Gavin Lux Leaves A Crowded Dodgers Infield For A Crowded Reds Infield

The Los Angeles Dodgers decluttered their infield, and the Cincinnati Reds have recluttered theirs. Gavin Lux has been traded to Cincinnati for minor-league outfielder Mike Sirota and the 37th overall pick in the 2025 draft.

Lux, a former top prospect, had an up-and-down tenure in Los Angeles but he ultimately won two championships. The lefty-swinging second baseman batted .251/.320/.383 in 139 games for the Dodgers in 2024, posting 2.1 rWAR (Baseball-Reference version). His 101 OPS+ indicates that he was just 1% better than a league-average hitter.

While he is a productive player, he’s a far cry from his projections in his days as a prospect. He ranked second overall on the MLB Pipeline Top 100 before the 2020 season. He became a regular in 2021, but his bat lagged with a .242/.328/.364 slash line and an 85 OPS+, and he proved he didn’t have the arm to stick at shortstop. 2022 was his best season, in which he hit .276/.346/.399 and led the National League with seven triples. He tore his ACL during spring training in 2023 and missed the whole year, but rebounded with a solid campaign last season.

The writing was on the wall for Lux in Los Angeles when they signed Korean infielder Hyeseong Kim to a three-year, $12.5 million contract. Kim’s skillset is similar to Lux’s—they are both left-handed-hitting middle infielders with limited power. Kim is more capable of playing shortstop though, which would allow Mookie Betts to spend more time at second base where he rates more highly. The Dodgers also have Miguel Rojas and Chris Taylor who can patrol the middle, and center fielder Tommy Edman is a middle infielder by trade.

In Cincinnati, he joins an infield mix that is just as crowded. Elly De La Cruz and Matt McLain are entrenched near the top of the Reds lineup, and they line up defensively at shortstop and second base. The middle infield logjam led the Reds to deal Jonathan India to the Kansas City Royals earlier this offseason.

Lux has limited exposure to other positions, with the most experience in left field. Third base could be a possibility, but his average arm strength of 75 mph ranks in the seventh percentile in MLB, so it’s doubtful he can make the long throws across the diamond. The Reds also have Jeimer Candelario and Christian Encarnacion-Strand as corner infielders, though they aren’t as affixed in the lineup as De La Cruz and McLain. Former prospect Noelvi Marte remains a third base option as well.

Sirota was the Reds’ third-round pick in 2024 out of Northeastern University. He has not yet debuted in the minors. The draft pick is a competitive balance pick between rounds one and two of the upcoming draft this July. Competitive balance picks are the only draft picks that teams are permitted to trade.

Lux has two years of arbitration remaining before reaching free agency following the 2026 campaign. MLB Trade Rumors projected him to earn $2.7 million this coming season.

The Reds once again appear to have one bat too many, so there could be another shoe to drop. Maybe that’s a position change—or multiple position changes—or perhaps another trade could be in the making. How their roster takes shape will be a storyline worth following in Cincinnati over the coming weeks.