Dodgers make early offseason trade with Mariners right after Josh Naylor deal

The Mariners made the first big move of the offseason on Sunday night when they re-signed Josh Naylor to a five-year contract (pending a physical). He endeared himself to the team and fans immediately following a trade from the Diamondbacks at the deadline, hitting .299 with a .831 OPS during the regular season and .340 with a .966 OPS in the postseason, making him one of the Mariners' most effective bats during their October run.

But Seattle's front office, clearly poised to be aggressive this offseason, didn't stop there. Just about an hour later, they made a trade with the Dodgers to swap lefty pitcher Robinson Ortiz with righty pitcher Tyler Gough.

Ortiz was added to the Dodgers' 40-man roster in early November alongside minor league outfielder Ryan Ward, but Ortiz certainly hadn't been on anyone's radar previously. He shot up from High-A to Triple-A this season and posted a 2.73 ERA in 59 1/3 innings across all three levels.

Gough, a ninth-round draft pick for Seattle in 2022, has not moved past Single-A yet, and he spent the entirety of 2025 on the IL after Tommy John.

The Dodgers' 40-man roster is now at 38, leaving some room for them to add players on the eve of the deadline to protect prospects from the Rule 5 draft.

Dodgers trade with Mariners for righty pitcher Tyler Gough after Seattle's Josh Naylor re-signing

The last time the Dodgers made a righty pitching swap with the Mariners, it turned out to be a pivotal, miraculous move for LA's World Series run. In June, they traded Joe Jacques, who went on to put up a 6.00 ERA in 30 innings in Triple-A Tacoma, for Will Klein, one of the great heroes of the Dodgers' 18-inning marathon in Game 3 of the Fall Classic.

No one could've anticipated what Klein did for LA — four scoreless innings as the last guy up in the Dodgers' bullpen — but it was a wonder that the Mariners gave the Dodgers anything but cash for Jacques in the first place.

Gough clearly isn't going to have the same kind of quick impact as Klein did for the Dodgers, and he put up just decent numbers in Single-A in 2024 before getting injured (4.33 ERA in 95 2/3 innings), but getting Ortiz off of the 40-man gives the Dodgers space for one more Rule 5 protectee — and they still got something in return.