The Dodgers announced that they have designated left-hander Justin Bruihl and infielder Eddys Leonard for assignment. Those two moves open up 40-man roster spots for Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly, who have now been officially acquired from the White Sox.
Bruihl, 26, was added to the Dodgers’ roster in August of 2021. He finished out that year in the club’s bullpen and has served as a frequently-optioned depth arm in the two campaigns since then. He’s made 65 major league appearances in that time with a 3.65 earned run average. His 15.6% strikeout rate is well below league average, but his 7.6% walk rate and 44.7% ground ball rate are both solid. It’s possible he’s had some luck, as his .263 batting average on balls in play is on the low side, leading to a 4.48 FIP and 4.61 SIERA.
Leonard, 22, was added to the club’s roster in November of 2021 to prevent him from being selected in that year’s Rule 5 draft. He hit .296/.390/.539 in the lower levels that year for a wRC+ of 145, but his results have tailed off since then. Last year’s line of .264/.348/.435 was still above average, but his wRC+ dropped to 119. This year’s been even worse, as he’s hitting .254/.327/.411 in Double-A for a 96 wRC+.
The Dodgers will now have a week to explore options with both players, either trading them or passing them through waivers, though the former option has a tighter timeline since the deadline is now just four days away. Left-handed relief tends to always be in demand, and Bruihl still has a couple of option years, including this one. He also has just over a year of service time, allowing him to potentially serve as bullpen depth for another club for the foreseeable future. Leonard is having a difficult year but is still considered the club’s #28 prospect at Baseball America. He will also still have one option remaining after this one.
Dumb Bickford is way worse than Bruihl
Bruihl is pretty good. Free lefty reliever who’s only 24. GM’s take notice.
He’s 26
He may have accidentally triggered an Einstein-Rosen bridge during his space travels that took him back to 2021.
I hate it when I do that!
Cards should pick both these guys up. And also trade almost everyone. I’m excited for a retool or rebuild and feel nows the time for the cards
I was just about to type the same thing for the Tigers. Leonard was a top prospect fery recently.
Funny if the White Sox grabbed them. That would win them the trade!
Two guys that should get claimed elsewhere. Could have also DFA’d Tyson Miller and Yonny Hernandez.
Both of these guys are utterly useless, devoid of any value…
Leonard was the far worse mistake. Hernandez and a dime, you can only have ten cents. At least with Leonard, he has the potential to have some value…
Two easy claims
Eddys? Wow somebody needs to pick him up
I seriously hope Bruihl clears waivers. He has serious talent and can be a mainstay for years to come out of the pen.
White Sox should have grabbed Leonard too. Need some depth
Bruihl would make a nice claim for the Mets.
Trade Canha for both. NO brainer.
The guys the Dodgers dropped are better than the ones they brought in.
Completely disagree. Lynn is needed for the starting staff. He can eat some innings and his HR ratio will drop to a more respectable level. Mariachi Joe will be a nice boost to our bullpen, the players love him and so do the fans. Buehler has already posted a welcome back to Joe. I like Bruihl but he isn’t Joe and doesn’t have the heat that is needed in the postseason. If they can pick up one additional starter and Arenado in a trade with the Cardinals and not trade Muncy then they will have a true shot this year. Their lineup is already stacked but add Arenado at 3b and move Muncy to 2b and the lineup will be scary.
I was exaggerating, but they’re solid pieces none the less.
I get DFA’ing Leonard but it makes no sense to keep Miller over Bruihl. Wait! As I type I have an idea why they did it. The are going to make another move and DFA Miller too but you DFA Bruihl first because you have a better chance of trading/getting something for him versus Miller and you only got 4 days to do so. No one is trading anything for Miller.
Miller is for sure out the door next. Hopefully by the end of the weekend.
I agree. Trade Miller to the Phillies for nothing! Just make sure it’s B. Miller and not S. Miller!
You wish lol. Bobby is here to stay, hopefully for a long time.
Both have have talent. Hopefully AF can include them as sweeteners in any deal(s) he makes before the deadline.
AF is a king at the deadline. He always gets at least one big name and doesn’t give up much to do it. He has fleeced so many teams with prospects who were supposed to turn into stars but never did. The only one who has become a true star is Verdugo and he was traded for Mookie which I would do 100 times out of 100.
You’re forgetting Y. Alvarez for J. Fields
Yes, but Fields actually was a great relief pitcher for us those three seasons. If it wasn’t for the trash can banging cheaters, we would have won a World Series with Fields out of the pen. Alvarez is a great player, but in the end I’m ok with that trade.
The Dodgers almost certainly would have kept Alvarez if they knew for sure the DH was coming to the NL.
No they wouldn’t have. Yordan had played zero games of organized baseball when he was traded. He was considered a “throw-in” player. He was traded in 2016 and it took him 3 years to make his debut in MLB. The Dodgers had no idea who they had in their system.
Friedman wasn’t fleeced here. Yordan had played zero games of organized baseball when he was traded. He was considered a “throw-in” player. He was traded in 2016 and it took him 3 years to make his debut in MLB. The Dodgers had no idea who they had in their system.
It turned out to be a fleecing. The white Sox didn’t know what they had in Tatis Jr. either. But that’s how that goes sometimes.
I feel particularly bad for Bruihl. Why Doc threw him out there Tuesday night with all those Blue Jay right-handed hitters coming up was a head scratcher to me.
Doc is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
Or the quickest shot in the West.
kind of a stretch even calling him a blade
Man Reds bullpen is bleeding and teams are shuffling relievers left and right. C’mon Krall
Disagree with this decision.
If we live to regret letting Bruihl or Leonard go, I would be shocked. Odd that they didn’t DFA the other likely candidates though. Both will likely get traded in the coming days strange the white Sox didn’t want them
These are two guys a lot of teams should be looking at and trying to claim.
Bruihl is a lefty Bickford. Really good one day, total garbage the next. Mediocre teams stay with guys like that.