Dodgers acquire Michael Kopech and Tommy Edman
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers acquired right-handed pitcher Michael Kopech from the Chicago White Sox and infielder/outfielder Tommy Edman and minor league right-handed pitcher Oliver Gonzalez from St. Louis in a three-team deal with the White Sox and Cardinals. The Dodgers traded infielder/outfielder Miguel Vargas and minor leaguers Jeral Perez and Alexander Albertus to Chicago, while Chicago’s right-handed pitcher Erick Fedde and outfielder Tommy Pham go to St. Louis.
Edman, 29, has missed all of the 2024 season after undergoing wrist surgery in the offseason. Last season, he hit .248 with 13 homers and 47 RBI in 137 games with the Cardinals. The switch-hitting infielder has been in the Majors five seasons, slashing .265/.319/.408 with 53 homers, 222 RBI and 106 stolen bases. He has seen time at six different positions on the field, winning the Rawlings Gold Glove in 2021 at second base after posting a .990 fielding percentage in 508 chances. He was originally selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the sixth round of the 2016 First Year Player Draft out of Stanford University.
Kopech, 28, made 43 appearances for the White Sox this season, going 2-8 with a 4.74 ERA and nine saves. The Texas native struck out 59 batters in 43.2 innings, while holding hitters to a .222 batting average. He is in his fifth Major League season, all with Chicago, and he is a combined 17-33 with a 4.38 ERA in 146 games (60 starts). He has 426 strikeouts in 376 innings. He was drafted by the Red Sox in the first round (33rd overall) of the 2014 First Year Player Draft out of Mount Pleasant High School.
Gonzalez, 17, was 2-0 with a 4.22 ERA in seven games for the Dominican Summer League Cardinals. He has 26 strikeouts in 21.1 innings in his first season of professional baseball. He was signed on February 1, 2024 from Panama City, Panama.
Vargas, 24, appeared in 30 games for Los Angeles, hitting .239 with three homers and nine RBI this season. He hit .195 with 15 doubles, four triples, seven homers and 32 RBI in 81 games last year. The Cuba native has spent three seasons with the Dodgers, hitting .201 with 11 homers and 49 RBI. The 2022 Branch Rickey Player of the Year has been in the minors five seasons, clubbing 67 homers and driving in 346 RBI in 511 games. He was originally signed by the Dodgers as an international free agent on September 7, 2017 out La Habana, Cuba.
Perez, 19, represented the Dodgers in the 2024 Sirius FM Futures Game in Arlington, Texas this summer. He played in 75 games for the Quakes, hitting .264 with 10 homers and 42 RBI and garnering an .800 OPS. He has played three minor league seasons between Dominican Summer League to Single-A, hitting a combined .265 with 29 homers and 113 RBI.
Albertus, 19, hit .298 with three homers and 42 RBI in 51 games between the Arizona Complex Dodgers and Rancho Cucamonga Quakes. He has been with the organization three seasons after signing as an international free agent on June 1, 2022 from Oranjestad, Aruba and hit .303 with 21 stolen bases and eight homers in 136 games.