The Los Angeles Dodgers just won’t stop adding to a stacked roster. They have reportedly acquired starter Tyler Glasnow and veteran outfielder Manuel Margot from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for former top prospect Ryan Pepiot and outfielder Jonny Deluca. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic was among the first to report the details.
In turn, the 30-year-old Glasnow has agreed to a contract extension with Los Angeles.
This move comes mere hours after the Dodgers held a press conference to officially announce the signing of two-time American League MVP Shohei Ohtani to a record-breaking 10-year, $700 million contract.
While signing Ohtani might help the rotation beyond next season, it won’t in 2024. He underwent elbow surgery during the fall and will not take to the bump in his initial campaign with the Dodgers.
This means Los Angeles’ next move had to be adding to a rotation that is lacking both top-of-the-line arms and depth. While Glasnow has injury concerns, he has proven capable of being a top-two starter in the rotation when healthy.
From the Rays’ perspective, both Glasnow and Margot were firmly on the trade block. Glasnow was set to hit free agency after the 2024 season and had a salary of $25 million in a contract year. For his part, Margot has a salary of $10 million for next season and a mutual option worth $12 million for the 2025 campaign. This was a mere cost-cutting move.
Let’s take a look at some winners and losers from this latest blockbuster.
Winner: Tyler Glasnow heads to a perfect situation with the Los Angeles Dodgers
The terms of Glasnow’s contract extension are not yet known. That will tell us a whole heck of a lot about what this means for him from a micro perspective.
What we do know is that the veteran heads to a situation in which he should excel. Los Angeles’ lineup is absolutely stacked with Ohtani joining the likes of former MVPs Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. In fact, it might be the best lineup in the modern history of the game.
Not only will this lineup provide Glasnow with a nice amount of run support, but it also gives him a real opportunity to contend. While the Rays were that type of team by definition, their lack of postseason success is by now well-known.
Related: Top remaining MLB free agents
Loser: San Francisco Giants miss out on another target
It has been noted that Ohtani’s camp presented the same type of contract offer to San Francisco. The Giants’ front office was willing to agree on the finances, including the $680 million in deferred payments. Ultimately, Ohtani opted to remain in Southern California with the Dodgers.
Last offseason saw San Francisco miss out on Aaron Judge after it seemed like the former AL MVP was headed to Northern California. It just has not been able to add that top-end free agent to the mix. Whether it’s this specific narrative being thrown around or something else, the Giants have struggled on the open market. It has them ways behind Los Angeles in the NL West with time running out to make significant upgrades.
Related: Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees co-favorites to land Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Winner: Los Angeles Dodgers strike again with Tyler Glasnow
Ohtani’s proposal to defer a huge chunk of his $700 million contract has set the Dodgers up well for the remainder of this offseason. Acquiring Glasnow cost very little when it came to a prospect haul heading back to Tampa Bay. Instead, the team took on salary in order to avoid adding more in terms of player bounty going to Florida.
- Tyler Glasnow stats (w/ Rays): 27-16 record, 3.20 ERA, 1.03 WHIP
Sure, Glasnow has had his issues staying healthy. He’s only started as much as 20 games one time in his career. But that did come this past season when he posted a 3.53 ERA and 1.08 WHIP while striking out north of 12 batters per innings. Those two latter numbers represent ace metrics.
This trade will not prevent Los Angeles from signing the top remaining free agent in that of Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto and/or acquiring another top-end rotation arm on the MLB trade market. After all, the Dodgers did not trade any player within their top-30 prospects (Pepiot was a top-six prospect in 2022). This was a major win for the Dodgers.