Dodgers make random trade with Nationals for polarizing former White Sox prospect

Minor league signings and small-time trades usually aren't anything to get worked up about one way or the other, but it's a little different when it's the Dodgers, and especially when it's a pitcher.

On Wednesday, Spencer Nusbaum of The Athletic reported that the Dodgers are acquiring lefty pitcher Jake Eder, who was DFA'ed on Saturday, from the Nationals in exchange for cash considerations.

Eder's major league career has been limited to 20 1/3 innings since 2024, but his real claim to fame is his involvement in a 2023 trade that sent him from the Marlins, who took him in the fourth round of the 2020 draft, to the White Sox in a 1-to-1 trade for Jake Burger.

Burger was a White Sox fan favorite who had hit 25 home runs with 52 RBI at the time of the trade. Then-executive vice president Kenny Williams was said to have made the call, despite GM Rick Hahn's disagreement. It exposed a rift between the two longtime front office members, who were fired just three weeks later.

Eder would go on to make his major league debut in Chicago in 2024, but pitched just two major league innings before being traded to the Angels just after Opening Day in 2025. They, in turn, sent him to the Nationals at last year's trade deadline.

Dodgers acquire lefty pitcher Jake Eder after Nationals DFA

The Burger-Eder swap was weird to begin with. Burger was a White Sox first-round pick in the middle of a resurgent season with years of team control left. Eder was ranked fifth in the Marlins' pipeline at the time, but he'd been having a rough go of things in both Single- and Double-A before being dealt.

And he never got better. Eder has a career 5.39 minor league ERA; 7.69 in Triple-A. He had a nice spring training with the Nationals this year, giving up two earned runs in 6 2/3 innings, but he was optioned to Triple-A to start the season and then DFA'ed.

The Dodgers can never have too much pitching depth. Although we're hopeful the bullpen stays healthier (and better) than last year, LA has used around 40 pitchers a season for the last two years, and they've managed to spin a couple of random minor league signings or small-time trades into usable pieces.

Odds are admittedly still slim, but maybe Eder could be the Dodgers' next Will Klein. You never know with them.