The Los Angeles Dodgers 40-man roster has been full since Wednesday, when the team made the re-signing of Jason Heyward to a one-year contract official.
That left a pending agreement with Joe Kelly still to be finalized, and on Saturday, Shohei Ohtani announced his intention to sign with the Dodgers as well.
Impending signings of Kelly and Ohtani created a bit of a logjam for the Dodgers, which led to exploring a trade with the New York Yankees in order to create room on their 40-man roster.
According to Alden González of ESPN, the Dodgers are trading Victor González and Jorbit Vivas to the Yankees for Trey Sweeney:
Sources: The Yankees are sending shortstop prospect Trey Sweeney to the Dodgers in exchange for LHRP Victor Gonzalez and 2B/3B Jorbit Vivas.
⁰This clears two 40-man-roster spots to make room for Shohei Ohtani and Joe Kelly.— Alden González (@Alden_Gonzalez) December 11, 2023
González spent parts of three seasons pitching for the Dodgers from 2020-21 and 2023 while playing an important role in their 2020 World Series run.
The left-hander emerged as one of their top relievers his rookie season, posting a 1.33 ERA across 20.1 innings, but he regressed in 2021 and took another step back in 2023, although he was still around a league average reliever.
He holds a career 3.22 ERA across 89.1 innings with a 1.15 WHIP, 86 strikeouts and 31 walks.
González was essentially the odd man out of a crowded Dodgers’ bullpen with Caleb Ferguson and Alex Vesia ahead of him, and potentially Ryan Yarbrough as well.
Vivas is ranked as the Dodgers No. 10 prospect by MLB Pipeline and has a solid profile as a versatile infielder with strong contact skills, but he lacks power.
He was originally signed by the team out of Venezuela in 2017 and has been a strong producer at every level of the Minor Leagues before struggling in 26 games after being promoted to Triple-A Oklahoma City last season.
Vivas has yet to make his MLB debut despite being added to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft in 2021.
What are the Dodgers getting in Trey Sweeney?
Sweeney was ranked as the Yankees’ No. 8 prospect by MLB Pipeline but No. 3 by Fangraphs. The 23-year-old is a left-handed hitter who was drafted in the first round of the 2021 MLB Draft, 20th overall.
He projects as a solid hitter with even more upside if he can start to show off his power more, but there are questions if he will be able to stay at shortstop.
He is also a potential swing change candidate to unlock some more of his power as he tends to hit a lot of ground balls.
In Double-A last season, he hit .252/.367/.411 with 14 home runs, 49 RBI, 67 runs scored, 20 stolen bases and a 118 wRC+.
He could make his debut in 2024, but a 2025 timeline seems the most likely.
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