The Blue Jays announced they’ve traded infielder Tyler Fitzgerald to the Dodgers for cash. Toronto designated him for assignment last week. The Dodgers transferred Landon Knack to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man roster spot. Fitzgerald has an option remaining and will be assigned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
The Louisville product didn’t appear in an MLB game with the Blue Jays and has yet to play in the big leagues this season. Fitzgerald opened the season on optional assignment to Triple-A with the Giants. San Francisco designated him for assignment and dealt him to Toronto in early April. Fitzgerald spent a week on the Jays’ bench without getting any game action. He was optioned out and again DFA on Friday when the Jays traded for Willie MacIver to deepen their catching group.
That sends Fitzgerald back to the NL West. He’d previously spent his entire career in the division with San Francisco. A fourth-round pick in 2019, Fitzgerald briefly debuted four years later and had a nice rookie showing in ’24. He hit .280/.334/.497 with 15 homers and 17 stolen bases over 96 games. Fitzgerald’s propensity for swing-and-miss raised questions about how sustainable those numbers would be. The regression hit hard last year, as he stumbled to a .217/.278/.327 showing in 243 plate appearances.
Fitzgerald continued to struggle after being optioned in June. San Francisco’s signing of Luis Arraez to play second base essentially spelled the end of his time in the organization. Fitzgerald has struggled in the early going in Triple-A, striking out 19 times in his first nine games. The roster tumult probably hasn’t helped him establish any kind of rhythm, yet the whiffs have been the main concern throughout his career.
The Dodgers don’t have a great path to playing time available. Alex Freeland, Hyeseong Kim, Miguel Rojas and Santiago Espinal are all on the big league roster. Mookie Betts, Tommy Edman and Kiké Hernández are on the injured list.
There’s minimal cost for the Dodgers in adding Fitzgerald as multi-positional infield depth. Knack has been out all season with an intercostal strain. There’s no timetable on his return, but he’s evidently not going to be ready before the final week of May.
