Phillies from a financial standpoint. Though the left-hander was significantly limited in 2020 due to shoulder and lat injuries, his 2018 campaign with the Rays was very promising.

But enough of that. The Dodgers sent infielder Dillon Paulson to the Rays and got themselves a left-handed reliever from the Phillies. Garrett Cleavinger is headed to Los Angeles in this deal.

Let’s hit Paulson first. The 23-year-old was not among the Dodgers’ top 30 prospects. He was selected in the 13th round of the 2018 MLB Draft out of the University of Southern California and made it to High-A in his second season of professional ball back in 2019. Across 117 games between Single-A and High-A that year, the first baseman slashed .243/.366/.433 with 75 runs scored, 16 homers and 64 RBI and performed MUCH better with High-A Rancho Cucamonga.

As for Cleavinger, he actually hit MLB this past season as the Phillies were desperate for bullpen arms. Though he’s only pitched as high as Double-A in his minor league career, the former third-round pick out of Oregon back in 2015 has an intriguing fastball-slider-curveball combo.

In his brief stint with Philadelphia in 2020, his fastball averaged 94.4 MPH, his slider averaged 82.5 MPH and his curve averaged 76 MPH in his two appearances. Those speed discrepancies are notable, so perhaps the Dodgers have something to work with here. After all, if the Phillies are known for anything, it’s their inability to develop pitchers.

At best? The Dodgers have a young, cost-effective lefty option to go to in the bullpen. At worst? Cleavinger provides depth for the pitching staffs at Double-A or Triple-A. But knowing the organization’s success rate with helping pitchers hone their craft, we’d like to think Cleavinger could be contributing at the MLB level sooner than later.

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