Dodgers Make Under-The-Radar Trade With American League Contender

Valentina Martinez | Apr 12, 2025

Oct 25, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman speaks in a press conference before game one against the New York Yankees in the 2024 MLB World Series at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Dodgers returned to California after a fairly disappointing road trip where the team went 2-4. The defending champions arrived to the east coast unscathed with an 8-0 record, but things quickly changed against the Philadelphia Phillies and Washington Nationals.

Fortunately, they got back on track with a win over the Chicago Cubs on Friday night.

More news: MLB Analyst Shockingly Predicts Dodgers to Lose NL West to Padres

The road games, however, revealed the Dodgers are nowhere near perfect, and like the rest of the team around the league, still have some fine tuning to do.

Nevertheless, while the defending champions were wrapping up spring camp and preparing to take a flight to Japan, the Dodgers made a trade with the Kansas City Royals.

The trade was only reported recently by Dodgers Nation's Noah Camras.

The Dodgers acquired right-hander Shawndrick Oduber from the Royals in exchange for cash considerations.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Baseball Aruba (@baseballaruba)

Oduber was initially signed by Kansas City as an international player out of Aruba in 2022. Just a few years later, the young pitching prospect will now take his talents to the Dodgers organization.

The highest level Oduber has played thus far in his career is Rookie Ball, and he will be tested by joining the Dodgers organization. While the defending champions have one of the best rosters in baseball, the Dodgers also have one of the premier farm systems around the league.

In 2023, Oduber was a full-time starter, sporting a 3.06 ERA. He went 0-2 with 45 strikeouts to just eight walks across 32.1 innings pitched. That season, he made 11 starts.

Last season, the 20-year-old transitioned to a reliever role for the Royals. There were evidently growing pains for Oduber as he produced a 5.18 ERA with 21 strikeouts over 24.1 innings pitched.

Now, Oduber will have a chance to develop with the Dodgers organization. L.A. has a reputation for transforming pitchers — it's a huge reason why international phenom Roki Sasaki chose to sign with the Dodgers this offseason.

More news: Bookie of Shohei Ohtani's Ex-Interpreter Believes More Than Half of Athletes Bet on Sports

For more Dodgers news, head over to Dodgers on SI.