The Los Angeles Dodgers officially announced their trade with the Minnesota Twins, acquiring Brusdar Graterol, Luke Raley and the No. 67 pick in the 2020 MLB Draft in exchange for Kenta Maeda, Jair Camargo and cash considerations (reported $10 million).
While the Dodgers had previously agreed to send Maeda to the Twins as part of a three-team trade with the Boston Red Sox, they wound up reworking the original framework as negotiations between the teams reached an impasse.
L.A. surrendered more prospects to Boston — Jeter Downs and Connor Wong, along with Alex Verdugo — but recouped young talent in Graterol, reunited with Raley and added an asset to the organization in the form of a draft pick.
The Dodgers included Raley in their package when trading with the Twins for Brian Dozier in 2018. Raley, a seventh-round pick by the Dodgers in the 2016 MLB Draft, batted .302/.362/.516 with six doubles, seven home runs and 21 RBI in 33 games for Triple-A Rochester last season.
Meanwhile, Graterol was ranked the No. 83 prospect in baseball for the 2020 season by MLB Pipeline. The 21-year-old made his MLB debut with the Twins last year, appearing in 10 games out of the bullpen and collecting 10 strikeouts over 9.2 innings pitched.
Graterol was a combined 7-0 with a 1.92 ERA across three Minor League levels last season. He could develop into a starting pitcher but may have more upside as an elite reliever.
Maeda’s time with the Dodgers comes to an end after four seasons that saw him primarily pitch as a starter but shift to a relief role come the playoffs. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman spoke highly of Maeda at Dodgers FanFest, expressing hope the right-hander would reach his goal of making 30 or more starts this season.
Earlier this offseason, Maeda’s agent indicated they were receptive to a trade if it meant joining a team with more of a likelihood to remain in the rotation. Maeda figures to receive that opportunity with the Twins, who can’t match the pitching depth of the Dodgers.
Maeda was 47-35 with a 3.87 ERA, 3.71 FIP and 1.15 WHIP in 137 games (103 starts) over four seasons with L.A. The trade reunites Maeda with Rich Hill, who signed a one-year contract with the Twins in January.
The Dodgers signed Camargo out of Colombia in July 2015, merely 10 day after his 16th birthday. He spent all of 2016 playing for the Dominican Summer League Dodgers and made the jump stateside to play in the Arizona League the following year.
Camargo joined Rookie-level Ogden in 2018 and spent all of last season with Low-A Great Lakes. He appeared in 79 games and hit .236/.301/.342 with 18 doubles, four home runs and 41 RBI.
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