This offseason has been relatively quiet for the Los Angeles Dodgers, although they did complete a three-team trade with the Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox to acquire left-handed reliever Scott Alexander and Jake Peter.
Alexander is coming off an outstanding season with Kansas City, as his 73.3 percent groundball rate was second only to Zach Britton’s 74.3 percent among qualifying Major League relievers. He figures to take the roll filled by Luis Avilan and Tony Watson.
In a recent interview with Cary Osborne of Dodger Insider, Alexander discussed the nerves and excitement that comes with being traded to a team as good as the Dodgers:
“Anytime you go to a new place, there are some nerves because you don’t know anyone and no one knows you. But for me, I look at it as a good thing. It’s a confidence booster I worked really hard to get to this point,” Alexander said. “That’s was one of the things that really helped me get excited about this trade was not only am I going to a great place, but one of the best teams in baseball. And they obviously wanted me and made a move to acquire me. It’s definitely humbling to think a couple of years ago I was up and down in Triple-A, and now I’m with a team as great as the Dodgers, and they want me on the team.”
Overall, Alexander appeared in 58 games (69 innings) for the Royals last season, yielding a 2.48 ERA, 3.23 FIP and 1.30 WHIP.
Also part of the reason the 28-year-old was acquired was that he still has five years left of team control and two options left, which gives the front office a ton of flexibility moving forward.
In addition to filling a void as a left-handed reliever, Alexander may also evolve as a late-inning option, which was a role Brandon Morrow and Watson helped solidify for the Dodgers last year.
