Dodgers Dugout: Breaking down the Rich Hill-Josh Reddick deal; Yasiel Puig’s mysterious day

Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and I am so pleased that for the 18th year in a row, my wife declined to trade me before the Aug. 1 deadline.

How did the Dodgers do?

The trade deadline has come and gone, and the Dodgers were busy on Monday, acquiring four players for four prospects and Mike Bolsinger. Let’s break down the deals.

1. Dodgers send pitching prospects Grant Holmes, Frankie Montas and Jharel Cotton to Oakland for right fielder Josh Reddick and pitcher Rich Hill.

Holmes, 20, was drafted in the first round in 2014 and figures to one day become a mid-rotation starter. He spent this season at Class A Rancho Cucamonga, where he was 8-4 with a 4.02 ERA and 100 strikeouts in 105 innings. Listed as the Dodgers’ No. 4 prospect before the season, he is now the No. 3 prospect in Oakland’s season.

Montas, 23, was signed by Boston in 2009 and came to the Dodgers in the three-team trade that also brought Trayce Thompson and Micah Johnson. He has been hurt more than he has pitched this season, but did strike out 22 in 16 minor-league innings before a rib injury sidelined him. He was the Dodgers’ No. 5 prospect before the season and is now the No. 11 prospect for Oakland.

Cotton, 24, was drafted in the 20th round in 2011. He was pitching for Oklahoma City and was 8-5 with a 4.90 ERA and 119 strikeouts in 97 innings. He is under 6 feet tall, so many scouts believe he will end up in the bullpen. He was the Dodgers’ No 9 prospect before the season and is now the No. 16 prospect for Oakland.

In return for those three, the Dodgers got two players who will be free agents after this season, so they should have a little extra motivation to play well down the stretch.

Hill is a 36-year-old left-hander who was having his best season before going on the disabled list with a finger blister. He was 9-3 with a 2.25 ERA in 14 starts with Oakland, striking out 90 in 76 innings. Since 2014 he is 11-4 with a 2.12 ERA. He should be off the DL in time to start for the Dodgers on Tuesday. The only real drawback to Hill is he is a six-inning pitcher. He is leaving one pitcher’s park for another, so there shouldn’t be a huge effect on his numbers.

Reddick is a 29-year-old right fielder who was hitting .296/.368/.449 with Oakland, good for an OPS of .817 and a career-high OPS+ of 124. He should be a marked improvement offensively in right for the Dodgers, as Dodger right fielders have combined for a .729 OPS, good for 12th in the NL. Reddick is a solid defender who has a strong arm. He is your stereotypical “scrappy” ballplayer who will run through a wall. Let’s just hope when he does run through a wall, he doesn’t get injured. He spent five weeks on the DL earlier this season because of a broken thumb.

For what it’s worth, according to WAR, the Dodgers acquired Oakland’s best two players in Hill (2.9 WAR) and Reddick (2.2).

2. Dodgers acquire right-handed reliever Jesse Chavez from Toronto for right-handed pitcher Mike Bolsinger.

Chavez, 32, was 1-2 with a 4.57 ERA in 39 games for the Blue Jays this season. He went to Riverside Community College and in nine seasons in the majors he is 25-40 with two saves and a 4.55 ERA. Basically, he’s a fresh arm for a Dodgers bullpen that has been run ragged.

Bolsinger, 28, was an unsung hero last season, going 6-6 with a 3.62 ERA in 21 starts, but he lost his mojo this year (1-4, 6.83 ERA).

3. Dodgers acquire right-handed reliever Josh Fields from Houston for minor-league first baseman Yordan Alvarez.

Fields, 30, had a 6.89 ERA for Houston in 15 games this season, but in the minors went 1-0 with a 1.65 ERA. He’s just another arm for the bullpen.

Alvarez, 19, was signed as an amateur free agent in June and has yet to play in the minors.

What about Puig?

Monday was an interesting day for Yasiel Puig. He loses his right field job when the Dodgers acquire Reddick. Then, Ken Rosenthal reported that Puig stormed from the stadium and missed the flight to Colorado after he was informed he was going to be traded or sent to the minors. That turned out to not be true (he didn’t storm out of the stadium and the Dodgers told him not to go on the flight to Colorado), but he was excoriated and made fun of on social media until Rosenthal apologized for his mistake. Puig, to his credit, told Rosenthal that everyone makes mistakes and he has no hard feelings. (By the way, it was nice to see a person not make excuses for getting something wrong and apologizing, and even better to see Puig’s reaction).

