What to know about reported Mariners target Gavin Lux

Update: The Los Angeles Dodgers traded Gavin Lux to the Cincinnati Reds on Monday afternoon, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

When one door closed on the Seattle Mariners’ offseason, another may have opened.

Drayer: Mariners have been quiet so far, so what now?

Seattle lost out on Korean free agent Hyeseong Kim, who instead went to – who else? – the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers last Friday. Kim has played several positions in his professional career, but second base is seen as his natural position. And sure enough, the Dodgers have a player who seems to become redundant following the addition of Kim.

That player is Gavin Lux, and there’s good reason to think the Mariners would be a player for Lux should he be available. In fact, it’s already been reported that the Mariners have talked to the Dodgers about him.

Pat Ragazzo, who covers the New York MLB teams for Sports Illustrated, wrote on Sunday that while the Yankees “showed some interest” last month in Lux, the “Mariners are said to have been more aggressive in their pursuit of Lux.” Jon Morosi of MLB Network, who is a weekly guest on Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob, added his own report Monday morning.

The Mariners have checked with the Dodgers about the availability of Gavin Lux, as we discussed on @MLBNetwork this morning.

The Dodgers have 6 middle infielders on their 40-man roster: Edman, Betts, Lux, Kim, Taylor, Rojas.@Seattle Sports

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 6, 2025

So with Lux apparently in the crosshairs for one of the holes in the Mariners’ infield, here are some things to know about him.

Gavin Lux

• Positions: 2B, SS, OF
• Age: 27
• Height/weight: 6 foot 2, 190 pounds
• Bats: Left
• MLB experience: Appeared in five seasons, debuted in 2019
• Contract: Arbitration eligible through 2026; expected to make $2.76 million in 2025 per Spotrac

Lux was a highly-touted amateur and prospect, going to the Dodgers out of Indian Trail High School in Kenosha, Wisc., at No. 20 in the first round of the 2016 MLB Draft. He was named Baseball America’s Minor League Player of the Year in 2019 and ranked as high as the No. 2 overall prospect in all of baseball in 2020 per MLB.com.

Though Lux hasn’t quite lived up to the hype he had as a prospect, he has been a solid player for the Dodgers nonetheless. In 2024, he posted 2.1 bWAR, slashed .251/.320/.383 for a .703 OPS, and hit a career-high 10 home runs in 139 games.

Two of Lux’s homers last year came in back-to-back games against the Mariners in August, and he was named National League Player of the Week in late July.

In 2024, Lux’s best underlying metrics per Statcast were chase percentage (23.1%, 85th percentile), xBA (.259, 70th percentile) and baserunning value (66th percentile). His 2024 hitting spray chart shows he can hit to all fields, as bore out by a 35% pull rate, 42.6% rate up the middle, and 22.4% rate to the opposite field.

Lux’s best season was 2022 when he slashed .276/.346/.399 (.745 OPS) and had a 2.8 bWAR. He also tied for the National League lead with seven triples that year.

In between those two strong campaigns, however, Lux missed the entire 2023 season after suffering a torn ACL in spring training.

The Dodgers have tried Lux at shortstop multiple times in his career, including in spring training in 2024, but his defense at the position hasn’t impressed, necessitating a return to second base. He has appeared at all three outfield spots in his career in addition to the middle infield, but he played all but one of his games in the field in 2024 at second. He ranked in the 34th percentile in range (outs above average) last year.

Despite still being relatively young, Lux has had his share of big postseason moments. In his first at-bat ever in a playoff game, he hit a pinch-hit homer in a National League Division Series game against the Washington Nationals. That made him the youngest player in MLB history to hit a pinch-hit home run in the playoffs at 21 years and 314 days old, as well as the youngest Dodgers player to hit a homer in the postseason.

In Los Angeles’ run through the playoffs and World Series title in October 2024, Lux hit 6 for 34 (.176) with a homer, a double, a stolen base, and five walks to six strikeouts. He played through a tweaked hip flexor he suffered in Game 1 of the NL Championship Series against the Mets.

Seattle Mariners offseason coverage

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• The Seattle Mariners have a new minor league affiliate team

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