Eric Lauer has gone from a throw-in pickup to a real deadline question for the Dodgers.
When the season opened, the veteran left-hander was in Toronto, trying to help the Blue Jays defend their American League crown and get back to the Fall Classic. That plan unraveled after frustration built around how he was being used, along with some rough results on the mound. Toronto moved him to Los Angeles for cash, and the Dodgers have gotten far more than a depth arm in return.
Since landing in Los Angeles, Lauer has steadied a rotation hit hard by injuries. In seven appearances, six of them starts, he has posted a 3.12 ERA across 40.1 innings. That’s a sharp contrast from the 6.69 ERA he carried over 36.1 innings with the Blue Jays.
Even with that turnaround, his long-term fit in the Dodgers’ rotation is anything but secure.
According to Dodgers insiders Katie Woo and Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, Lauer could be a prime trade candidate in the coming weeks. Woo wrote, "Still, the Dodgers could look to improve on the margins as long as it doesn’t cost them a piece of their promising future core.
That’s where Lauer comes in," Woo wrote. "He’s been serviceable as the Dodgers’ sixth starter (and given how critical that is to the health of Yamamoto and Ohtani, he’s essentially saved their rotation).
Lauer is also a free agent at the end of the season, and contenders always covet starting pitching at the deadline."
The timing matters here. Tyler Glasnow, who is dealing with a back issue, and Blake Snell, who is recovering from an elbow problem, should be back soon. Once that happens, the squeeze on the rotation gets a lot tighter.
“Eric coming over here knew that this was the deal, right? Until [Snell and Glasnow] get back," manager Dave Roberts said last month.
"We just don’t know when. He’s just got to stay focused on doing his job.
Then when that time comes we’ll see what happens.”
Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Justin Wrobleski, Snell and Glasnow are expected to hold rotation spots when everyone is healthy. That leaves one opening, and the competition appears to be between Lauer, Roki Sasaki and Emmet Sheehan.
Sasaki is expected to remain in the rotation, with the Dodgers pushing back on any move to the bullpen during the year. That makes the situation even trickier for Lauer and Sheehan, because the Dodgers probably don’t have room to carry both in relief.
If Los Angeles decides to move Lauer, he could bring back prospect depth, which is one of the things the front office wants to target at the deadline. At the same time, he also gives the Dodgers a veteran who can fill different roles in October, similar to how the Blue Jays used him last season.
So while Lauer’s work has been valuable, the roster math may not be on his side. The Dodgers can keep him as insurance, but if they want to add future pieces, the pending free agent looks like the cleanest trade chip.
In Other News...
Dodgers Suddenly Face A Veteran Exit And A Bigger Roster Crossroads
The Dodgers pitching depth took another small hit when a veteran left-hander chose free agency after being designated for assignment, a move that came once Landon Knack was activated from the injured list. It is the kind of roster churn that has become familiar for a club trying to keep its rotation covered while waiting for injured starters to work back, and it adds one more layer to a staff that has been constantly in motion.
Freddie Freeman also offered a reminder that the season can make long-term questions feel distant, saying he is focused on this year and would like to get to 20 major league seasons. Meanwhile, Dave Roberts addressed Eric Lauers place as a sixth starter and acknowledged the possibility that he could become a trade piece before the Aug. 3 deadline if the Dodgers get healthier in the rotation, which leaves the club balancing immediate innings against whatever comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers May Finally Have The Young Arm This Rotation Needs
With the All-Star break here and the Dodgers sitting atop the standings, the front office can afford to think beyond the next series and toward the kind of rotation help that tends to matter most in October. One name worth watching is River Ryan, whose return from injury has been moving along with the kind of patience Los Angeles prefers when it is dealing with a young arm it believes can matter later.
Andrew Friedman has made it clear the Dodgers are not interested in rushing the process, even with the need for another starter looming in the background. Ryan is expected to work his way back into the mix later this season, and if everything goes smoothly from here, the club may finally get a better sense of how soon he can become part of the answer rather than just another promising arm on the way up. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Fans Have A Bigger Roki Sasaki Concern Than They Realized
Roki Sasakis first season in Los Angeles has been bumpy enough that the Dodgers are spending the All-Star break looking for answers, not just results. He finished his final start before the break with six innings of work, allowing four hits and three earned runs, and the broader line has been hard to ignore: a 3-5 record and a 5.33 ERA through 16 starts.
The encouraging part for the Dodgers is that Sasaki is still in the rotation, which gives the club time to keep working through what has gone wrong. The less comforting part is how quickly the conversation has shifted from simple command issues to a deeper mechanical concern, and the next few weeks should tell whether the break gives him a reset or only a brief pause in a season that has already asked a lot of him. [Read more 🡒]