The New York Yankees claimed Taylor Trammell off waivers two days after he was designated for assignment by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Dodgers DFA’d Trammell on Tuesday in order to make room on their active roster for Andy Pages, who made his MLB debut that night. It also freed up a spot on the Dodgers’ 40-man roster, which went to Eduardo Salazar as he joined the bullpen in order to give the team a needed fresh arm.
Pages has remained up with the Dodgers but Salazar was optioned back to Triple-A Oklahoma City as a corresponding move to Landon Knack getting recalled for his MLB debut.
Trammell joined the Dodgers organization in April 2, when he was claimed off waivers from the Seattle Mariners. The former top prospect hit just .168/.270/.368 with 15 home runs, 45 runs scored, 29 RBI, four stolen bases and an 83 wRC+ over parts of three seasons with Seattle. Trammell appeared in 116 games for the Mariners during that span.
He wound up with the Dodgers because of Jason Heyward going on the 10-day injured list due to lower back tightness. Heyward’s injury woes have lingered longer than expected, which played a part in the Dodgers electing to now give Pages his first opportunity at the Major League level.
Another factor was lack of production from the bottom of the Dodgers lineup.
“I don’t expect it to continue at this clip,” manager Dave Roberts said of the struggles. “But really the driver is Jason not being around. That’s why we went out and got Trammell initially, because we thought it was going to be a short-term stint.
“But as each day passes, it just seems longer, so this seemed like a good opportunity to give Andy some runway.”
Taylor Trammell’s stats with Dodgers
Trammell only appeared in five games (one start) for the Dodgers, going 0-for-6 with three strikeouts during that span. In addition to serving as a pinch-runner, he played left field and right field during the brief Dodgers stint.
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