We're still more than two months away from the 2025 trade deadline, but since when have the Los Angeles Dodgers been content to rest on their laurels? Andrew Friedman and Co. reportedly acquired some much-needed bullpen help on Thursday afternoon, acquiring former All-Star closer Alexis Diaz from the Cincinnati Reds.
Righty Mike Villani, a 13th-round pick in last year's MLB Draft, is headed back to Cincy in return. It's the second time this year that these two teams have agreed on a trade; back in January, L.A. sent utility man Gavin Lux to the Reds in exchange for a draft pick and outfield prospect Mike Sirota.
Diaz — the younger brother of star New York Mets closer Edwin — burst onto the scene in a big way a few years ago, finishing fifth in NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2022 and an All-Star nod in 2023 while notching a combined 47 saves and a 2.47 ERA. But it's been a precipitous decline ever since for the righty, who was so bad early in the 2025 season that Cincinnati eventually demoted him down to Triple-A.
Diaz doesn't look anything like the star he used to be. Then again, if any pitching development team would be able to get his career back on track, it's the Dodgers. And desperate times do call for desperate measures.
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Injuries have left L.A.'s bullpen in tatters
The Dodgers' bullpen is indeed desperate, especially after watching a 4-2 lead turn into a 7-4 loss on Wednesday against the Cleveland Guardians. Lefties Tanner Scott and Alex Vesia were at fault for that one, but they're just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what's gone wrong with L.A.'s relief corps thus far.
Much like the starting rotation, this bullpen has been absolutely decimated by injury. Michael Kopech, Blake Treinen and Brusdar Graterol have yet to throw a pitch in the regular season (though Kopech appears to be nearing a return), while Evan Phillips and Kirby Yates also find themselves on the Injured List right now. That's left even a team as loaded as the Dodgers perilously thin — especially when it comes to right-handed options, with Ben Casparius, Luis Garcia and Chris Stratton currently the team's most reliable healthy options.
That's not ideal, to put it mildly, and you can understand why Friedman felt compelled to act now. Acquiring Diaz isn't much more than a lottery ticket, but you can talk yourself into it being a ticket worth buying compared to the other options out there right now.
Dodgers must view Alexis Diaz as a worthy reclamation project
There's no sugar-coating it: Diaz was downright awful before his demotion this season, with a 12 ERA across six outings that was largely backed up by truly abysmal underlying metrics. His ability to miss bats has fallen off a cliff, and that's put even more pressure on iffy command and a fastball approach that was susceptible to the home-run ball even in the best of times.
Still, it wasn't that long ago that Diaz was a rock-solid late-inning reliever, and he's still just 28 years old. It's concerning that his fastball velocity has declined in each of the last two seasons, but if the Dodgers can get that juice back, it's not hard to convince yourself that the righty might be able to find some success in a far friendlier pitcher's park than Great American Ball Park.
And really, if things don't work out, L.A. won't be in any worse position than it's already in right now. The Dodgers have enough offensive firepower to weather the storm, and reinforcements should hopefully be coming soon, but their pitching situation has been approaching crisis territory for a while now. They just need more healthy bodies, and Diaz offers some theoretical upside for a very low price.