The Los Angeles Dodgers entered the offseason needing to address their starting rotation. At the time, Zack Greinke had yet to formally opt out of the remaining three years and $71 million on his contract.
Greinke would of course do so, decline the qualifying offer from the Dodgers, and sign with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
His departure magnified the Dodgers’ shortcomings in their rotation, and they’ve yet to be fully addressed.
After losing Greinke and stalled trade talks with the Miami Marlins for Jose Fernandez, Johnny Cueto reportedly was the next target for Los Angeles.
However, he went on to sign with the San Francisco Giants. While Fernandez is believed to still be a target for the Dodgers, particularly in the wake of their three-team trade on Wednesday, Miami will need to come off their astronomically high asking price for the right-handed ace.
According to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, another option for the Dodgers could be trading for Tampa Bay Rays righty Chris Archer:
A few people with connections to the Dodgers were buzzing Wednesday that the team might take a run at Archer, whom Friedman signed to an outrageously club-friendly extension while working for the Rays in April 2014.
However, the Rays aren’t believed to be interested in trading the 27 year old:
Tampa Bay, though, considers Archer “pretty close” to untouchable, according to major-league sources. The Rays’ goal is to win both now and in the future. They have no interest in tanking, and it’s virtually inconceivable to them that trading Archer could make them a better team.
Archer is coming off a career season that coincided with him making the American League All-Star roster. He finished 12-13 with a 3.23 ERA, 2.90 FIP and 1.14 WHIP. Additionally, Archer set career highs in starts (34), innings pitched (212) and strikeouts (252).
After averaging eight strikeouts per nine innings in 2014, Archer increased his average to 10.7 last season. All the while lowering his walk rate from 3.3 to 2.8. Archer finished fifth in AL Cy Young voting in 2015.
