Dodgers swipe former Yankees top prospect in sneaky waiver claim

With all of the injuries the Los Angeles Dodgers are dealing with, figuring out novel ways to increase their pitching depth needs to be a priority. Unfortunately, there are not a lot of free agents you would want out there in the wild at the moment, and striking early season trades is hard when you are the team with the biggest target on your back. If LA is going to make any additions, they are going to have to be opportunistic.

Thankfully, one such opportunity just presented itself courtesy of the team that the Dodgers ran over en route to the 2024 World Series title. The Yankees recently DFA'd reliever Yoendrys Gómez and the Dodgers saw enough that they liked to claim Gómez off waivers.

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Being about to get Gómez for essentially nothing could end up being quite the steal. Through six appearances, Gómez sported a 2.70 ERA in 10 innings of work. A closer look suggests a lot of good fortune, as he has nine walks in 10 innings of work, but LA seems to have seen enough to give him a shot at some innings.

Gómez typically operates off of three pitches and was one of the Yankees better pitching prospects just a couple years ago, though he finally fell off their preseason Top 30 list prior to the 2025 season. He used to throw with more velocity, but generally averages around 92 mph with his heater these days. Gómez also has a high spin sweeper/slider that can be a real weapon, but he struggles to find the strike zone with it as well as his curveball.

Will this move be the linchpin of the Dodgers' season? Absolutely not (probably), but it does give Dave Roberts another option to manage the bullpen and play matchups. With Gómez's breaking stuff, he could be a weapon against right-handed hitters, assuming he can throw more strikes. Of course, that is only the plan...but LA has to take what they can get right now.

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