The Miami Marlins have agreed to a trade that would send veteran starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco to the Los Angeles Dodgers for three prospects in Steven Ames, Josh Wall and Angel Sanchez.
UPDATE: Saturday, July 6, at 9:45 p.m. ET by Ian Hanford
The Dodgers released official details of the trade via the team’s website:
The Los Angeles Dodgers today acquired right-handed pitcher Ricky Nolasco from the Miami Marlins in exchange for minor league right-handed pitchers Steven Ames, Josh Wall and Angel Sanchez. The Dodgers also acquired international signing bonus slot No. 96 valued at $197,000 from the Marlins as part of the deal.
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Original Text
MLB‘s official Twitter confirmed news of the deal on Saturday, citing reporting by MLB.com’s Marlins writer Joe Frisaro:
Nolasco has won at least 10 games in six of his previous seven MLB seasons, but has a rather high 4.44 ERA in his career. However, the 30-year-old presents decent value at this juncture, and his 3.85 ERA in 2013 shows marked improvement from the prior three campaigns.
There is $11.5 million of salary on Nolasco’s contract, and he’s set to be a free agent following this season.
Danny Knobler of CBS Sports reported on Saturday that Nolasco had been the target of four of the five National League West teams, but the Dodgers have come out on top.
As Knobler pointed out, the Dodgers have won 11 of their past 13 games and will be getting another asset in Nolasco to join the fold as they look to finish strong ahead of the impending All-Star break.
There won’t be as much pressure on Nolasco in LA, and he’s also from California originally, so it’s feasible that he could re-sign with the Dodgers this winter.
Staff ace Clayton Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu have pitched very well. However, Los Angeles needed another decent starter to supplement the struggles of Zack Greinke, who has a 4.30 ERA yet still boasts a record of 6-2.
The addition of Nolasco adds depth to the rotation for the Dodgers, who entered Saturday sitting just 3.5 games back of the division-leading Arizona Diamondbacks.
In terms of the Marlins’ side of the deal, they get three promising players for the future while still in the midst of rebuilding. Miami sits in last place in the National League with a record of 32-54 after Saturday’s 5-4 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
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