The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired utility infielder Connor Joe from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for international amateur signing bonus pool space. He was not on the Braves’ 40-man roster, which in turn does not require the Dodgers to create room on theirs, which is at capacity.
Joe was selected in the supplemental first round (No. 39 overall) by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2014 Draft. He was traded to the Braves in August in exchange for Sean Rodriguez.
Joe is a career .251/.346/.350 batter, with 51 doubles, seven triples, 11 home runs and 106 RBI in 284 games over parts of three Minor League seasons.
The 24-year-old reached Double-A for the first time this season, playing with Altoona (Pirates affiliate) and Mississippi (Braves). In 94 combined games at the level, he hit .221/.320/.340 with 12 doubles, four triples, five home runs and 34 RBI.
The bulk of Joe’s playing time has come at first base (105 games) and third base (98). He’s also spent time in right field (46) and logged two innings in left.
Over the past few months the Dodgers swung trades to acquire international bonus pool space. The latest of which was received from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for Chris Hatcher. Sending bonus money to the Braves figures to have little impact on Los Angeles and their potential pursuit of Shohei Otani.
Because of previously exceeding their bonus pool limit, the Dodgers cannot offer bonus-eligible players more than a $300,000 signing bonus.
