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Designated for assignment by Los Angeles on Monday, veteran left-hander returns to Boston, where he pitched in 2023. Dodgers get a 17-year-old infielder from Venezuela
If you can beat them, join them. That’s what is happening with James Paxton, who earned the win last Sunday over the Red Sox at Dodger Stadium, one day before he was designated for assignment by the Dodgers. On Friday, Paxton was traded to Boston for minor league infielder Moises Bolivar.
Bolivar is a 17-year-old infielder from Venezuela who hit .270/.364/.423 in 31 games for the Red Sox Dominican Summer League team.
Paxton made 18 starts with the Dodgers but struggled with command, putting up a 4.43 ERA and 4.83 xERA in 89⅓ innings with career worsts in strikeout rate (16.4 percent) and walk rate (12.3 percent), the latter the worst in the majors among pitchers with at least 80 innings.
“I really don’t know what to expect when I’m out there,” Paxton said last Sunday after his start against the Red Sox. “I’m giving everything I’ve got, and some days I have more than others. That’s where the inconsistency is coming from.”
In that start, Paxton allowed three runs in five innings, walked four and struck out seven to earn the win.
He was designated for assignment Monday in a busy time of reorganizing the Dodgers’ rotation. Both Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw returned later in the week, with Walker Buehler and Bobby Miller on the horizon in the next few weeks. Paxton’s roster spot was used so that River Ryan, one of the Dodgers’ best prospects, could make his major league debut on the mound.
“James was an absolute pro. We were all fortunate to get to have him don the Dodger uniform,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Monday. “It’s one of those decisions that are very difficult, trying to understand the guys we have coming back, the guys we want to get looks at, in particular some starters. It was a difficult decision.”
This is a return trip to Boston for Paxton, who had a 4.50 ERA and 3.77 xERA in 19 starts for the Red Sox in 2023.
Paxton will end up making $13 million on his one-year contract this season, but $3 million of that was his signing bonus, $2 million was for making the active roster by March 28, and he earned $4 million for making a series of starts, starting from six to 18, the latter coming last Sunday. Paxton’s actual salary is $4 million, of which — with 66 days remaining in the season — approximately $1,419,355 remains, which will be paid by the Red Sox.
Because the Dodgers’ payroll for competitive balance tax purposes is well over the fourth, highest tier of $297 million, any amount over that tier is taxed at 110 percent. So in sending Paxton’s $1.4 million remaining salary away, the Dodgers actually shed about $2.98 million off their CBT payroll. That multiplier will work the other way for any players and salary added by the Dodgers ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline.