Dodgers Acquire Eric Lauer From Blue Jays for Cash to Backfill After Blake Snell Surgery
The Los Angeles Dodgers are losing pitchers faster than they can replace them. After placing reliever Jack Dreyer on the injured list and learning that Blake Snell will undergo surgery this week, the Dodgers grabbed left-hander Eric Lauer from the Toronto Blue Jays for cash considerations. The move is the kind of low-cost dart throw the Dodgers have specialized in for years.
The Snell news is the bigger issue. The 32-year-old Cy Young winner has been a disaster for the Dodgers since signing his five-year, $185 million deal in 2024. He pitched 28 innings last year, dealt with shoulder issues all season, and showed up to spring training claiming everything was fine. It was not fine. Dave Roberts confirmed Sunday that Snell would have surgery and would miss significant time.
The Dodgers’ rotation suddenly looks thin. Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Tyler Glasnow have been the front of the rotation, both pitching well through the first quarter of the season. After that, the depth is questionable. Walker Buehler has been inconsistent. Bobby Miller has been working through control issues at Triple-A. Tony Gonsolin has been good in stretches but has not held up over full seasons.
Enter Lauer. The 30-year-old lefty has had a long, weird career. He was a former Cardinals draft pick. He spent three years with the Padres. He went to the Brewers and had two solid seasons. He spent a year in Korea. He came back to the Blue Jays last year and threw 89 useful innings out of the bullpen and as a spot starter. He is not a star. He is exactly the kind of arm the Dodgers need to eat innings while the rotation gets healthier.
The cost was minimal. The Blue Jays got cash. The Dodgers got a left-handed pitcher with major league experience who can swing between starting and relief. Toronto is in a rebuilding phase after a brutal 2025 season and is dumping veterans for any return. Los Angeles is in win-now mode and needs arms.
The Dodgers’ bullpen has been a question mark all year. Dreyer’s injury is the latest in a series of arm issues that have hit the relief corps. Evan Phillips has been good but is being overworked. Alex Vesia has been the only consistent lefty out of the bullpen. Adding Lauer gives Dave Roberts another lefty option for matchup situations.
For Lauer, the move is a chance to pitch meaningful games. The Dodgers are 26-15 and leading the NL West by three games. The contention environment is the kind of place a 30-year-old left-hander wants to land. He gets a chance to throw playoff innings, pitch in big spots, and probably earn another contract next offseason.
The Snell situation is the larger problem. The Dodgers have already paid him $74 million across the first two years of the deal. They have three more years and $111 million left on the contract. He has thrown a total of 28 innings in a Dodger uniform. The injury this week is going to cost him most of 2026. Surgery typically means another six-to-eight months of recovery, plus a ramp-up period in the minors.
The Dodgers can absorb the cost because they are the Dodgers. But every year Snell is on the IL is a year that he is not pitching with Yamamoto and Glasnow on a playoff staff. That was the entire point of the contract.
The bigger Dodgers picture is fine. They have the best offense in baseball. Shohei Ohtani is hitting .310 with 16 home runs. Mookie Betts is playing his way back into MVP form. Freddie Freeman is healthy. The position-player group is the deepest in the league, and the Dodgers can lean on it through stretches when the pitching gets shaky.
What this trade tells you is that the Dodgers are not done. Andrew Friedman has built a roster that can absorb injuries. He is going to keep adding arms throughout the summer. The trade deadline is going to be wild. Los Angeles is the kind of team that turns a 26-15 start into a 100-win season by being smart about depth. The Lauer move is the first piece of that plan.
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.
