The rich just keep getting richer as the Dodgers add to their pitching staff.
Right-handed starter Tyler Glasnow and the Los Angeles Dodgers are finalizing a five-year, $135 million contract that, once completed, will make official the trade of Glasnow and outfielder Manuel Margot from the Tampa Bay Rays to the Dodgers, sources told ESPN.
The deal, which will send right-handed starter Ryan Pepiot and outfield prospect Jonny Deluca to the Rays, was dependent on Glasnow signing an extension. The window to do so opened Thursday morning, and the parties quickly came together with the framework of a deal that will tack four years and $110 million in new money onto the $25 million Glasnow was owed for the 2024 season.
There is no deferred money in Glasnow’s deal, sources said, after superstar Shohei Ohtani’s contract with the Dodgers deferred $680 million of his $700 million guarantee. Some of the freed-up cash flow can go to Glasnow, who is Southern California native and joins Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman as Dodgers signed beyond 2025.
Glasnow can make up to $145 million, as the Dodgers hold a $30 million option on the 2028 season. If Los Angeles declines it, Glasnow can put into effect a $20 million option.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Dodgers will pay Glasnow like a top of the line starter in hopes that he will reach his immense ceiling. One of the prized starting pitchers available via trade, Glasnow is among the game’s most dominant, and if not for the injury bug, would be regarded as one of the elite starters in baseball. In a career-high 120 innings of work this year, the flame-throwing right-hander struck out 162 and walked 37, going 10-7 with a 3.53 ERA.
Tampa Bay explored trading Glasnow, 30, from the early part of the offseason, and while the Rays considered keeping him even at a $25 million salary they awarded him as part of a contract extension in August 2022, the value in the trade market sky rocketed to the point that they dealt away their expected Opening Day starter.
Pepiot, 26, was expected to be part of the Dodgers’ rotation. In parts of two seasons with them, he has shown up and showed out, posting a 2.76 ERA while shuttling between the rotation and the bullpen. Pepiot was particularly sterling in 2023, with a 2.14 ERA and 38-to-5 strikeout-walk ratio in 42 innings, with his lone blemish being seven home runs allowed. He enters the season with just one year of service time, giving Tampa Bay five years of control before he reaches free agency.
Deluca, 25, made his big league debut this year after consistently crushing minor league pitching over four seasons after the Dodgers took him in the 25th round of the draft out of Oregon. Capable of playing all three outfield positions, Deluca hit .271/.357/.526 in the minor leagues with strong walk and strikeout rates.
Accompanying Glasnow is 29-year-old Margot, a highly regarded defender who will earn $10 million this season and joins a Dodgers outfield that currently features James Outman, Chris Taylor and Jason Heyward. Betts is expected to move to second base full time, leaving potential at-bats for Margot against southpaws, where his career OPS is nearly 100 points higher than against righties.
Glasnow had been with the Rays since 2018, when they acquired him, outfielder Austin Meadows and top prospect Shane Baz for right-hander Chris Archer. In six seasons with the Rays, the 6-foot-8 Glasnow, whose high-90s fastball, low-90s slider and big-breaking curveball led to him to striking out more than a third of hitters he faced in 2023, went 27-16 with a 3.20 ERA over 388⅓ innings.
Injuries have somewhat limited Glasnow. After 14 starts laced with dominance in 2021, he underwent Tommy John surgery. Glasnow returned for two starts in 2022 and pitched in 21 games in 2023, increasing his career strikeout rate to 11.5 per nine innings, the second-highest mark among pitchers who have started at least two-thirds of their games and thrown 500-plus innings.
Other trade candidates include Chicago White Sox right-hander Dylan Cease, who is expected to be dealt in the coming weeks; Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes, who has been considered in trade talks with no momentum toward a deal; and Cleveland’s Shane Bieber, who, like Burnes, is due to hit the free agency market after this season.
