The Dodgers acquired a recognizable name in a minor trade with the Diamondbacks on Tuesday.
Just don’t expect to see him on the Dodgers’ MLB roster for now.
A week after he was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks, five-year MLB veteran Alek Thomas was dealt to the Dodgers in exchange for 17-year-old prospect Jose Requena, both teams announced.
Thomas, 26, boasts ample big-league experience, having played 448 games with the Dbacks since his debut in 2022. However, he is just a career .230 hitter, and was DFA’d last week –– even with a minor-league option remaining –– after starting this season with a .181 average.
The Dodgers will likely exercise Thomas’ minor-league option now that they’ve acquired him. According to a source, Thomas is not reporting to the club’s MLB roster following Tuesday’s trade.
Instead, it appears Thomas is effectively replacing Michael Siani –– who was DFA’d in a corresponding move Tuesday to clear a 40-man roster spot –– as left-handed hitting outfield depth in their minor-league ranks.
He offers some protection in center field, specifically, where he has excellent speed and a highly-touted glove.
Whether he can improve enough offensively to ever make big-league contributions for the Dodgers, however, is less clear.
Thoams isn’t much of a power threat, with just 31 career home runs. He has never had a season with a .300 on-base percentage, thanks in part to a walk rate that is almost half of the MLB average. And the last two years, his strikeout rate has jumped to roughly 25%.
Still, the Dodgers saw enough to take a flier on him, execute a rare intradivison trade, and stash him in their organizational ranks.
