The hot stove is starting to heat up around MLB one day before the trade deadline as clubs look to improve their roster to reach the playoffs and give themselves the best chance to win a World Series.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have already made two trades, acquiring Chris Martin from the Chicago Cubs and sending Garrett Cleavinger to the Tampa Bay Rays. They are also reportedly still involved in discussions for Washington Nationals superstar Juan Soto.
But as the Dodgers always do, they aren’t only focusing on one player and instead explore the entire market for potential players who could help them. One of those options they are looking at is Miami Marlins starter Pablo López, according to Jack Harris of the LA Times:
#Dodgers are having lots of conversations ahead of the deadline, as always.
One potential target, per sources: Pablo López of the Miami Marlins.
The teams have had discussions about the right-hander, who has two years of team control after this season.
— Jack Harris (@Jack_A_Harris) August 1, 2022
López has made 21 starts this season while throwing 118.2 innings, posting a 3.41 ERA and 3.60 FIP with a 24.7% strikeout rate and a 7.3% walk rate. He also has two more years of control after this season, so the cost won’t be cheap to acquire his services.
In his career, López has thrown 448.2 innings with a 3.87 ERA and 3.75, and he has yet to exceed the 100 innings pitched mark in a season by much. He has already thrown a career-high number of innings, which would put the Dodgers in a similar situation they find themselves with Tony Gonsolin.
The Marlins have been great at developing pitching and have a deep system of arms, but they lack quality bats, so the Dodgers do match up well for a trade. Prospects such as Diego Cartaya, Andy Pages, Michael Busch and Miguel Vargas would likely be very intriguing to the Marlins.
Angels keeping Shohei Ohtani through trade deadline
The Dodgers and New York Yankees were mentioned among the clubs that held some form of trade talks for two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, however, the Los Angeles Angels have now decided against an Ohtani trade.
Ohtani is in the final season of a two-year, $8.5 million contract, but still will go through the salary arbitration process a final time. The likelihood of the Angels re-signing Ohtani once he reaches free agency after the 2023 season has steadily declined over recent weeks.
The Dodgers’ reported interest in Ohtani was hardly a surprise, even if a trade seemed nearly impossible.
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