Dodgers, Rays Agree to Blockbuster Trade to Bring Tyler Glasnow, Manuel Margot to LA
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays have agreed to a trade sending right-handed pitcher Tyler Glasnow and outfielder Manuel Margot to the Dodgers for right-hander Ryan Pepiot and outfielder Jonny DeLuca. Reports of the four players involved in the trade first trickled out Tuesday, but were confirmed on Thursday by ESPN insider Jeff Passan.
The trade, however, is contingent on Glasnow signing an extension with the Dodgers, per Passan.
This trade addresses arguably the Dodgers’ two biggest roster needs: a front-line starting pitcher and a right-handed outfield bat.
Tyler Glasnow Scouting Report
Let’s start with Glasnow, who instantly becomes the ace of this Dodgers staff.
The 30-year-old has dealt with injury issues in his career, but when he’s healthy, he’s as good as any pitcher in the game.
In 2023, Glasnow threw a career-high 120 innings and had a 3.53 ERA with 162 strikeouts. Since 2019, he has a 3.03 ERA and has allowed opponents to hit just .193 against him.
Durability is a serious issue, though. Glasnow has only thrown more than 100 innings in a season twice in his career, which spans parts of eight seasons with the Rays and Pittsburgh Pirates. The Dodgers will need to figure out how to maximize Glasnow’s abilities on the mound while also keeping him healthy. Glasnow could be a stabilizing force for a staff that includes Walker Buehler, who’s returning from his second Tommy John surgery, and several young starters who could also face innings limits in 2024.
Manuel Margot Scouting Report
The Dodgers have an obvious need for a right-handed outfielder, and Margot fits that bill. While Margot has never been elite in his career, he’s a solid platoon player. Historically he’s been a better hitter outside of Tropicana Field, his home for the last four seasons.
Since 2022, Margot is slashing .242/.297/.314 at Tropicana Field while slashing .295/.337/.435 everywhere else.
Margot, who debuted in 2016 with the San Diego Padres, is historically a below-average hitter who plays mainly center field and right field. While not a splashy acquisition, he can fill a platoon role against left-handed pitching — whom he’s hit much better than righties in his career.
Jason Heyward, a left-handed hitter who revitalized his career with the Dodgers in 2023, is expected to be the primary right fielder against right-handed starters in 2024. Along with James Outman and Chris Taylor, Margot and Heyward could be the main cast of outfielders in the Dodgers’ 2024 lineup.
What Did the Dodgers Give Up in the Glasnow/Margot Trade?
As for the return, the Dodgers are losing two of their most MLB-ready young talents.
Pepiot proved he belonged at the MLB level last year after coming back from an oblique injury. He dominated opponents over the final months of the 2023 season and was included on the Dodgers’ postseason roster, although he did not get into a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Division Series.
Pepiot finished the season with a 2.14 ERA in eight games over 42 innings, striking out 38 batters while walking just five. He’s still just 26 years old and under team control until 2029. For Tampa Bay, Pepiot figures to be the key piece of this trade.
DeLuca was added to the Dodgers’ 40-man roster a year ago then dominated in the minor leagues, slashing .294/.390/.566 with 17 home runs and 53 RBIs across Double-A and Triple-A. He had a couple brief stints in the Majors, finishing with a .262/.311/.429 slash line with two home runs and six runs batted in.
The Southern California native is only 25 years old and under team control until 2030. Expect him to get an opportunity to play next year in Tampa Bay.
Why Didn’t the Dodgers Get Randy Arozarena?
Mutual interest between the Dodgers and veteran outfielder Randy Arozarena has been the focus of off-season rumors. That talk intensified late Tuesday night, when Arozarena posted a picture of himself and Shohei Ohtani on his Instagram.
However, the Dodgers didn’t end up acquiring Arozarena in this trade with Tampa Bay.
While an Arozarena/Glasnow package would have addressed the Dodgers’ needs on paper, in the end the Margot package offered both sides more common ground. Whether that’s because the Rays’ asking price for Arozarena was too high for president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, or another unknown variable entered into the discussions, it remains to be seen whether the Dodgers will target Arozarena in a separate trade.
Arozarena, 28, was the 2021 American League Rookie of the Year and an All-Star in 2023.
What’s Next for the Dodgers After the Glasnow/Margot Trade?
While this move addresses the Dodgers’ biggest needs, it doesn’t exactly fill them.
Pepiot was slated to be in the starting rotation in 2024, so the Dodgers still have to add to their rotation. Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who the team met with on Tuesday, would do just that.
Additionally, they currently have Taylor and Margot as right-handed outfielders. They could still look to add another outfielder — or at least a utility player — to shore up the lineup against left-handed pitching. Kiké Hernández could fill that role.
Photo Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
It’s bewildering to me that anyone would call Glasnow an ace. 30 wins in 9 seasons is an ace? A lifetime ERA just under 4 is an ace? A guy who has gotten clobbered in 10 post season starts is an ace? Gonsolin must be a royal flush, but in truth, he has always been a #4 or 5 on the Dodger staff, but if you want to call injhury prone pitchers who rarely make it past 10-14 starts a season, Gonsolin in a side by side comparison using any metrics, would be 2 notches above Glasnow. And why sign him to an extension when he is so fragile, and you have Gonsolin, May, and Ohtani all coming back in 2025? Great trade for the Rays, Pepiot looks like he is ready to break out, and Delucas floor is Margots normal, with plenty of upside based on his premium tools.
saying someone has ace stuff and saying their an ace are not the same thing….. dude has the ability to be an ace
Exactly. I would much rather have Deluca than the weak hitting Margot, and much rather have Pepiot than the injury prone Glasnow. Plus, these new guys are considerably older. Terrible trade.
Well, at least it is interesting. I guess that we have to believe that AF is comfortable with Glasnow’s health. This is not the last move of the Dodger’s offseason.
Not a Blockbuster. Looks like a Blockheadbuster trade. Did the Giants or the Padres negotiate this mess for the Dodgers? What’s the gain ? 1) Add more salary 2) Lose a young pitcher they’ve touted for years 3) Get a marginal outfielder (see OPS) 4) Keep Taylor’s 200 strikeouts and call him an anchor in left. Just call ’em DoDoDodgers on this one.
No denying Glasnow has been hurt multiple times and his career stats thereby suffer. But when healthy he is a lights out all star caliber strikeout machine. I hate giving up Pepiot, I like DeLuca and Margot’s bat is questionable. But I believe we scored a big arm tonight. In the current environment starting pitching is at a premium so we paid a high price to address our biggest need.
MONEY TALKS & FRIEDMAN ET AL GOT LUCKY WITH A “NO BRAINER” SHOHEI GET, BUT RYAN PEPIOT IS THE BEST HEALTHY YOUNG PITCHER LA HAS! BOBBY MILLER IS A ONE PITCH ‘THROWER’, AND MARGOT CAN’T HIT HIS MOTHER!! ANDREW IS A BRAINIAC WHO IS NOT A BASEBALL EVALUATION EXPERT! GLASNOW IS NOT A RELIABLE STARTER, & DOESN’T SOLVE LA’S SORRY STARTING ROTATION! BAD BAD MOVE TO TRADE PEPIOT WHO IS READY TO BREAK OUT AS A TOP END STARTER IN THE BIGS!! MARGOT IS A JOKE! A STUPIDLY TERRIBLE TRADE BY A LUCKY CLUELESS OVER-RATED DODGER FRONT OFFICE!!!
Wrong.