Jeff Passan reported a trade between the Reds and Rays that would send starter Zack Littell to Cincinnati on Wednesday evening, while the Dodgers had yet to make their first move of the trade deadline. Bob Nightengale followed up to report that it was going to turn into a three-team trade, but there was little reason to think that the Dodgers would be involved at all.
Passan followed up almost exactly an hour and a half later with the full trade. The Dodgers will send former backup catcher Hunter Feduccia to the Rays, who will also get pitcher Brian Van Belle from the Reds. The Reds will get Littell, and the Dodgers will get lefty pitcher Adam Serwinowski from the Reds, and righty pitcher Paul Gervase and Ben Rortvedt from the Rays.
It's the second year in a row that the Dodgers have swung a three-way deal, but the results of last year's wheeling and dealing with the Cardinals and White Sox yielded a much more exciting return for LA in Tommy Edman and Michael Kopech.
This one is going to warrant a lot of further evaluation, but it's a bizarre trade all around with a handful of guys who don't exactly fit into the Dodgers' expected trade deadline strategy.
Three-way trade, per ESPN sources:
Dodgers receive: LHP Adam Serwinowski, RHP Paul Gervase, C Ben Rortvedt
Rays receive: C Hunter Feduccia, RHP Brian Van Belle
Reds receive: RHP Zack Littell
Dodgers worm into a three-way trade with Reds, Rays and deal former top prospect Hunter Feduccia
The Dodgers dealing Feduccia is the first order of business. He's only gotten two games in the majors this year, before Dalton Rushing was called up to the be LA's full-time backup catcher. Feduccia looked like a more likely candidate to be the Dodgers' long-term backup, as Rushing still projects as too good a player to be stuck behind Will Smith forever, but with the Dodgers sticking by Rushing, there was never going to be a chance for Feduccia.
Rortvedt, an incredibly underwhelming bat throughout his career in the majors, is the clear backup-backup replacement for Feduccia. Serwinowski is the Reds' No. 10 prospect this year and is currently in High-A, and Gervase has 6 1/3 innings of major league experience from a brief call-up this year, from June 21 to July 7 (he had a 4.26 ERA).
Gervase will be able to join the major league bullpen as soon as the trade is official and Rortvedt will be a depth option to send to Triple-A (unless the Dodgers shock everyone by making an unexpected trade involving Dalton Rushing ahead of Thursday's deadline). It's a little hard to see what Andrew Friedman is seeing here, but a trade that only leaves LA short of one catcher who didn't have a way forward in the organization isn't a terrible thing.
