Reactions to the Dodgers acquiring Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly in a trade

Before the trade deadline, the Dodgers are busier than we thought.

Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Dodgers made their third and biggest trade before the August 1 deadline. They got pitchers Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly from the White Sox. This gave a team that needed arms a starting pitcher and a relief pitcher.

Outfielder Trayce Thompson, who can come back from the 60-day injured list next week, and pitchers Nick Nastrini and Jordan Leasure from the minor leagues were sent to Chicago.

The Dodgers had to make room on their 40-man roster, so they sent outfielder Eddys Leonard and pitcher Justin Bruihl.

Here are some thoughts on the deal from inside and outside the team.

Lynn’s 6.47 ERA is the highest of any pitcher in the major leagues, but the Dodgers are sure he can turn things around.

In Bill Plunkett’s review of trades in the Orange County Register, general manager Brandon Gomes said this:

“A lot of what’s going on behind the scenes is really strong—he strikes out a lot and walks few people,” Gomes said.

“Other than the batted-ball stuff, his “under-the-hood” stuff isn’t that different from what it was before. As well as doing some research, we have some ideas about how to use the pitch that we think will be helpful. So having him join our team and be around our pitchers and the energy they bring is really exciting.

More from Gomes, from Fabian Ardaya at The Athletic, on the Dodgers’ three trades so far, including adding right-handed hitters Kiké Hernández and Amed Rosario:

“I think we’re always trying to figure out the real level of talent,” Brandon Gomes, the general manager of the Dodgers, said Friday after the team made its latest deal. “It helps to look at the numbers behind the numbers… We think that if the players are on board, which they are with our staff, we’ll be able to get the most out of them and get to that level of true talent.

Keith Law of The Athletic called the White Sox’s return “adequate,” he said of Nastrini, “Either way, I love the upside play here and see a high-value reliever if he can’t turn that corner and stay in the rotation.”

Ben Clemens at FanGraphs thinks Lynn and Kelly are a good fit for the Dodgers. He said of Lynn, “I’m not expecting a lot from him, but bulk innings with an ERA in the low 4.00s seems like something the Dodgers could use down the stretch.”

R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports thinks that the Dodgers can get Lynn to play better, so he gave the trade an A for Los Angeles. Anderson says, “That’s because there are many reasons to think Lynn will have a better finish to the season than a start. It starts with a change to his pitch mix, moves on to sustainability, and ends with things he can’t do anything about.”

The Athletic’s Andy McCullough gave the Lynn/Kelly trade a B and started by saying, “The Dodgers have revealed their plan for this deadline: get players who were pretty good in 2021.”