Whether tinkering with the fringes of the roster or acquiring the likes of a Rich Hill, Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman is not one to stand pat at the non-waiver trade deadline.
Last season, the Dodgers made a flurry of moves to add Jesse Chavez, Josh Fields, Hill and Josh Reddick prior to the deadline. While Los Angeles entered this season with a bevy of starting pitching depth, performance and durability questions are abound for some.
The domino effect has impacted the bullpen, specifically with Alex Wood now part of the rotation. Still two months from the non-waiver trade deadline, the Dodgers reportedly have interest in Miami Marlins starter Tom Koehler.
However, the club views Koehler as a relief pitcher, according to Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe:
The Dodgers have shown interest in Koehler as a reliever and the Red Sox have had at least internal discussions about him.
Koehler was put on the 10-day disabled list (retroactive to May 17) with right shoulder bursitis. He went 1-2 with a 7.04 ERA, 6.50 FIP and 1.64 WHIP in eight starts before landing on the DL.
Koehler, who turns 31 in June, surrendered 10 home runs in 38.1 innings, and is on pace to break his career high of 22 home runs allowed; reached in each of the past two seasons. While Koehler is currently sidelined, he made appeared in a minimum of 32 games from 2014-16.
Over that span he went 30-37 with a 4.07 ERA, 4.31 FIP, 1.38 WHIP and averaged 7.08 strikeouts per nine innings in 97 games (96 starts). Koehler is eligible for salary arbitration for a final time this winter.
