Yankees trade marquee prospect to Dodgers for lefty pitcher and young infielder
By trading 2021 first round pick Trey Sweeney, the Yankees have added a big-league bullpen piece and infield depth.
On Monday, the Yankees sent Sweeney to the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for lefty Victor Gonzalez and minor league infielder Jorbit Vivas.
Gonzalez, 28, posted a 4.01 ERA in 34 appearances last season for the Dodgers and has a 3.22 ERA across three MLB seasons.
The Yankees need lefty relief at the big-league level, with Wandy Peralta as a current free agent and not much in the way of depth.
And the Dodgers were said to be in need of clearing 40-man roster space to officially add superstar Shohei Ohtani and fellow recent free-agent addition, reliever Joe Kelly.
In his 93-game MLB career with the Dodgers, Gonzalez has limited lefty hitters to a .209 batting average and .564 OPS.
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As with slugger Juan Soto, acquired last week via trade from the San Diego Padres, Gonzalez becomes one of the few current Yankees with a World Series ring.
During the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Gonzalez was the winning pitcher in the Dodgers' World Series Game 6 clincher against the Tampa Bay Rays, retiring all four batters he faced - three of them on strikeouts.
The lefty-hitting Vivas, 22, batted a combined .269 at the Dodgers’ Class AA and AAA affiliates in 2023, with 13 homers, 63 RBI and 25 stolen bases in 135 games.
Sweeney, 23, was taken 20th overall by the Yankees in the 2021 draft out of Eastern Illinois University and drew comps to a lefty-hitting version of DJ LeMahieu for his build and his hitting style.
In 200 games (397 at-bats) at Class AA Somerset last season, Sweeney batted .252 with 20 doubles, 13 homers, 49 RBI and 20 stolen bases.
Though he's of similar age to Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza, Sweeney's path to Yankee Stadium has been impeded by the two young infielders.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: New York Yankees trade: Trey Sweeney to Dodgers for two players
