Eric Lauer's season is officially over after the Dodgers moved him to the 60-day IL.

The transfer from the 15-day list Friday cleared the necessary 40-man spot to call up top prospect Josue De Paula.

Lauer had just landed on the IL Sept. 2 with elbow inflammation.

Even backdating the 60-day window to his original IL date, he's out through the end of October, past when the World Series itself will conclude.

The move caught some by surprise, since there hadn't been prior indication the injury was serious.

Lauer would have been a long shot for a postseason roster spot even healthy, and the elbow issue simply closed that door for good.

He finishes the year with a 5.23 ERA over 22 appearances, a number heavily skewed by a rough eight-start stretch to open the season with the Blue Jays.

Why his time in Los Angeles told a different story

Once the Dodgers acquired him in late May, Lauer settled into a genuinely reliable back-end starter role.

He made 12 starts in 14 appearances for Los Angeles, posting a 4.50 ERA over 72 innings despite a modest 15.1% strikeout rate.

That's a real turnaround from how his season began in Toronto, and it lines up with the trajectory Blue Jays fans have already watched play out from a distance.

A former first-round pick by San Diego, Lauer has now pitched for four MLB teams, with a brief detour to Korea in 2024.

Since returning to the majors last year, he carries a 4.23 ERA with a 19.5% strikeout rate and a 6.8% walk rate across 213 innings, a solid overall body of work for a depth starter.

That track record should be enough for him to land a one-year deal in free agency this winter, presuming a healthy offseason.

A rebuilding team looking for affordable back-end innings feels like the most realistic landing spot, competing for a rotation job rather than a guaranteed one.

For Toronto, this closes the book on a trade that continues to look better with each passing month, watching the player they moved settle in elsewhere while getting real value back in return.