June 30th, 2016 at 12:38 pm 
by Ron Cervenka The have acquired right-handed pitcher Bud Norris, minor league outfielder Dian Toscano, a player to be named later and cash considerations from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for minor league pitchers Philip Pfeifer (LHP) and Caleb Dirks (RHP). To make room for Norris on the 40-man roster, Los Angeles designated left-hander Ian Thomas for assignment.
Norris has been one of the National League’s best pitchers this month, going 2-1 in six games (five starts) with Atlanta and ranking among the league’s best in ERA (2.08, 10th), opponents’ batting average (.194, 7th) and WHIP (0.96, 10th). Overall, the 31-year-old has posted a 3-7 record with a 4.22 ERA in 22 games (10 starts) this season, including a 2.08 ERA (11 ER/47.2 IP) in his last 17 games (five starts) since May 2.
Bud Norris
(Photo credit – John Bazemore)
In eight Major League seasons with the Astros (2009-13), Orioles (2013-15), Padres (2015) and Braves (2016), Norris has gone 59-75 with a 4.43 ERA in 218 games (176 starts) after originally being selected by Houston in the sixth round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft out of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Toscano, 27, hit .226 with 10 RBI in 58 games with the Braves’ Double-A Mississippi this year following five seasons in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, where he batted .299 with 13 home runs and 101 RBI in 261 games with Villa Clara. The 5-foot-11, 200-pound, left-handed hitter was originally signed by Atlanta as an international free agent on Jan. 28, 2015.
Dirks, 23, went 3-2 with six saves and a 1.44 ERA in 28 relief appearances with Double-A Tulsa this year, his second season in the Dodger organization. He returns to the Braves organization, which drafted him in the 15th round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of California Baptist University and subsequently traded him to the Dodgers on July 2, 2015.
Pfeifer, 23, posted a 3-1 combined record with a 2.67 ERA in 17 relief appearances with Single-A Great Lakes and Single-A Rancho Cucamonga this year, his second professional season. He was selected by the Dodgers in the third round of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft out of Vanderbilt University.
The Dodgers now have two former Cal Poly SLO Mustangs on their active roster, the other being recently acquired right-handed reliever Casey Fien.
(Article courtesy of Dodgers PR Department)
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Good acquisition for a couple of lower rated pitching prospects, plus Dodgers get cash, minor league OF’er, and PTBNL. Once Dodgers pitchers return 100% from DL Norris could be an attractive SP trade chip, or head to the BP. What happened to Ian Thomas? Just disappeared onto MiLB DL and then nothing.
The Dodgers announced today that they’ve designated left-hander Ian Thomas for assignment in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for right-hander Bud Norris, who was acquired from Atlanta in exchange for a pair of minor league pitchers.
Thomas, 29, actually came to the Dodgers by way of trade with the Braves last summer. He was traded from Atlanta to L.A. alongside Alberto Callaspo, Juan Jaime and Eric Stults in exchange for Juan Uribe and Chris Withrow. He spent 23 1/3 innings between the Braves and Dodgers in the Major Leagues last season and posted a 3.86 ERA with 23 strikeouts against 11 walks. Thomas posted strong numbers early this season for the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate — 1.42 ERA, 22-to-5 K/BB ratio in 19 innings — but has been on the minor league disabled list since mid-May due to tendinitis in his left shoulder.
I will say it now before (if by chance) Norris blows up; this was a good move by FAZ. Both Pfeiffer and Dirks may make ML rosters, but probably as mid-relievers. I am not down on mid-relievers, every team needs them, and wishes they have more when they do not perform. But Norris will give the Dodgers what they need now. He can start and if the projected starters return, he can go back to the pen. But I think you can count on no more than two hands the number of starting pitchers that pitched better than Norris in June. Norris is 31, so he probably could stick more than this year.
Pfeiffer was a third round choice last year, and did not pitch much at all after he signed. He has done well at A, but then so have so many. Dirks was acquired by international bonus $$$ (like Chase De Jong). I do not think this is too high a price to pay for a Bud Norris type pitcher.
FAZ acquired a quality starter (albeit a back end of the rotation) without giving up any of the prized prospects. They deserve credit on this one, and before the results are known.
Dodgers now have what… 42 back-of-the-rotation starters? This is a band-aid acquisition. Unfortunately, the Dodgers needed a band-aid.
I watched Dirks pitch at Rancho. This one is going to hurt.
I agree with your assessment that Norris is a band aid, and was needed. I have no idea what goes into the F&Z strategy for the short term, but I would guess that if Kershaw does not go on DL, Norris is still a Brave this AM. I also agree that the Dodgers have a lot of back of the rotation pitchers in the system, and some need to be moved before their value significantly diminishes. Teheran and Gray are not going to be moved before the deadline (if at all), and will cost significantly more. They are also the only two who are being talked about as front of the rotation pitchers that might be moved. I doubt that Teheran will be moved, and with three years of arbitration ahead for Gray, he is going to cost significant prospects.
With respect to Dirks, I value your judgement on the prospects, especially those that go through Rancho. But my guess is that the FO believes that they can substitute Jharel Cotton, Chris Anderson, Jacob Rhame, and now Layne Samson, and will get what they would with Dirks. They also have Frias and Bolsinger who are much better suited for the bullpen where they do not have to go through the lineup multiple times. And while Alex Wood is LHP, I think he is also a future bullpen piece.
Chris Anderson was dropped to Rancho to reinvent himself into a reliever, and has seemingly done well, and has been promoted back to Tulsa; presumably to take Dirks spot. I would be very interested in your opinion of Anderson now that he is a reliever.
I also like Pfeifer, and was hoping to watch him progress. But if there is a position that the Dodgers could pull from, it is RHP, and Norris gives the Dodgers a chance to stay close. If Norris pulls a Mat Latos, and Ryu/McCarthy cannot make it back, then the Dodgers could very well become sellers at the Deadline.
I have never been much of a Chris Anderson fan, but to be fair, I only saw him pitch out of the pen once with the Quakes and they were way ahead at the time (i.e., it wasn’t a high-leverage situation).
I spent considerable time watching Anderson’s bullpens during ST16 and felt then that the best spot for him was on the trading block. Hopefully he can increase his trade value as a reliever at Tulsa. I would have rather seen him go to ATL than Dirks or Pfeifer, but he didn’t have the trade value they did. I view Anderson as a lower quality Zach Lee.
Yeah, what they said ^^^^
Still think Dirks had some really good upside, and young.
This is a stop gap move and the Dodgers did have to stop and fill a gap. One would hope the stop gap acquired would be more than back of rotation. Perhaps Norris will do the new guy thing with the Dodgers where he is lights out for a period of time. I would guess he will be a one year Dodger.
I don’t think FAZ were all that impressed with Dirks or he would have been promoted to the AAA level. Seemed like a VG relief pitcher but perhaps seen as a bit generic so therefore expendable. I don’t think we know yet how left-hander Pfeifer will fare but 33 K’s in 24 innings at RC wasn’t bad. Walked a few too many. The minor league outfielder and PTBNL do not provide the Dodgers with any minor league depth – just width.
The moves will perhaps also precipitate some other minor league moves. Chris Anderson was brought back up to Tulsa today likely to fill Dirks spot.
Perhaps Gavin Pittore and Michael Boyle will move from Great Lakes to RC and Josh Sborz from RC to Tulsa. Maybe Scott Griggs to OKC from Tulsa.
I like the fact that they acquired someone we are relatively familiar with.