By all accounts the Los Angeles Dodgers remain engaged with the Minnesota Twins and Washington Nationals for a respective trade of José Berríos or Max Scherzer as the deadline on Friday afternoon is now just 24 hours away.
Initial reports indicated top Dodgers prospect Keibert Ruiz was coveted by both the Nationals and Twins. However, the Dodgers are believed to be against potentially trading Ruiz for a player who is not under contract beyond the 2021 season.
That of course is the case at present time with Scherzer, but he may seek a contract extension in return for waiving a no-trade clause despite having mutual interest in joining the Dodgers, San Diego Padres or San Francisco Giants.
Perhaps in response to the Dodgers’ reported reluctance in trading Ruiz, the Twins and Nationals are said to have interest in pitching prospect Ryan Pepiot, per Jon Morosi of MLB Network:
#Dodgers RHP prospect Ryan Pepiot has drawn interest from #Nats and #Twins as a candidate to be included in the Scherzer or Berríos deals, respectively, as I mentioned earlier today on @MLBNetwork. @MLB @MLBPipeline
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 29, 2021
In addition to Ruiz, Pepiot was previously mentioned along with Diego Cartaya, Andre Jackson and Bobby Miller as Dodgers prospects drawing trade interest.
L.A. selected Pepiot in the third round of the 2019 MLB Draft. The right-hander pitched in the Arizona League and for Great Lakes in his first professional season, was included in the Dodgers’ player pool for the shortened 2020 campaign and has spent all of this year with Double-A Tulsa.
The 23-year-old is 3-4 with a 2.87 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in 15 games (13 starts) for the Drillers.
Dodgers trade rumors
Aside from players the Dodgers reportedly are in pursuit of, they have fielded interest on Brusdar Graterol.
He’s had an inconsistent season that included time spent on the injured list because of right forearm inflammation. Graterol could become expendable if the Dodgers are to acquire any one of Daniel Hudson, Ian Kennedy or Craig Kimbrel.
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