With one week remaining until the MLB trade deadline at 3 p.m. PT on July 30, starting pitching has seemingly become the biggest need for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Dodgers entered the year with the arguably deepest and most talented group of starting pitchers in MLB, led by Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Bobby Miller, Gavin Stone, Emmet Sheehan and James Paxton.
They also had reinforcements due to return throughout the season in Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler and Dustin May, and prospects in the waiting, including Landon Knack and River Ryan, among others.
But since that time, Glasnow, Yamamoto and Sheehan have all ended up on the Dodgers injured list, May underwent season-ending surgery, Miller and Buehler both made starts but struggled and were put on the IL, and Paxton was designated for assignment this week.
Glasnow and Kershaw are expected to return over the next two days, but the Dodgers rotation still leaves a lot to be desired with four rookies filling out the mix — Stone, Knack, Ryan and Wrobleski.
The Dodgers remain hopeful Yamamoto can recover from a right rotator cuff strain, and Miller and Buehler will figure out their issues, but none of them are guaranteed, and maybe not even likely.
As for potential fallback options and additions, Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes said the team is focused on adding an elite starting pitcher to their rotation before the July 30 trade deadline passes, via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic:
“(We’re) certainly looking for impact-type players,” Gomes said. “We think our team right now is really good, especially once we get back to full strength. Targeting starting pitching, but it’s going to be an impact-type arm.”
The Dodgers have been most notably connected to Garrett Crochet of the Chicago Whtie Sox and Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers. Skubal may be unlikely to move as it would take a massive haul to acquire him, and it seems Crochet is at the top of the Dodgers’ wish list.
Other potential starters who are available and could be that impact arm the Dodgers seek are Jack Flaherty of the Detroit Tigers, Crochet’s teammate Erick Fedde, the Texas Rangers’ Nate Eovaldi, and Zach Eflin of the Tampa Bay Rays.
While there are options who could help the club, one issue the Dodgers face is they are one of the many buyers in a market with few sellers. Furthermore, nearly every buyer needs starting pitching.
The Dodgers have the prospects and assets to get almost any trade done, and they should be aggressive in their pursuit, but they have also shown restraint on making deals in the past when the price doesn’t meet their liking.
Still, the Dodgers have generally been aggressive in most years, acquiring players such as Max Scherzer, Trea Turner, Manny Machado, Yu Darvish and Rich Hill.
Blockbuster Dodgers trade?
One deal that the Dodgers seem interested in getting done is a blockbuster with the White Sox that would include Crochet and center fielder Luis Robert Jr. potentially being sent with a reliever, such as Michael Kopech.
The cost would be significant, but that would fix most of the issues the team is dealing with and make them a force to be reckoned with in October.
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