PITTSBURGH — The Detroit Tigers acquired infielder Eddys Leonard from the Los Angeles Dodgers for cash considerations before Tuesday’s trade deadline, after the failed Eduardo Rodriguez trade.
The 22-year-old, who turns 23 in November, will report to Triple-A Toledo.
“He’s performed really well at the lower levels and does a lot of the things under the hood that we like in hitters,” Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris said Tuesday. “We’re going to send him straight to Triple-A and give him a chance to demonstrate that he can perform at that level.”
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Leonard was designated for assignment — removed from the 40-man roster — by the Dodgers on Friday, four days before Tuesday’s trade deadline. He was the everyday shortstop for Double-A Tulsa in the Dodgers’ organization but has previous experience at second base, third base and center field.
This season, Leonard hit .254 with 20 doubles, 11 home runs, 29 walks (7.5% walk rate) and 85 strikeouts (21.9% strikeout rate) across 388 plate appearances in 92 games at the Double-A level.
Leonard, a right-handed hitter, signed with the Dodgers in July 2017 out of the Dominican Republic as part of the international signing period. It’s unclear if he was a part of the Rodriguez trade that never happened.
“I want our young players to play a bunch of positions,” Harris said. “I was pleased to see that Eddys Leonard was playing a little center field for the Dodgers. He’s going to move around (on defense) in Toledo.”
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.