Dodgers: Former LA GM Thought Houston Wanted Different Alvarez in Yordan Trade to Astros

The Dodgers have to sit at home and watch the postseason, but perhaps what stings more is having to watch the Astros make the World Series once again. The Astros will always be labeled as the cheaters who robbed the Dodgers of a World Series, but one player that sticks out for the Dodgers is Yordan Álvarez.

Álvarez was apart of the Dodgers roster in 2016 and spent about a month at the organizations academy in the Dominican Republic. Before he knew it, he was getting traded to the Astros and the rest became history.

Álvarez began his pro career in 2019 and now just four years later Álvarez earned his first All-Star nod and is one of the best hitters in the game. During the regular season, Álvarez racked up 37 home runs with 97 RBI’s on a .306 batting average. 

In the postseason he has slowed down a bit, but still has knocked in two home runs with nine RBI’s including a walk off home run against the Mariners in game one of the ALDS. 

Yordan rules. #Postseason pic.twitter.com/yaQAKx8bFw

— MLB (@MLB) October 11, 2022

When Alvarez originally got traded, his value wasn’t very high for the Dodgers. In fact before being traded, he was even mistaken for a different Alvarez (via Jorge Castillo, Los Angeles Times).

“Jeff Luhnow, the Astros’ president of baseball operations at the time, sent a text to Farhan Zaidi, then the Dodgers’ general manager, asking whether “Y. Alvarez” was on the table, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. Zaidi thought Luhnow meant Yadier Álvarez, a pitcher from Cuba they had signed for $16 million less than a year earlier. The reply was a resounding no. But Luhnow was asking about Yordan, not Yadier.”

A strange mix up but the trade was still executed. Nowadays it would be hard to imagine a mishap like this and the Dodgers would’ve been more than happy to keep Álvarez if this was the results they would’ve been waiting for.

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