Marlins trade Mat Latos, Mike Morse to Dodgers

The Dodgers have landed some rotation help, but not a huge name like everyone expected. The club has acquired right-hander Mat Latos and first baseman/outfielder Michael Morse from the Marlins, CBS Sports Baseball Insider Jon Heyman has confirmed.

Here are the trade details:

The Dodgers are reportedly sending three prospects to Miami in the trade.

Behind Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, the Dodgers currently have Brett Anderson and Mike Bolsinger in the rotation. Latos will step into the fifth spot. Hyun-Jin Ryu (shoulder) and Brandon McCarthy (Tommy John) are both done for the year following surgery.

Latos, 27, is 4-7 with a 4.48 ERA (85 ERA+) in 16 starts and 88 1/3 innings this season, but he has been much better of late. He has a 2.96 ERA in seven starts and 45 2/3 innings since coming back from a DL stint in mid-June. Latos had been sidelined by knee inflammation.

The Dodgers don’t appear to have much use for Morse with Adrian Gonzalez at first base and a glut of outfielders. It seems likely the club agreed to take on Morse’s contract — he is owed approximately $11.5 million through next season — to lower the prospect price. They could flip Morse to another team or simply release him.

The prospects going to the Marlins are unknown at this time. The draft pick is from the recently completed competitive balance lottery — those are the only draft picks that can be traded — and figures to be in the 30-40 overall pick range come draft day. The final slot won’t be decided until after the offseason, when free agents tied to draft pick compensation sign.

The Marlins are currently in sell mode, having already traded ex-closer Steve Cishek to the Cardinals. They have several other rental players they could move as well, including Dan Haren and Jeff Baker. Martin Prado, who is signed through 2016, could also be on the block.

The Dodgers come into Wednesday at 56-45, just a half-game up on the Giants in the NL West. Kershaw and Greinke have combined to throw 45.5 percent of the team’s rotation innings. They simply needed someone like Latos to soak up innings and give the bullpen a rest.

Mat Latos and Mike Morse are the newest Dodgers. (USATSI)

FOUR THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THE TRADE

1. Latos has pitched very well the last few weeks.

The overall numbers are not pretty. Latos has a 4.48 ERA (85 ERA+) with a 1.25 WHIP this season, and opponents are hitting .251/.302/.354 against him. But, since returning from a knee inflammation-related DL stint, Latos has a 2.96 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP, and batters are hitting just .198/.242/.335 against him.

That post-DL perfomance looks very much like the healthy Latos we saw from 2012-13. That guy had a 3.19 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP, holding opponents to a .239/.298/.377 batting line. Latos probably won’t be this good going forward, but he’s not a true talent 85 ERA+ pitcher either. Latos has had elbow and knee problems the last two seasons but seems to be healthy now.

2. Latos has regained his velocity.

No coincidentally, Latos has found some more velocity since coming back from his knee trouble this year. He sat in the 93-95 mph range from 2012-13, dropping down to 91-92 mph last year and earlier this year, but is again bumping 93-95 nowadays. Here’s the month-by-month velocity graph from Brooks Baseball:

Velocity isn’t everything but it’s not nothing either. The extra oomph gives Latos more margin for error and makes his offspeed stuff — curveball, slider and changeup, specifically — a bit more effective because hitters have to respect the heat. The bump to 2012-13 levels of velocity indicates Latos is healthy and in a good place mechanically.

3. The Dodgers “bought” another draft pick.

Earlier this year, the Dodgers essentially bought a 2015 draft pick. They acquired the 74th overall selection from the Orioles by taking on Ryan Webb’s contract ($2.69 million), which the O’s no longer wanted on the books. Webb was released by the Dodgers soon after the trade. As this trade and the Webb trade show, Los Angeles is using their financial might by taking on bad contracts from other teams, as long as they throw in a draft pick. It’s a smart strategy for a huge market team.

4. The Marlins have traded three draft picks in three years.

For the third time in three years, the Marlins have traded their competitive balance lottery pick. Their traded their 2014 pick to the Pirates for Bryan Morris, their 2015 pick to the Astros in the Jarred Cosart trade, and their 2016 pick to the Dodgers for salary relief. I’m not opposed to trading draft picks for actual MLB players, but using it to shed a contract like with Morse? That shows the system is not working as designed. The competitive balance lottery pick system was implemented to help small market teams add prospects, not sell off for financial relief.

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