The Chicago White Sox continued their sell-off Friday, with the club trading veteran right-handers Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly to the Los Angeles Dodgers and right-handed reliever Kendall Graveman to the Houston Astros.
The Dodgers sent Chicago veteran outfielder Trayce Thompson and a pair of Double-A right-handers, starter Nick Nastrini and reliever Jordan Leasure.
Graveman, meanwhile, was dealt straight up for Houston minor league catcher Korey Lee.
The trades come two days after the White Sox sent right-handers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday.
Lynn, 36, fills the Dodgers’ need for starting pitching after their entire Opening Day rotation went on the injured list at some point in the first half. Left-hander Clayton Kershaw is due back soon from a shoulder injury, but Dustin May (elbow) was lost for the season and Noah Syndergaard (finger) was traded this week to the Cleveland Guardians.
Lynn is 6-9 with a 6.47 ERA in 21 starts this season as he has struggled with consistency. He was roughed up in an outing against the Dodgers on June 13 — five runs (four earned) over five innings — then went seven scoreless innings against the Toronto Blue Jays on July 6 and has given up a combined 16 runs (13 earned) over his past two starts.
In 12 seasons, Lynn is 129-93 with a 3.71 ERA in 330 appearances (306 starts) for the St. Louis Cardinals (2011-17), Minnesota Twins (2018), New York Yankees (2018), Texas Rangers (2019-20) and White Sox.
Kelly, 35, returns to Los Angeles, where he pitched from 2019-21 and won the 2020 World Series title. Kelly is 1-5 with a 4.97 ERA in 31 relief appearances this season and is 52-37 with a 3.98 ERA in 439 career appearances (81 starts) for the Cardinals (2012-14), Boston Red Sox (2014-18), Dodgers and White Sox.
Kelly becomes the second player from the Dodgers’ World Series-winning team to return to the club this week. The Dodgers reacquired utility man Enrique Hernandez in a deal with the Red Sox on Monday.
Lynn has an $18 million club option on his contract for 2024 or a $1 million buyout, while Kelly will be concluding a two-year, $17 million deal at the end of this season.
Thompson has been on the 60-day injured list with a left oblique strain and is eligible to come off Aug. 3.
The 32-year-old was selected by the White Sox in the second round of the 2009 draft and has been well-traveled since. He’s played for the White Sox (2015, 2018), Dodgers (2016-17, 2022-23), Oakland Athletics (2018), Chicago Cubs (2021) and San Diego Padres (2022).
In 36 games this season, he’s hitting .155 with five home runs and 14 RBIs in 36 games. In four rehab games, he has a .429 average (6-for-14) with a homer and four RBIs.
Nastrini, 23, was 5-3 with a 4.03 ERA for Double-A Tulsa this season, while Leasure, 24, was 2-2 with a 3.09 ERA in 29 appearances. Nastrini was a fourth-round draft pick by the Dodgers out of UCLA in 2021, while Leasure was a 14th-round pick out of Tampa in the same draft.
The Dodgers also announced that infielder Eddys Leonard and left-handed pitcher Justin Bruihl were designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster. They activated shortstop Amed Rosario, acquired this week from the Cleveland Guardians in the Syndergaard deal, and optioned infielder Yonny Hernandez.
For Graveman, 32, this will be his second stint in Houston. He was 1-1 with a 3.13 ERA in 23 games with the Astros in 2021 after being acquired from the Seattle Mariners in a trade-deadline deal.
This season, Graveman is 3-4 with a 4.29 ERA and eight saves in 45 relief appearances. In his career, he’s 35-41 with a 4.00 ERA and 24 saves in 257 games (80 starts) with the Toronto Blue Jays (2014), A’s (2015-18), Seattle Mariners (2020-21), Astros and White Sox.
He signed a three-year, $24 million deal as a free agent with Chicago in November 2021 and has a year remaining on his contract.
The Astros selected Lee with their first-round pick (No. 32 overall) in the 2019 draft. He appeared in 12 games for Houston last season, hitting .160 and driving in four runs.
At Triple-A Sugar Land this season, the 25-year-old Lee has a .283 batting average with five homers, 32 RBIs and 12 stolen bases.
–Field Level Media
