The Dodgers have announced the acquisition of utilityman Kristopher Negron from the Mariners in exchange for minor league infielder Daniel Castro.
Originally acquired from the D’Backs last August, Negron has appeared in 27 total games for Seattle, including nine outings this season. The 33-year-old has a career .216/.289/.328 slash line over 357 career MLB plate appearances in parts of six seasons, though his ability with the bat is much less important to the Dodgers than the versatility that Negron brings in the field.
Negron has started multiple games at every position on the diamond except pitcher and catcher over his career, making him a fit for a Dodger roster that just lost Enrique Hernandez to the injured list. With both Hernandez and Chris Taylor injured, L.A. was in need of a short-term backup behind Corey Seager at shortstop.
Castro joined the Dodgers on a minor league contract over the offseason, and has hit .241/.304/.295 over 185 Triple-A plate appearances this year. Castro is another player who can play all over the field, with extensive experience as a shortstop and second baseman, plus some time as a right fielder and third baseman. He is a veteran of 98 big league games with the Braves and Rockies from 2016-18, with a .505 OPS over 286 PA in the Show.
Depth move…sort of!?
BREAKING!!!
Injuries to Hernandez and Taylor. Need someone to play infield defense.
Forgive me for not knowing all your roster, but why not Lux?
They don’t want to start his service time, is my guess. He’s just 21.
Hes a shortstop and the dodgers are full of left handed bats already. There is no reason to call up Lux if the Dodgers have a healthy Corey Seager that seems to pick up where he left off..
Maybe its time dodgers play to win it all.
Roberts has already said they don’t want to bring him up to be part time player.
Okay, thanks for good answers. I’m glued to MLBTR waiting to see if we’re selling or not. Gotta pretty much know by tomorrow.
Hey Baytown, both the Dodgers and Giants in weird trade deadline scenarios, ours brought on by injury adding to BP needs, yours with the recent resurgence of offense. Seems a lot of Giants fans warming up to Zaidi!
Miss the MLB game day comments section where both fan bases sparred with each other (mostly playfully), not so easy on respective Facebook fan pages. And now the over 1/2 million comments on your 2014 WS win page lost forever?
Dodgers-Giants rivalry still the best.
You forgot Cubs-Cardinals? The two most knowledgeable team fan bases? That watch all 9 innings of a ball game?
Forgot about the Cubs/Cardinals rivalry. Must be really tense with the Cubs consistently winning a WS every hundred years or so.
Hey Mech. I remember you. One of the best Dodger posters and good to see you.
It has taken some warming up to appreciate Zaidi. Great personality, however, fan base not used to so many changes. You may remember that I would ‘troll’ your site on the ridiculous number of DFA’s and acquisitions, lol. Well, I”ve said the same thing on our posts regarding Zaidi going through players by the million, but so far, it’s working out. Big surprises were the least expected, Dickerson and Yaztremski.
Otherwise, hard to rate a team when it’s at it’s peak like Gmen are, so, I’ve decided to leave this one up to Zaidi. If they go for it, great, if they trade, makes sense.
On other notes: Your team simply has to improve the BP. No excuses from FO and no hiccups. You have an incredibly talented team but it’s not a 9 inning team and IMO you won’t go through the massive offenses you will face in the PS without an upgrade in the pen. KJ shakey, Flor terrible and Kelly not the answer. In fact, probably 2 solid pieces needed there.
Won’t wish evil upon your team, but it’s still fingers crossed with Ryu and CK as both have been bitten by the injury bug and the finish line is still a ways away.
Now, 1/2 million comments, lol. I do believe it’s gone for good (thank goodness).
Or the dodgers going and losing the World Series every year. At least when they go they win
The Dodgers just recently started playing Lux at second base at AAA. No urgency with a big lead. I suspect after the trade deadline, especially if they move Joc Pederson, there will be room on the roster to give Lux everyday at bats.
Negron is more of just an emergency player, he is behind Tyler White in unlikely players to get starts. Lux should get a run at second base soon as he is comfortable at AAA.
Why?
A true baffler. I know Keeks not hitting well but this is off the charts.
This move is baffling, but if you are referring to Hernandez, he was hitting over .400 during the last two weeks with an OPS of nearly 1.3, so he would definitely be in the lineup now if he hadn’t gone on the IL with the hand injury.
You miss that kind of stuff with another team’s player. Last I saw he was batting .215 or so. A little out of character.
Why is it baffling? It’s a depth move.
Hernandez is injured.
Agree. Would you rather have a
.340 hitter or a .200 hitter that walks a lot? Come on. This analytics craze is getting old. Dodgers have a manager that can’t make a decision on anything, without referring to Bill James.
I would take the batting average personally. I assume in scenario you describe the players would have fairly similar obp. That average means ball is being put in play, giving runners a chance to advance runners more then one base. That would be an interesting stat to track in this day and age…% runners advanced. A guy who can single with a runner on first is more valuable then a guy who walks…
That made zero sense.
What .340 hitter are you referring to?
Baseball team managers work for the FO. They are hired because the FO likes them. They keep their jobs because the FO likes them.
Went to the same high school as this dude. He would come to our “spring training” and train with us every season. Pure professional. I wish him the best of luck.
Mariners needed a roster spot for Broxton and would have probably DFA’d Negron anyway. Castro is nothing exciting either.
A crappy veteran for a crappy rookie.
Which one is the veteran and which is the rookie in your world?
The Dodgers needed a backup for Seager while Hernandez and Taylor are on the IL.
Yeah, I think that part is obvious, but the question has to be asked, could they have found a weaker bat than Negron? And having played parts of six seasons in the majors, could he have any options remaining?
To answer my own question, I looked it up. Negron is out of options. Not much of a depth move when he has to be waived to be held in the minors. Unless Hernandez is out longer, this guy will probably have a shelf life of approximately ten days.
Does Castro snore on the plane or something? Seems like they just traded for almost the same version of a player, but 7 years older.
Castro is currently on IL in the minors and the Dodgers need a healthy backup at short now.
Why would you trade a .241 hitter that can play anywhere for a .216 hitter that can play anywhere?
AAA vs MLB stats.
Also, batting average tells us so very little about a hitter. All due respect, but it’s almost useless to cite.
Yes but looking at career stats there’s very little difference in the 2 players so I can’t see why you make this trade for just a back up that’s not likely to see the field much.
I find this thinking funny, and almost frustrating. Let’s say someone is hitting .220. You say it doesn’t tell the whole story. Let’s say another is hitting .340. Wow! This guy is a star! Yes, it doesn’t tell the whole story, but BA contributes to OBP which can contribute to runs scored. Also, there is most often a direct correlation between low BA and low everything else. So a low BA guy isn’t going to help your team very much. Unless you’re Khris Davis. I still think there is merit in the ole stat.
I agree there’s *some* merit to BA.
All I’m saying is that citing BA as the end-all-be-all is antiquated. As a tool for comparing players, it’s pretty much only worth citing when there’s a massive gap.
I don’t care how you spin it .216 is awful and tells a lot.
Because Negron is healthy and Castro is not.
Someone please tell me how many options each of these guys have left. I cant see a reason to swap such utility talent unless the plan is to accumulate frequent flyer miles as they shuttle from Bigs to AAA.
Negron is out of options. I posted that yesterday. Castro has been up for parts of three seasons so he probably has at least one option remaining.
Another fun fact: with the acquisition of Negron, all the slots on the 40-man are filled. This means that if the Dodgers do get a reliever they will have to trade, option or designate somebody on the 40-man,
We need bullpen help RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!