Trade details: Los Angeles Dodgers acquire OF Alex Call from the Washington Nationals for RHP Eriq Swan and RHP Sean Paul Liñan
Los Angeles Dodgers acquire OF James Tibbs III and OF Zach Ehrhard from the Boston Red Sox for RHP Dustin May
The Dodgers sent two pitchers to the Nationals for outfielder Alex Call. Call is a good defensive center fielder who made himself into a solid contact hitter after the Cleveland Guardians picked him up from the Chicago White Sox, with the real inflection point coming during the pandemic. He does minor damage against lefties but can get on base against righties.
The Dodgers have been one outfielder short of a full deck this year, at least on defense, so I get the acquisition, even if this isn’t a headline kind of deal.
They did give up two intriguing arms to get Call, though. Eriq Swan is 96-98 mph with a 55 slider (out of the 20-80 scouting scale) and an average curveball, held back by command and control issues as well as some injuries last year. This year, Swan, 23, has been in High A and walking 15.4 percent of batters and striking out 25.8 percent. It’s premium stuff — no one is fighting at the bat rack when he’s pitching — and while he’s a long shot, the Nats are wise to take a crack at trying to help him.
Sean Paul Liñan is a 6-foot righty from Colombia with a plus changeup that has unusually high spin to it, but that’s his only pitch that’s better than a 45. He put up wild numbers in Low A to start the season because of that one pitch, then was solid in High A and awful in a brief stint in Triple A (which was probably too much to ask of him).
I don’t see any projection here, so maybe he’s a reliever, perhaps he’s a starter if he gets a long runway and can turn the cutter or slider into something closer to average.
The Dodgers also flipped oft-injured Dustin May to the Red Sox for James Tibbs III, who has been traded twice already in his one year in pro ball, and Zach Ehrhard.
Tibbs, the Giants’ first-rounder in 2024, was off to a solid start in High A when he went to Boston in the Rafael Devers trade, then was awful in a month in Double A. He’s got a big hitch in his swing that’s gotten worse this year, but he hits it hard when he does make contact.
Tibbs has played primarily right field this year but is going to end up in left or, more likely, at first. He has some feel to hit, some idea of the strike zone and enough hard contact to imply there’s power, but the swing isn’t going to let him get to it. And in a small sample, Double-A pitchers have told us that, at least for now.
Ehrhard was the Red Sox’s fourth-round pick last season from Oklahoma State. The 22-year-old right-handed hitter has split his season between High A and Double A, batting .267/.367/.796 overall, though just .227/.305/.412 in 58 games in Double A.
(Photo of Call: Greg Fiume / Getty Images)