The Dodgers made a move to unclutter their middle infield logjam on Monday, reportedly agreeing to trade Gavin Lux to the Cincinnati Reds, ESPN’s Jeff Passan was first to report.
Lux, who hit .251 with career-highs of 10 home runs and 50 RBIs last season, has been a potential trade candidate since the season ended.
With Mookie Betts moving back to the infield next season, versatile Tommy Edman signing a contract extension and the addition of KBO All-Star Hyeseong Kim last week, the reigning World Series champions had a glut of middle infielders. The Dodgers also have slick-fielding Miguel Rojas and utility man Chris Taylor in the final year of their contracts.
In exchange for the 27-year-old Lux, the Dodgers get outfield prospect Mike Sirota and a Competitive Balance Round A pick (approximately No. 37).
The Dodgers selected Lux out of high school in the first round of the 2016 draft, and he made his major-league debut in 2018. Lux was on the 2020 team that won the World Series in the pandemic-shortened season, but he became more of a contributor after that. He hit .242 in 2021, then hit a career-high .276 with 33 extra-base hits and a .745 OPS in 2022.
He was expected to be the team’s starting shortstop in 2023 after Trea Turner left as a free agent, but he suffered a season-ending torn ACL during spring training.
Last year, he went into spring as the team’s starting shortstop but he struggled in the field and was moved to second base well before the season began, with Betts sliding from second to shortstop.
Lux played in 139 games last season and had one home run and four RBIs in 12 postseason games.
In what turned out to be Lux’s last at-bat in a Dodgers uniform, he hit the game-tying sacrifice fly in the eighth inning of Game 5 of the World Series against the New York Yankees last fall. The Dodgers took the lead on a Mookie Betts sacrifice fly two batters later and closed out the win for their first full-season championship since 1988.
Sirota, 21, was ranked as the No. 14 prospect in the Reds’ system, according to MLB Pipeline. He was initially drafted by the Dodgers in 2021, but didn’t sign and went to college at Northeastern University. The Reds selected Sirota in the third round of the 2024 draft. He is known for his speed and defense with 20-20 potential, according to an MLB.com scouting report.