The Los Angeles Dodgers are doing what the Dodgers always do when injuries hit: they reload on the fly. Los Angeles is trading for Toronto Blue Jays reliever Eric Lauer in exchange for cash considerations or a player to be named later, a move that comes as the pitching staff keeps taking hits.
The latest blow is reliever Jack Dreyer landing on the injured list, the newest name on a growing list of Dodgers arms that have gone down. Add it to the pile and you understand why the front office is dipping into the trade market this early in the season.
The position-player side took a hit too. Outfielder Teoscar Hernandez is heading to the injured list with a strained left hamstring and will likely miss at least a few weeks, with a corresponding move to bring up reinforcements. Losing a middle-of-the-order bat for any stretch is a real subtraction.
Why the Lauer Deal Is Classic Dodgers
This is exactly how Los Angeles operates. The team does not wait for problems to fix themselves. A low-cost trade for a useful arm like Lauer is the kind of move that barely makes headlines but keeps a contender humming through the inevitable injury waves of a long season.
Lauer gives the Dodgers depth and flexibility, and the price was negligible. When you have the resources Los Angeles has, you can afford to take swings on depth pieces and let the roster sort itself out. That is the advantage of being the sport’s deepest organization.
The Bigger Picture
Injuries are testing the Dodgers, but if any team is built to absorb them, it is this one. The depth in the farm system and the willingness to spend mean Los Angeles can keep plugging holes while the stars get healthy. That is how you survive the grind of a 162-game season.
Still, the pitching attrition is worth watching. A staff can only take so many hits before the cracks start to show, even one as deep as this. If the arms keep dropping, the Dodgers may need to make a bigger move than a cash deal for a reliever.
My take: the Lauer trade is a smart, low-risk patch, and the Teoscar injury is a manageable setback for a team this loaded. But keep an eye on the pitching health. The Dodgers are fine for now, and if the injuries snowball, expect them to be aggressive again. They always are.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
