This past offseason it seemed as though the Los Angeles Dodgers added the rotation depth that they needed to get through the season, signing free agents Scott Kazmir and Kenta Maeda, as well as re-signing Brett Anderson and Brandon Beachy, among others.
But the rehab process for starters Hyun-Jin Ryu and Brandon McCarthy has taken longer than expected, and Anderson, Beachy, Mike Bolsinger and Alex Wood have all missed time due to injury, leaving the Dodgers’ rotation depth thin once again.
The backend of the starting rotation has also struggled to go pitch into games, thus wearing out the bullpen. Because of this, it’s believed the Dodgers will search for both a starter and a reliever before this year’s August 1 trade deadline.
While some may expect the Dodgers to target a front-end starting pitcher, Tampa Bay Rays reliever Erasmo Ramirez reportedly is viewed as a temporary option for the rotation, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports:
To that end, they are talking to the Rays about Erasmo Ramirez, according to major-league sources. Ramirez’s only start this season was April 16, but he has a resilient arm and the Dodgers believe that he could pitch four innings and possibly five immediately, sources say.
Ramirez is currently 7-6 with a 3.75 ERA, 4.69 FIP and 1.27 WHIP in 31 games (one start) for the Rays. He has 36 strikeouts to 12 walks over 50.1 innings pitched. In five career big league seasons the 26 year old has a 4.18 ERA in 112 games (63 starts).
If the Dodgers were to deal for Ramirez, it would not be the first time president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman completed a trade with former team. Shortly after arriving in Los Angeles he traded for reliever Adam Liberatore.
In addition, the Dodgers were said to be in trade talks for Rays starter Jake Odorizzi during the offseason.
