The Rangers have traded pitching prospect Ricky Vanasco to the Dodgers for minor league left-hander Luis Valdez, both teams announced. Los Angeles designated reliever Zack Burdi for assignment to free a spot on the 40-man roster.
Vanasco, 24, has yet to reach the majors. An overslot 15th round draftee out of high school six years ago, the 6’3″ hurler developed into one of the more interesting arms in the Texas farm system. Baseball America ranked him between 12th and 21st on the Rangers’ prospect list each season between 2020-22. He impressed evaluators with a mid-90s fastball and above-average to plus breaking pitch but faced questions about his command and third offering.
The Florida native had his career interrupted by both the canceled 2020 minor league season and a subsequent Tommy John surgery. He lost all of ’21 rehabbing but returned to make 23 starts in High-A last year. Vanasco posted a 4.68 ERA over 92 1/3 innings, striking out a quality 28.9% of opposing hitters but with an alarming 12.7% walk rate.
Vanasco was set to start this year in Double-A. A Spring Training knee injury required surgery and cost him the first two months of the season. He made it back in late May and started two games there. They haven’t gone as planned, as he’s failed to get out of the second inning in either appearance. He allowed ten runs (six earned) with four walks and two strikeouts over 2 1/3 combined frames before losing his 40-man position earlier this week.
The Dodgers will take a flier on Vanasco’s arsenal to see if he can hone in his command. He’s in his second of three minor league option years, so they can keep him in the minors for the foreseeable future if he holds his 40-man spot.
Los Angeles sends a 19-year-old southpaw the other way. Valdez signed with the Dodgers as an amateur out of Mexico two years ago. He’s logged 17 2/3 innings with Low-A Rancho Cucamonga this year, posting a 3.12 ERA with a 28.9% strikeout rate while walking nearly 17% of opponents.
Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs slotted him 29th among Dodger prospects over the offseason, praising a potential plus changeup but noting that his velocity presently sits in the upper-80s. He won’t be eligible for the Rule 5 draft until after the 2024 campaign.
Burdi gets squeezed off the roster within a week of being claimed from the Rays. He didn’t pitch in an MLB game for the Dodgers, making just one appearance in Triple-A. He’s pitched three times for Tampa Bay this season, allowing six runs in four innings. A former first round draftee, Burdi throws in the mid-90s and has paired high minor league strikeout tallies with lofty walk rates.
The Dodgers will have a week to trade him or put him on waivers. Burdi has gone unclaimed on waivers in his career before, so he’d have the right to elect minor league free agency if he clears the wire this time around.
This appears to be a terrible deal for the Dodgers based on that prospect’s numbers. What in the world
Yeah let’s overreact and doubt the Dodgers’ scouting team. Makes sense.
I meant the prospect they are trading away. Not even 20 in A ball and doing well.
You answered your own question there – not yet 20 and in A-ball. He’s a lottery ticket and possibly years away from contributing. Every organization has these guys.
I mean they were clueless giving up Yordan Alvarez for basically nothing, so yeah I think we can all doubt them at this point.
Right, because everyone knew Alvarez was going to become an MVP candidate.
Outside of Yordan Alvarez, name one trade where you look at the squad and say, “Yeah, I wish the Dodgers still had that guy.” Before you say Ruiz, know Smith is better. Before you say Verdugo, Betts wouldn’t be here. They are few and far between, and the front office has done A+ work since Friedman got here.
I’m pretty sure the Dodgers would love to have Oneil Cruz on their current roster
Pedro Martinez.
Not a dodger fan but a Jays fan. I will say I think the doge have done well recently. I give them a 8.5-9/10 over the last 10 years or so
LA’s scouts felt Cruz would be too big to stay at SS. That’s proven to be fairly accurate to date. They didn’t doubt his tools.
The exact same can be said about Yordan Alvarez. Further, the NL didn’t have the DH for 6 years after the Alvarez trade and he can’t play LF 150+ games. Their scouts were spot on
Those guys have clearly hit their ceiling of their potential when traded, something few prospects achieve. But the concerns of LA scouts at the time of each trade have largely played out as the stated. Those trades being citable is a testament to Cruz and Alvarez reaching their potential more than anything
You mean for the guy who was the best reliever on the team in the post-season that year? He was a Class A nobody who panned out. Now we are up to 2 guys in 9 years.
Pedro never played under Friedman and you know that.
Two future Superstars in 9 years. Discount that all you like, but show me one other team who has done that. I’m sure you’ll say Cruz isn’t a Superstar, but everybody can see he’s on his way to being one. The Dodgers make a lot of good moves, and they scout and develop as well as anybody, but those were two major F ups. Spin it however you like to spin it.
That is a horrible take. The Dodgers have been tremendously successful during that entire 9 years. The organization continues to be the model for how to keep your stars, get new ones and at the same time building for the future. You gotta get rid of some potential diamonds to make a golden organization.
115 trades involving over 200 players coming and going since 2015 and you’re gonna cite the 2 superstars that came from Single A as the FO is a failure? Be better. Run the filters on spotrac and come back and apologize.
Dodgers FO knows what they are doing. Numbers aren’t everything in minors, good or bad. Rangers free up 40 man spot and get a useful arm.
Lol. This…This right here should get post of the year honors
Pitching depth has really been exhausted the last few weeks, good short term move
I like it for Texas. Vanasco had too much time lost to injury and development to where he wasn’t going to stick on their 40. Rangers kick the can down the road for a younger pitcher who appears to have upside based on his statistics.
Dodgers pitching lab prob can’t wait to get their hands on him. Lot of upside as a reliever.
What happened to his strikeout to walk ratio from last season? 17 to under 2 in a year at similar levels!
4 whole walks this season… his arm’s cooked
That is 14 walks, not 4. I don’t know who you are talking about, but I am referring to the guy Texas got.
From the Fangraphs write up, he sounds like a younger version of an Alex Claudio type arsenal … soft tossing lefty that probably crosses up lots of hitters at the lower level.
Reminded me of Marlin great Ricky Nolasco
Next Nick Frasso
People need to take into account that Valdez’s statistics should be good at that level with change up being his best pitch.
Let’s see him proceed up the ladder with a upper 80’s fastball and stick as more than a depth piece that tops out at upper minors.
Think the Rangers must be banking on increased velocity with age and development.
Good trade for both teams?
when Vanasco was 19 his numbers looked similar to what the dodgers traded, both probably don’t amount to anything – so its kind of a wash. I would figure Vanasco did not sit in upper 80s like Luis Valdez at 19