The Dodgers are anticipated to be very energetic previous to the July 30 commerce deadline, as whereas Los Angeles nonetheless has the fourth-best successful proportion (.585) in baseball, the workforce is simply 10-12 in its final 22 video games. Accidents all around the roster have left L.A. with loads of holes to fill, and the Dodgers are due to this fact casting a large berth in exploring attainable deadline pickups.
With beginning pitching a selected want, Tigers right-hander Jack Flaherty is a Dodgers goal, in response to Evan Petzold of the Detroit Free Press. Nationals reliever Kyle Finnegan, Rays third baseman Isaac Paredes, Cubs second baseman Nico Hoerner, and Angels infielder Luis Rengifo have additionally obtained consideration, as per USA Right now’s Bob Nightengale, for the reason that Dodgers are attempting to shore up each their bullpen and the infield.
Since Flaherty is a free agent after the season, he is likely one of the extra apparent rental candidates out there contemplating that the Tigers (regardless of some good latest play) are nonetheless solely 52-54 and extra on the outskirts of the AL wild card race. As famous by each Petzold and Nightengale, Detroit’s asking worth for Flaherty is each excessive and considerably straight-forward — groups must supply the Tigers one thing they deem extra worthwhile than the compensatory draft choose the Tigers would obtain this winter if Flaherty rejects the workforce’s inevitable qualifying supply and indicators elsewhere.
The Dodgers’ rotation wants have considerably lessened now that Tyler Glasnow is again from the injured listing and Clayton Kershaw has made his season debut, however L.A. nonetheless has a whopping 9 pitchers on the IL. Walker Buehler is on a Triple-A rehab project, although Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s timetable remains to be unclear, and Yamamoto will probably be out till late August on the earliest as he recovers from a triceps damage. Los Angeles did really feel snug sufficient in its pitching depth to deal James Paxton to the Purple Sox, however Flaherty is extra of a front-of-the-rotation kind that would conceivably begin a playoff recreation.
Likewise, Finnegan might slot proper into what has change into one thing of a fluid late-game combine. Evan Phillips remains to be ostensibly the Dodgers’ best choice as nearer, although his latest struggles have introduced Daniel Hudson and Blake Treinen into the image as save candidates. Supervisor Dave Roberts not too long ago said that Phillips could possibly be deployed in any high-leverage state of affairs late in video games fairly than particularly simply the ninth inning, which opens the door for L.A. to solidify issues by touchdown one other skilled nearer like Finnegan.
Since Finnegan is arbitration-controlled by means of 2025, he’d additionally be capable to assist Los Angeles subsequent season along with this 12 months’s playoff run. This additional 12 months of management implies that the Nationals would get a fair nicer return by shifting him on the deadline, although D.C. may contemplate ready till the offseason to gauge provides if no person steps up with an appropriate sufficient commerce bundle by Tuesday. The Nats already acquired an excellent rating in shifting Hunter Harvey to the Royals earlier this month, and between the Harvey deal and yesterday’s commerce of Jesse Winker to the Mets, Washington is clearly in promote mode.
The infield targets all include various levels of management past simply the 2024 season. Rengifo is arb-controlled by means of 2025, Paredes is arb-controlled by means of 2027 as a Tremendous Two participant, and Hoerner is signed by means of 2026 by way of the three-year, $35MM deal he inked previous to the 2023 season. That extension began this 12 months, so Hoerner is owed roughly $3.9MM in wage for the remainder of 2024, in addition to $11.5MM in 2025 and $12MM in 2026.
Sticking with Hoerner, that could be a decent-sized price ticket for a Dodgers workforce already far over the very best tier of luxurious tax penalization. When it comes to each the precise wage and the added tax hit, Hoerner’s greenback worth would come at greater than double the dimensions of his contract, because the Dodgers have a further repeater penalty for exceeding the Aggressive Steadiness Tax in every of the earlier three seasons. This price could possibly be lowered if Los Angeles despatched one other contract to Chicago in return, or the Cubs might soak up extra of Hoerner’s deal if the Dodgers improved the worth of the commerce bundle.
The latter state of affairs might contain higher prospects, or maybe extra win-now varieties of gamers for a Cubs workforce that remains to be aiming to contend in 2025, even when 2024 is trying like a wash. Shifting a dependable on a regular basis participant like Hoerner could be a daring transfer for the Cubs, but for a workforce that has an excellent quantity of center infield depth, buying and selling Hoerner might enable Chicago to improve in different areas.
A defensive standout at both center infield place, Hoerner might give the Dodgers a solution to their shortstop woes, as each Mookie Betts and Miguel Rojas are injured. Putting in Hoerner at quick would enable Betts to play second base (and even transfer again to the outfield) when he’s wholesome, and Rojas and Gavin Lux would then assume depth roles. With Hoerner locked up by means of 2026, the Dodgers might then discover returning Betts again to proper discipline altogether, or maybe at the very least restrict him to second base when he does get infield work.
Rengifo is a utility participant who can play all around the diamond, although he doesn’t supply robust glovework at any place. The switch-hitter does deliver extra offense than Hoerner, and Rengifo has returned in seemingly good well being after a three-week absence because of wrist irritation. Maybe the most important impediment to a Rengifo commerce for the Dodgers could be the truth that the 2 L.A. groups are rare commerce companions. Satirically, Rengifo was a part of an infamously scuttled commerce between the Angels and Dodgers in February 2020, which reportedly left Halos proprietor Arte Moreno upset on the concept of ever once more doing enterprise together with his native rivals.
Conversely, the Rays and Dodgers have lined up on a number of trades over time, together with the blockbuster deal that despatched Glasnow to Los Angeles simply this previous offseason. This might assist the Dodgers in understanding a Paredes commerce, who would seemingly play third base with Max Muncy’s restoration from an indirect pressure nonetheless up within the air. Since Muncy is signed by means of at the very least 2025 and Paredes could be a longer-term addition, one of many two might seemingly be moved to second base in 2025, which additionally helps the Dodgers’ center infield image to some extent. The Rangers, Astros, and Mariners are among the many different groups who’ve been linked to Paredes in latest rumors, although intriguingly, Nightengale writes that the Yankees and Dodgers are in a “bidding battle” over the All-Star infielder.