If you heard two or three years ago that the Los Angeles Dodgers traded away Gavin Lux and Diego Cartaya during the winter hot stove, you would have probably guessed that the team got a huge haul in return. Instead, the Dodgers got a promising outfield prospect, a very young pitching prospect, and a 2025 competitive balance draft pick after the first round.
The return wasn’t really all that bad, considering that the club designated Cartaya for assignment to create roster space for newcomer Hyeseong Kim.
Not long before the Dodgers signed Kim on January 3, general manager Brandon Gomes reiterated that the plan was to give Lux the opportunity to be the everyday second baseman while Mookie Betts took another stab at being the regular shortstop. Even after Kim joined the team, the buzz was that the South Korean native would serve as a super-utility man. With Lux gone, though, Kim will probably have a chance to play regularly at the keystone, a position he has played most of his career.
Regardless, the Dodgers landed Mike Sirota, a 21-year-old righty hitter who can play all three outfield positions, and the 20-year-old Jose Vasquez, who barely got his feet wet in the Dominican Summer League the last two years.
Ironically, the Dodgers originally chose Sirota in the 16th round of the 2021 MLB draft, but the 6-foot-3, 190-pounder instead elected to play college ball at Northeastern University in Boston. His best year with the Huskies came in 2023, when he slashed .346/.472/.678 with 18 homers, 54 RBI and 19 stolen bases over 265 plate appearances in 55 games.
Sirota has yet to play professionally after getting drafted by the Reds in the third round of the 2024 draft. Baseball America had him rated as the 70th-best prospect ahead of the draft.
According to MLB Pipeline, Sirota is “lean, athletic and strong” and has “an intriguing collection of tools. He has plus bat speed with excellent bat-to-ball skills, though his timing was off for much of the spring, keeping him from squaring up the ball as consistently as he has in the past.”
MLB Pipeline adds, “there’s raw power for Sirota to tap into and when combined with his plus speed, he has 20-20 potential at the highest level. His speed makes him a legitimate long-term center fielder. He makes good reads and routes and has a tick-above-average arm to boot.”
The 6-foot-4, 200-pound Vasquez posted a 4.99 ERA with a 1.467 WHIP for the Dominican Summer League Twins as a 19-year-old in 11 games last year — three of which were starts. The Dominican native also made 11 appearances in the DSL in 2023, throwing to the tune of a 11.62 ERA.
Fangraphs writes, “Despite his strike-throwing improvement [over his first year in the DSL], Vasquez is still most likely going to be a reliever. He’s a physical, 220ish-pound 20-year-old who has had trouble harnessing his 94-97 mph fastball, which sometimes has very heavy late sink. His 84-88 mph slider is curt and cuttery at times, but it flashes bat-missing two-plane shape and above-average length. Vasquez’s realistic ceiling is better than a generic middle reliever, but he’s maybe a half decade away from the bigs. He’ll probably begin his Dodgers career in extended spring training.”
Of the two prospects, Sirota clearly has the most upside and could have somewhat of a fast track through the Los Angeles farm system, especially since he can handle all three outfield spots and hits from the right side of the plate.