Dodgers Roster News: LA Trades Reliever to AL Central Team
The Los Angeles Dodgers made a trade over the weekend, sending minor league reliever Lael Lockhart to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for cash considerations. Cody Stavenhagen of The Athletic reported on the deal.
Lockhart, 25, signed with the Dodgers out of the University of Arkansas back in 2021. He quickly worked his way up the minor leagues, getting to Double-A in 2022.
After two strong years in 2021 and 2022, sporting a 3.95 and 3.71 ERA, respectively, he struggled in 2023 with the Tulsa Drillers.
In eight appearances, Lockhart pitched 15 innings and allowed 22 hits, 20 runs (19 earned runs), four home runs and 13 walks while striking out 18. He allowed batters to hit .324 off of him, and sported a WHIP of 2.33 and an ERA of 11.40.
The lefty's down year obviously put the Dodgers in a position to move on from him, and the Tigers decided they wanted to take a chance on helping him figure things out. Lockhart is still just 25 years old, so there's a lot of time for him to work his way up through the Tigers' minor league system and get his career back on track.
The Dodgers, however, felt like they were happy to move on from him for some cash, in a deal that was definitely brought up by the Tigers who clearly liked what they saw out of Lockhart.
Either way, there's no risk for the Tigers, as they won't have lost very much if Lockhart doesn't work out. As for the Dodgers, they'll be happy with the cash, and will just hope to not see Lockhart turn into one of baseball's best relievers.
Good luck to Lael with his new team!
