The Los Angeles Dodgers made every effort to improve this offseason when they dug into the international pool and signed Hyeseong Kim out of South Korea to potentially be the team’s new second baseman.
Nonetheless, when Kim’s signing was official, homegrown Dodger Gavin Lux had to be shipped to the Cincinnati Reds.
Lux is a former first-round draft pick for the Dodgers in 2016 and was once as high as MLB’s No. 2 overall prospect.
The Dodgers recently played the Reds in a spring training matchup, and Lux revealed he has come to peace with the trade.
“Obviously you still don’t really expect it after being in one place for so long. But at the same time, it is a business,” Lux said. “They have to do what’s best for them. And I think they did me a solid by getting me to a place that has the expectation of winning and Tito is running the show, which is fantastic.”
The 27-year-old, now an MLB veteran, missed all of 2023 due to injury and had many ups and downs with the Dodgers organization.
He cited Terry Francona as one of the league’s most respected managers and believes that a more significant role in Cincinnati can help him improve his game in more ways.
Lux is a career .252 hitter and still played a role in helping the Dodgers win two World Series championships in 2020 and 2024.