Revisiting the Yordan Alvarez Trade between Dodgers and Astros
There was once a time when Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez was a Dodger. It was a long time ago, and no one in the Dodger organization thought Alvarez was going to become anything. A few years later, the Dodgers were incredibly wrong.
The trade happened in 2016 when the Dodgers acquired relief pitcher Josh Fields. It was a trade deadline deal to add some much-needed depth in the Dodgers bullpen.
The Dodgers were 59-46 heading into the deadline and Joe Blanton and Kenley Jansen were the only consistent pieces in the Dodgers bullpen. The funny thing is that in 2016 Fields wasn’t even that good.
Before going to the Dodgers, Fields had a 6.89 ERA in 15 innings for the Astros. He picked it up when he was traded, producing a 2.79 ERA in 19 innings. Fields wasn’t their missing championship piece, however. In fact, he only played two more seasons for the Dodgers and hasn’t played since 2018.
Now let’s talk about the real headliner of this deal. It looks like a steal now of course, but in all honesty, no one knew who Alvarez even was at the time of the trade.
The Dodgers signed Alvarez in June of 2016, just two months before he was traded. He was an international free agent out of Cuba, so he was just a teenager with the Dodgers. Since the deal happened two months after he signed, Alvarez never even played a game in the Dodger organization.
Everything after that just gets sad for Dodger fans. Sorry, Milo Coulter. Alvarez was called up in 2019 at the age of 21. He slashed .313/.412/.655 to go along with 27 home runs in just 87 games. He won AL Rookie of the Year and batted .412 in the World Series against the Washington Nationals. From 2021-2022, Alvarez hit 30-plus homers and 90-plus RBIs. He’s emerging as one of the best DHs in all of baseball, and he’s still only 25.
Safe to say Dodger fans wonder “what if,” with that trade. A Dodger lineup today with Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Alvarez would arguably be the best. Milo and other Dodger fan can dream, but Yordaddy will continue to put himself in MVP talks in Houston.
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