After eight seasons with the Marlins, Miguel Rojas changed organizations this evening. Miami traded the infielder to the Dodgers in a one-for-one deal that sent infield prospect Jacob Amaya to South Florida.
Rojas is coming off a tough season in which he hit .237/.282/.324 through 504 trips to the plate. A right wrist issue seemed to play a role in that subpar offensive output, as the veteran underwent surgery in October to repair a torn triangular fibrocartilage complex (TFCC). Craig Mish of SportsGrid reported this evening that Rojas had another minor issue arise recently and is expected to undergo another procedure to address the matter (Twitter link).
There’s no indication this latest issue will affect Rojas’ readiness for Spring Training, much less the start of the regular season. It’s clearly not of much concern to the Dodgers, who were no doubt made aware of it during trade discussions. Rojas acknowledged this evening there’s “still a couple things I need to figure out with the wrist” but added he’d “be ready for Spring Training if everything goes well” (via Matthew Moreno of Dodger Blue).
Rojas, 34 next month, adds a glove-first utility option to the mix in L.A. Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times writes the club plans to bounce the nine-year MLB veteran around the infield in a multi-positional capacity. That leaves open the possibility of Gavin Lux taking the primary shortstop job, with Max Muncy and Chris Taylor on hand to see time at second and third base (and for Taylor to continue logging plenty of outfield action). Top prospect Miguel Vargas is expected to get a chance at the hot corner as well.
As for Miami, they’ve subtracted some certainty from the short-term infield mix. Mish tweets that Joey Wendle is likely to serve as the club’s primary shortstop at the start of the season. He’d pair in the middle infield with young star Jazz Chisholm Jr., while offseason signee Jean Segura is ticketed for third base duty. Mish and Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald wrote last week that Chisholm was interested in getting a chance to move back to shortstop at some point. It doesn’t seem that’ll be under consideration for now, though.
Amaya, a glove-first infielder, is already on the 40-man roster. He’s coming off a .259/.368/.381 showing in Triple-A and figures to get a chance for his big league debut at some point in 2023. Fellow rookies Jordan Groshans and Xavier Edwards are also on the 40-man, as is speedy utility player Jon Berti.
Wow!
Pow!
Sounds like another “failed physical situation” only the Twinkies pass failed physicals.
Funny, sounds to me more like a bad episode of Batman.
Boom !
How on God’s Green Earth did Rojas have a 2.5 WAR last year??
AVG .236, OBP .283, SLG .323. Played in 140 games, but it’s not like 471 ABs is anything to shout about.
It’s why using WAR as a baseline statistic does not make sense for business decisions.
And unless I missed something in the article, doesn’t Rojas’ $5M salary this season push the Dodgers over the salary cap?
Dodger do a great job of inflating their prospects. Feel like they still got a great return even tho they didn’t sell high on Amaya
The dude is injured, old and can’t hit. I love Miggy, but he’s a bench player.
He’s a stop gap. Kick the can down the road until it’s an organizational impact then overpay?
Not really a stop gap, given the procedure. I’ve had the surgery. If it’s his throwing arm, he’ll have tenderness for a while. Cast up to your pit for six to seven weeks. Not sure what the revision was for and that might be the key. Does it set his healing back big time?
Correa wannabe. Sad!
a Dodger tradition. trading for an injured player. we’ll see if he’s ready by start of Spring Training.
It’s a Friedman tradition.
A Friedman tradition!
Are the Dodgers drunk? What am I missing here?
Why trade for a middle aged, mediocre bench bat, take on his salary, and he’s banged up.
My guess is that they did this in order to possibly facilitate a future trade involving a starter. If in the next couple of weeks we see Lopez or one of the other starters traded to LA for three lightly regarded prospects, we will know why.
hes better defensively …too many times lux would make bonehead plays def. the dodgers love versatile players. miggy fits that mold.
Nobody wanted to see Lux as the Dodgers everyday ss except Gavin and his family. Rojas gives them one of the league’s best defensive ss without costing much. I do believe this trade is the pre shock to something else as the Dodgers seem hell bent on resetting their luxury tax. Perhaps Chris Taylor or Lux himself will be dealt.
