Dodgers Trade For Versatile Mariners Infielder Chris Taylor
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — The Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday traded for Seattle Mariners infielder Chris Taylor.
The Blue Crew traded minor league right-handed pitcher -- and longtime top prospect -- Zach Lee for Taylor even up.
Taylor, 25, can play short, second or third.
He was hitting .312 with 41 runs, 19 doubles, four triples, three home runs, 29 RBI and 12 stolen bases in 63 games with Triple-A Tacoma, including a .414 mark with runners in scoring position (24-for-58). He played in two games with Seattle this year, going 1-for-3, and has appeared in 86 big league games in three seasons with the Mariners from 2014-16, batting .240 with 11 doubles, a triple and 10 RBI.
In the big leagues, Taylor appeared in 76 games (66 starts) at shortstop, four games (two starts) at second base and one game at third base.
In parts of five minor league seasons, he has hit .314 with 299 runs, 101 doubles, 29 triples, 22 home runs and 180 RBI in 407 games, earning All-Star honors in 2013 (Single-A California League) and 2014 (Triple-A Pacific Coast League). Taylor was drafted by Seattle in the fifth round of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft from the University of Virginia.
Lee, 24, has posted a 7-5 record with a 4.89 ERA in 13 starts this season with Triple-A Oklahoma City. He is 52-46 with a 3.97 ERA in 139 games (135 starts) in five minor league seasons with the Dodgers. He made his big league league debut (and only big league appearance on July 25, 2015) in New York, allowing seven runs in 4.2 innings and taking the loss.
Lee, the Dodgers' 2013 and 2015 Branch Rickey Minor League Player of the Year, was selected with the 28th overall pick in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft out of McKinney High School in Texas. He was currently ranked the 21st prospect in the Dodgers' system.
