Good morning and welcome to Elite Sports NY’s first day of national Major League Baseball coverage! We’re pivoting after years of New York focus and everything Empire State and though we certainly aren’t shying away from the hometown teams, we’re absolutely expanding our net.
And what better way to do that than to kick things off with a good old-fashioned news roundup? The last 24 hours have had plenty go down in the midst of the offseason, from trades to free agency to even front office drama.
Strap in and let’s have a look at the top stories from the last day.
Dodgers trade IF Gavin Lux to Reds
The defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers made quite the shocking move on Monday night when, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan, they traded infielder Gavin Lux to the Cincinnati Reds. The Dodgers received outfield prospect Mike Sorota in return.
Lux is still only 27 years old and returned from a torn ACL to hit .251 with an average wRC+ of 100. This means that from a hitting standpoint, Lux was exactly average. The Dodgers would apparently rather test new Korean signee Hyeseong Kim at second base.
This seems a win-win for both teams. The Dodgers unclogged their infield while Cincinnati received a high-upside lefty bat. Lux could be in for a career season playing in hitter-friendly Great American Ballpark, especially for a future Hall of Fame manager in Terry Francona.
Sacramento spending spree
Who are these formerly Oakland A’s and what have they done with their usual penny-pinching selves? The A’s have written some big checks as they embark on three years in Sacramento before moving to Las Vegas. Former Yankees and Mets righty Luis Severino signed the largest free agent contract in history at three years, $67 million.
And early Tuesday morning, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported an even more shocking development: All-Star slugger Brent Rooker inked a five-year, $60 million extension. Rooker turned 30 back in November and turned in a career year in 2024, hitting .293 with a career high 39 home runs and 164 wRC+. Additionally, his new contract includes a $30 million vesting option.
Where is all of this coming from? Has owner John Fisher turned over a new leaf? Are the A’s finally abandoning Moneyball and actually investing in their own team?
Sadly, no. As ESPN reported, the A’s face a potential grievance from the players’ union if they don’t spend at least 1.5 times the money they receive from revenue sharing. It’s not so much that the team wants to spend, but it has to. Still, it’s nice to see management respond to last year’s negative press with a good-faith attempt to improve the roster.
San Diego soap opera
There’s trouble brewing in the Padres’ front office, and not for baseball reasons. Sheel Seidler, wife of the late team owner Peter Seidler, has sued two of her brothers-in-law for control of the team. Per ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez, the lawsuit alleges “fiduciary breaches of trust, fraud, conversion and egregious acts of self-dealing” by two of the late Seidler’s brothers, Robert and Matthew.
A little background: Peter Seidler passed away suddenly in November 2023. Back in December, it was reported his brother John would take over as “control person,” and Mrs. Seidler is fighting this. She claims she has been “effectively ostracized” from the team, even though she and her late husband’s three children own about a 25% stake. The complaint calls for her to be a full majority owner, per his wishes before his death.
We aren’t legal experts, but it’s pretty obvious this isn’t something which can be resolved overnight. It’s more likely this gets dragged out in court for at least a year, perhaps even more. Anyone who remembers the saga of Frank McCourt selling the Dodgers knows this could get very, very ugly.
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