Congrats, Ms. Kim Ng… Kudos for your 4 latest moves : those are …a) Jean Segura, b) Johnny Cueto, c) Trading injured Miggy Rojas for SS bright-glove youngster Amaya, plus opening a space on the 40-man roster (as Amaya could go to Triple A) and d) luckily, not losing Charles Leblanc, a good promising player.. Good job this past few days… Let’s now go get a decent centerfielder and a first baseman, and we’ll be happy with you !!.
Right on the first three, but they outrighted LeBlanc off the 40 man roster as a corresponding move.
FYI … You’re wrong, brother, that was last week (when they needed the roster spot for Segura), and a week later Leblanc was passed through waivers today and outrighted to Triple-A Jacksonville
That’s… pretty much what he just said
We can’t know for sure thr GM is primarily responsible for this. Others may also be involved here.
Yeah, I mean, her moves to that point haven’t painted a very good picture, but these moves have been very good for them.
As for a decent CF, how about the switch-hitting phenom Aaron Hicks? He’s young, durable, and excellent of both sides of the ball. He’s a stand-up guy and a good clubhouse presence. He’s also great with the fanbase. Well, to be honest, he’s exactly none of those things, but you can pretend, right?
You say that when trying to trade him… I wonder what the boos are about at home games, though. Lol
It’s his nickname: Boo. Like, our lil’ Boo.
I missed the sarcasm. I should have picked up that he isn’t young or well-liked. Defense is decent and I wouldn’t know about clubhouse presence. I also missed the last line. It’s too early in the morning for me.
her moves to that point haven’t painted a very good picture,
================
I’m an agnostic on Ng, but take into consideration her handling of Cabreara & Garrett. She squeezed a half-season of development out of both of them, while retaining the full 6 years of service time. These under the radar moves provide long-term value.
And the extension for Alcantara.
Good points, Joe. I forgot about them honestly.
All comes down to what they get for trading from pitching.
World-class fleecing here by Miami
Are you kidding me?! Give up a prospect, pay his entire contract, go over the CBT threshold and now you’re saying he’s not fully healthy AND you knew about it! What kind of trade is this?! I didn’t think you could top the terrible Gallo trade… this is worse. I’m starting to lose faith in the Friedman front office.
Is it possible that the Dodgers have some sort of agreement with the league that discounts Bauer’s AAV hit against the luxury tax calculations?
This has been my theory all along. In all other cases AAV is calculated by the total salary commitment divided by the number of years of the contract. If that method is used in this case, the CBT charge for this year is closer to $18M.
Betts LF
Freeman 1B
Smith C
Martinez DH
Muncy 3B
Vargas LF
Lux SS
Taylor 2B
Thompson CF
Veteran bench of Rojas, Barnes and Hayward
If Lux has trouble at SS, then Lux moves to 2B, Rojas to SS, and Taylor becomes the regular sub
Small chance Muncy at 2B, Vargas at 3B and Taylor in LF
I think it’ll be Taylor/Vargas in LF with Lux being the everyday 2B. Taylor is versatile enough to bounce around the field and give players a day off as well.
Dodgers don’t normally do dumb moves. Wait and see on this one??
They must be really confident he’ll be back.
His glove is legit and that pushes Lux to second. Defensive range is important again thanks to banning the shift.
But even the Dodgers lineup will suffer if his bat is a black hole.
I’m not liking this move.
Does a Grisham or Kim trade make sense now?
Amaya has been called the best defensive shortstop in the Dodgers system and comps to a young Miguel Rojas when he was a Dodgers prospect. Strange move by Friedman to give up 6 years of Amaya and go over the tax for 1 year of injured Miggy. Reminds me of trading for Gallo when you have Cody Bellinger starting.
Rojas isn’t the type of player teams go past the luxury tax for, there has to be more moves coming
Yeah, if all the tax numbers we’ve been hearing are right then it makes zero sense to go over for Rojas. I don’t hate the move as an insurance policy. I mean Amaya seemed like a good prospect but they’re called prospects for a reason. Gotta believe something more is coming…
Miami making good decisions now that Jeter took his ball and went home.
Wondering if Rojas will get the magic elixir that they gave Turner, Taylor, and Muncie that made players that no one wanted into all stars
Not sure what magic is required. He just needs to continue as the serviceable hitter and slick fielder he’s been for his entire career.