So, the Dodgers are sending Puig to triple-A Oklahoma City. I wrote back in May that they should send him to the minors if he doesn’t break out of his two-year slump, but the Dodgers kept playing him. Puig went on the disabled list in early June, and since coming off on June 21 has hit .308 with a .390 on-base percentage and an OPS of .890. And now they decide to send him down? It doesn’t really make a lot of sense on the surface. In that same time frame, Reddick, acquired to replace Puig, is hitting .258 with a .327 OB% and an OPS of .750.

There must be more to this story than meets the eye, because sending Puig down instead of Kiké Hernandez or Andrew Toles doesn’t make a lot of sense. Hernandez can play multiple positions, which loses a lot of its appeal when you realize he’s hitting .191. It could be as simple as the Dodgers wanting Puig to go down and get a lot of at bats instead of sitting on the bench.

Whatever the case, hopefully we will get some sort of explanation at some point. The Dodgers are expected to officially send him to the minors later today.

For a great look at Puig and the Dodgers, read Dylan Hernandez’s column, which you can find here.

Fleetwood Mac honors Vin

On Thursday, Vin Scully was honored at the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation Blue Diamond Gala at Dodger Stadium. The event, which was attended by about 1,000 people, included a special concert by Fleetwood Mac. Why am I telling you this? So I could show you the cool photo above.

The magic number

Each week I will look at a uniform number a Dodger is wearing and go through the history of that number with the Dodgers. When I was a kid and went to games, I was always curious who wore the number of my favorite players. Then again, I was a strange kid. For “best Dodgers to wear the number,” only the stats a player compiles while he was with the team and wearing that number count.

Next up is:

No. 38 (Brandon McCarthy)

Best Dodgers to wear No. 38: Roger Craig (1959-61), Todd Worrell (1993-97), Eric Gagne (2001-06).

Others to wear No. 38 with the Dodgers: Dick Siebert (1932), Tony Giuliani (1941), Al Zachary (1944), Harry Taylor (1946), Bob Ramazzotti (1946), Paul Minner (1946-49), Billy Loes (1950), Dick Williams (1951-54, 1956), Bob Darnell (1954, 1956), Ron Negray (1958), Joe Moeller (1962-67), Jack Billingham (1968), Bill Buckner (1969), Jim Bunning (1969), Sandy Vance (1970-71), Geoff Zahn (1973-75), Elias Sosa (1976), Lance Rautzhan (1977-79), Dave Goltz (1980-82), Pat Zachry (1983-84), Craig Shipley (1986-87), Jose Gonzalez (1989-91), Steve Wilson (1991-92), Dave Mlicki (1998-99), Rudy Seanez (2007), Ramon Troncoso (2008-11), Shawn Tolleson (2012-13).

What Vin Scully means to me

I asked you to tell me your best Vin Scully memory, and I got a lot of responses. I will publish selected ones in each newsletter. And keep emailing them to me.

Lewis Leader: The first-story apartment that I lived in as a little boy in Brooklyn was right next to P.S. 182, which I attended through the second grade. As we played stickball on the cement playground -- the “big” kids would let me shag the high-bounce rubber ball -- I could hear Vin Scully and Jerry Doggett broadcasting the Dodgers games on a radio next to the Smith-Corona typewriter that my dad, a writer, was pounding away on.We moved to Los Angeles, three seasons ahead of the Dodgers’ arrival in 1958. My dad worked for a small weekly newspaper that had season box seats just to the left of home plate at the Coliseum. Between games of a doubleheader that first season -- the Dodgers had seven home twinbills that year, and one ticket was good for both games -- I saw Vin talking to someone in the stands near the makeshift press box that the Dodgers used at the Coliseum.Shyly, I approached him and waited for his conversation to end. He noticed me, greeted me in a robust and friendly manner, and autographed a small piece of paper, which I unfortunately lost decades ago.Flash forward to 1974. I am now a young sportswriter, covering the World Series between the Dodgers and the A’s at the Oakland Coliseum, which Vin is announcing. Outgoing and beaming again he walks near to where I am standing. This time, however, I am too shy to approach, so I don’t ask for an autograph this time. I wish that I had.

The TV situation

If you would like to complain about the Dodgers’ TV situation, you have three options: The Dodgers, Time Warner Cable and whatever local cable or satellite provider you have that doesn’t carry the Dodgers. Here’s who to contact:

For the Dodgers, click here or call (866) DODGERS ([866] 363-4377). (I hope you like form letters.)

For Time Warner, click here.

For DirecTV, call (800) 531-5000 or click here.

For your local cable or satellite provider, consult your bill for the customer service number and for the website.

And finally

Scully has a funny story about Mike Matheny and .... well, you’ll just have to see for yourself. Watch and listen to it here.

Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me and follow me on Twitter: @latimeshouston