Dodgers News: Trayce Thompson, Top Pitching Prospect Sent to White Sox for Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly
The Dodgers and White Sox trade is officially finalized, and it's quite a weird one. The Dodgers are receiving RHPs Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly, and giving up OF Trayce Thompson and RHPs Nick Nastrini and Jordan Leasure. Jeff Passan of ESPN had the full trade.
I already wrote about Lynn and Kelly, which you can read here. But in summary, Lynn has the highest ERA in baseball this season (6.47) and Kelly has a 4.97 ERA, but both have been unlucky and had great seasons just two years ago. The Dodgers are hoping to use their magic pitching lab powers to get them back to their peaks.
In this article, I want to talk about the return, though.
Trading Thompson and Noah Syndergaard in a three day span is definitely unexpected, but also pretty impressive considering both players were wasting away on the injured list and pretty much unplayable for LA. However, losing Nastrini — the team's No. 9 prospect — to get two reclamation project pitchers is a bit of an overpay.
Nastrini was a part of the Dodgers' amazing Double-A rotation in Tulsa. He's continued to rise the ranks of the prospect lists, and has all the makings of a great pitcher in the MLB.
When it was announced the Dodgers were adding Lynn and Kelly, I think many Dodger fans hoped it would be for lower-level prospects. The fact that it's for their No. 9 prospect is a bit concerning.
As for Leasure, he's been racking up the strikeouts in Double-A with 56 punchouts in 35 innings. He's just 24 years old, while Nastrini is 23.
The White Sox should be very happy with their return, while the Dodgers will hope they can turn around both Lynn and Kelly's seasons. In all honesty, though, I just can't believe they were able to trade Thompson and Syndergaard this deadline.
