The Los Angeles Dodgers have been mentioned in a slew of trade rumors this winter, although to this point president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has not pulled the trigger on any big moves.
Most recently, the Dodgers have been linked to Cleveland Indians ace Corey Kluber as they look to upgrade their starting rotation.
The Indians desire an outfielder in return, and the Dodgers have a surplus of them as they only have three starting spots for Yasiel Puig, Joc Pederson, Matt Kemp, Chris Taylor, Alex Verdugo, Andrew Toles and even infielders like Cody Bellinger and Kiké Hernandez.
That doesn’t include any other potential additions like Bryce Harper. One other addition could be Detroit Tigers outfielder Nick Castellanos.
The Tigers are shopping him on the trade market and the Dodgers are among the teams with interest, according to Jon Morosi of MLB.com:
Source: #Dodgers interested in #Tigers OF Nick Castellanos via trade, but there’s no present momentum toward a deal. Dodgers active on numerous fronts and Castellanos is not their highest priority. @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 11, 2018
Castellanos is coming off his best offensive season with the Tigers, hitting .298/.354/.500 with 23 home runs and 89 RBI in 57 games. Defensively, he is a converted third baseman, so he is believed to be below-average in the outfield.
The 26-year-old is eligible for arbitration for the third time this winter before hitting free agency a year from now.
Considering the Dodgers already have several outfielders, adding Castellanos to the mix when the team has more pressing needs may not make much sense unless there are other deals in the works.
Friedman is known to make unconventional moves though, so this will be yet another storyline to keep an eye on as this offseason unfolds.
