Grant Dayton was claimed off waivers by the Atlanta Braves, freeing one of the needed spots on the 40-man roster for the Los Angeles Dodgers to protect against possibly losing Trevor Oaks and Dennis Santana in the 2017 Rule 5 Draft.
In a second corresponding move, the Dodgers designated fellow relief pitcher Josh Ravin for assignment. Ravin shared on social media he too has joined the Braves organization. It’s unclear if that was after passing through waivers or via trade that has not yet been made public.
Dayton was an 11th-round draft pick by the then-Florida Marlins in 2010. He was traded to the Dodgers on July 15, 2015, in exchange for former first-round pick Chris Reed.
The Dodgers purchased Dayton’s contract on July 21, 2016 and he made his Major League debut the following day, pitching two scoreless innings of relief against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Dayton was a key piece for the Dodgers down the stretch of the 2016 season, as he appeared in 25 games and yielded a 2.05 ERA and 0.76 WHIP in 26.1 innings. He struggled a bit in the postseason, however, pitching to an 8.10 ERA in seven games (3.1 innings).
The 2017 season was a rough one for Dayton, as in 29 appearances with the big league club he had a 4.94 ERA and 1.31 WHIP. He dealt with some elbow issues and at the end of July he was shut down for the season. One month later the Dodgers announced that Dayton had undergone Tommy John surgery.
Dayton will likely be out for the entire 2018 season, but when he comes back he will be joining a Braves organization whose front office is now run by Alex Anthopoulus, who spent the last two years in the Dodgers organization.
