2023 MLB trade deadline grades: Report cards for every deal - ESPN
MLB trade season is here!
From the early deals to get things moving along to the upcoming flurry of deadline day activity on Tuesday, this is your one-stop shop for grades and analysis breaking down the details for all trades as they go down.
Follow along as our experts evaluate and grade each move, with the most recent grades at the top. This piece will continue to be updated, so turn back for the freshest deadline analysis.
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Lynn to Dodgers | Robertson to MarlinsSantana to Brewers | Giolito to Angels | Rosario to DodgersHernandez to Dodgers | Flexen to Mets | Chapman to Rangers
Dodgers get: RHP Lance Lynn RHP Joe Kelly
White Sox get: OF Trayce Thompson RHP Nick Nastrini RHP Jordan Leasure
Dodgers grade: C+
On the surface, it appears the Dodgers should have done better in adding pitching depth considering Lynn has a 6.47 ERA and leads the majors in home runs and earned runs allowed while Kelly has a 4.97 ERA. Buried beneath those bloated ERAs, however, is the fact that both pitchers have strikeout stuff the Dodgers believe they can work with: Lynn has averaged 10.8 K's per nine and Kelly has 41 strikeouts in 29 innings. Lynn has had huge problems in the first inning with a 10.29 ERA and 1.038 OPS allowed — basically, in the first inning, every batter against him has been Shohei Ohtani. Yet the Dodgers and Rays both wanted Lynn. If those first-inning problems are something the Dodgers fan fix with sequencing or another adjustment, that's a huge indictment of the White Sox.
Lynn doesn't even have to be great to be an upgrade in the rotation, just moderately useful. Emmet Sheehan threw six no-hit innings in his MLB debut but has an 8.49 ERA in his five starts since. Michael Grove is currently starting and has a