The Dodgers acquired left-hander Eric Lauer from the Blue Jays on May 17, 2026, and both teams announced the move within minutes of one another. Lauer and cash considerations are heading to Los Angeles in exchange for a player to be named later or cash considerations.
Right-hander Brusdar Graterol was moved from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list to clear room for Lauer on the 40-man roster. The Dodgers will owe Lauer only the prorated portion of the MLB minimum salary, with that amount subtracted from about $3.2 million remaining on his 2026 salary, while Toronto will otherwise cover the balance unless Los Angeles adds money to the deal.
The move gives the Dodgers a pitcher who has already worked his way through several turns in a volatile career. Lauer pitched for the Padres and Brewers from 2018 to 2022, then did not appear in the major leagues in 2024. Toronto signed him to a minor league contract in the 2024-25 offseason, and he turned that into a useful 2025 season with a 3.18 ERA, a 23.9% strikeout rate and a 6.1% walk rate across 104 2/3 regular-season innings. He also threw 8 2/3 playoff innings with a 3.12 ERA.
This year has been a different story. Lauer entered the move with a 6.69 ERA over 36 1/3 innings and eight outings, and he had battled a bad case of the flu during the 2026 season. He also publicly complained first about his lack of starting opportunities and then about the Blue Jays using an opener for some of his outings. Toronto had designated him for assignment the week before the trade, a sign the club was already moving on after reinforcing its rotation with Dylan Cease, Cody Ponce and Max Scherzer.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, had a more immediate need. Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell were on the injured list, leaving Los Angeles with two holes in its preferred six-man rotation. That backdrop makes Lauer more than a depth add. The Dodgers have long been comfortable with non-traditional pitcher usage, and the possibility of pairing him with an opener fits the way they have often handled pitching staff puzzles. Katie Woo noted recently that “the process is still being configured,” a line that captures how fluid the role can be when the club is forced to improvise.
For now, the trade is a low-cost gamble on a left-hander who was productive not long ago and who Los Angeles can deploy in a number of ways. If Lauer finds the form he showed in 2025, the Dodgers get another usable arm at exactly the moment they need one. If not, the financial risk remains minimal and the roster move buys them time while they wait for the injured starters to return.
