Although Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman is not fond of the non-waiver trade deadline, he’s also not the type to simply stand pat. Last year, the Dodgers made multiple trades, headlined by acquiring Rich Hill and Josh Reddick from the Oakland Athletics.
Over the past few weeks the Dodgers have been heavily connected to starters Yu Darvish and Sonny Gray, and relievers Zach Britton, Brad Hand and Justin Wilson. On Friday, it was reported Los Angeles has some interest in Dan Straily as a potential backup option to Darvish and Gray.
In their quest to acquire a starting pitcher or reliever, perhaps even both, the Dodgers aren’t believed to be interested in trading their top prospects and therefore may be searching for more value than impact, according to Mark Feinsand of MLB.com:
Source: Dodgers are "bargain hunting" and appear unwilling to part with any top prospects. Would certainly impact their chances at Darvish.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) July 29, 2017
A common term tied to the Dodgers at last year’s deadline was ‘big-game hunting.’ Hill did not fit that description on the surface, but he went on to pitch to the level of a second ace once his blisters were contained.
It was generally believed the Dodgers were more willing, possibly even likely, to trade Yadier Alvarez or Willie Calhoun as opposed to Walker Buehler or Alex Verdugo. If the the organization wishes to retain each of the four, a trade for Straily presumably would be more likely than acquiring Darvish or Gray.
The Texas Rangers reportedly asked for Buehler or Verdugo to be included in a potential trade for Darvish, while the San Diego Padres were said to have wanted Verdugo as part of a package for Hand.
