While fans have understandably been waiting for a big addition to the roster, the Dodgers have subtracted one starting pitcher and potential pen arm in Dustin May. He’s been involved in rumors for a couple weeks now, and they did end up dealing him to the Red Sox for James Tibbs III and Zach Ehrhard.
The Boston Red Sox are acquiring right-hander Dustin May from the Los Angeles Dodgers, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 31, 2025
The Los Angeles Dodgers are acquiring outfield prospect James Tibbs III from the Boston Red Sox, according to a source familiar with the deal. Tibbs was acquired by the Red Sox from the Giants in the Rafael Devers trade.
— Robert Murray (@ByRobertMurray) July 31, 2025
Source: Red Sox also send Zach Ehrhard to the Dodgers for May
— Christopher Smith (@SmittyOnMLB) July 31, 2025
May is remarkably still just 27 years old, but his 104 innings so far this year represent almost double his previous career-high due to a huge string of injuries throughout his time with the Dodgers. A free agent after this season, he was dealt as a rental and everything indicates his 4.85 ERA is legit. He carries a 4.70 FIP and 4.88 xERA, showing flashes of brilliance but frequently running into a big inning due to ongoing command issues.
With the returns of Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell, the Dodgers essentially no longer had a place for him, as the rotation figures to be some combination of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Snell, Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani, Clayton Kershaw, Emmet Sheehan, and Justin Wrobleski (perhaps Roki Sasaki as well). Even if they lose one of those, May isn’t better than anybody in that group, so it was bullpen or get a return for him.
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Speaking of return, the Dodgers got James Tibbs III in return from the Red Sox. He’s a 22-year-old outfielder that was their #5 prospect in the system and came over in the trade that sent Rafael Devers to the Giants, who drafted him with the 14th pick in the 2024 MLB Draft.
Tibbs offered one of the best combinations of swing decisions and hard contact in the Draft. He has a smooth left-handed swing with plenty of bat speed and strength, giving him solid power to all fields. While at Florida State, he closed the holes he once had against breaking pitches, shrunk his strikeout rate from 32 percent as a freshman to 12 percent as a junior and boosted his walk rate from 12 percent to 18 percent. He has stood out more with his pop than his hitting ability at High-A, though he has drawn a healthy amount of walks.Tibbs has bounced from left field as a freshman to primarily playing first base as a sophomore to right field as a junior and his first taste of pro ball. He has the solid arm strength to handle right field, though he’ll need to maintain every bit of his presently below-average speed to have viable range. Even so, it still could be a stretch for him to cover Fenway Park’s spacious right field, so he could wind up on the other outfield corner.
Tibbs started the year at high-A with the Giants, slashing .246/.379/.478/.857 in 256 PA, smashing 12 homers and running a 45/42 K/BB ratio. After the trade, he went up to AA for the Red Sox and has struggled to a .205/.321/.268/.589 line over just 134 PA with just one homer and seeing his K/BB ratio balloon to 37/19.
It would shock me if that small sample after a big move was enough for the Red Sox to sour him, but it sure seems like the Dodgers got a legit prospect in return for a rental player they no longer had a place for. Seems extremely hard to complain about this trade as it is, and Tibbs adds to their extremely deep cadre of outfield prospects.
A ten-pitch at bat for James Tibbs III ends with an RBI single.
He now has seven RBI in Double-A this season.
pic.twitter.com/BWEVbFeIVc
— Jamie Gatlin (@JamieGatlin17) July 31, 2025
A quick video of James Tibbs III — one of the players the Red Sox acquired in the Devers trade a few weeks ago. pic.twitter.com/9QUDiphDzK
— Marcos Grunfeld ?? (@TheBeatwriter) July 30, 2025
Update
The Dodgers are also somehow getting 22-year-old outfielder Zach Ehrhard from the Red Sox. He was their 2024 fourth round pick in the MLB Draft. He was ranked #27 in the system by MLB Pipeline.
Ehrhard’s best attribute is his on-base ability, the product of advanced swing decisions and consistent contact to all fields. A right-handed hitter, he has good feel for the barrel and rarely gets fooled at the plate. He began driving the ball in the air to his pull side more often in 2024 and could produce 12-15 homers with 30 or more doubles on an annual basis.Ehrhard has solid speed and basestealing savvy, and he has been more aggressive on the bases in pro ball than he was in college. He has the quickness and instincts to handle center field, his primary position at Oklahoma State, though he has spent the majority of his time on the corners in the Minors. He has average arm strength and profiles more as a good fourth outfielder than a regular.
After torching high-A this year to a .342/.471/.459/.931 line in 140 PA, he was promoted to AA, which slowed him down to .233/.310/.420/.731 in 233 PA.
Was already fine with just getting Tibbs in return, so getting Ehrhard just sweetens the pot.
