The Los Angeles Dodgers constructed one of the best rosters baseball has ever seen to defend their World Series crown in 2025, but tough decisions needed to be made along the way.
Gavin Lux was one of the casualties of the offseason, getting traded to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for prospect Mike Sirota and a competitive balance round pick in this year’s draft.
Lux only having two years of team control left, along with the addition of Hyeseong Kim, most likely prompted the Dodgers to pull the trigger on the trade with the Reds. The Dodgers’ ability to always be thinking three steps ahead is one that they are quite adept at, and it is how they have managed to stay good for so long.
Lux understands how the Dodgers like to operate, which is why he was able to move on quickly after the initial emotional shock, via Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic:
“It was a little bit of a surprise, but it’s a business,” Lux said. “It is what it is. … I think going through the knee stuff, dealing with that adversity, kind of set me up to be prepared for anything that gets thrown your way a little bit.
“It was emotional at first. I mean, we just won the World Series, too. It’s pretty much the only place I’ve ever known and the only staff I’ve ever known. I’ve got a lot of love for those guys over there and the staff and I’ve got a lot of good relationships with those guys. It was emotional at first, but once it kind of dies down, you just kind of get excited to be around your new team and meet the guys and just try to get past all that so you can go win games.”
While the former No. 2 overall prospect hasn’t quite lived up to the hype thus far, he still has plenty of baseball ahead of him.
Lux had a down and up season in 2024, struggling at the plate to begin the year but catching fire toward the end. He also didn’t grade out very well as a defender with -2 defensive runs saved and -2 outs above average, but from the eye test, he provided serviceable defense at the very least.
All in all, it wasn’t too bad for his first full season since tearing his ACL in 2023. Being another year removed from surgery, it is not too unreasonable to think he can continue his trajectory from 2022.
The player who had a .276 batting average, .745 on-base plus slugging percentage, and 79th percentile OAA from that season is what the Reds are betting on getting.
Gavin Lux thanked Dodgers organization after trade to Reds
After the trade became official, Lux reflected on the eight years he spent with the organization after being drafted in the first round of the 2016 MLB Draft. He publicly thanked the entire Dodgers organization for helping him realize his dream of playing professional baseball.
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