What will the Los Angeles Dodgers do at the trade deadline?
The Los Angeles Dodgers suddenly look like they need a big trade deadline.
Losers of 10 of their last 12, the Dodgers have no momentum right now. Of course, they still have baseball's most talented roster, but there are legitimate flaws worth fixing by the end of the month.
The main thing the Dodgers should focus on is fortifying their bullpen. Injuries have plagued the entire pitching staff, but the bullpen currently projects to be much more uncertain in the playoffs.
Fortunately, the relief pitching market is always robust at the deadline, and according to one insider, the Dodgers are working with a lot of potential options.
On Monday, Jim Bowden of The Athletic named five relievers who the Dodgers "have been linked to," all of whom could be impact additions for this Los Angeles team down the stretch.
"The Dodgers hope their starting pitchers continue to get healthy, and with most of them trending in that direction, it appears they will focus on bullpen help at the deadline," wrote Bowden.
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"They’ve been linked to the Twins’ Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax, the Orioles’ Félix Bautista and Gregory Soto, and the Nationals’ Kyle Finnegan. The Dodgers will be open to also adding a utility player to help fill in the gaps left by their injured players, including third baseman Max Muncy, who is making progress in his recovery from a knee injury."
Duran and Bautista are among the best closers in the game these days, and both are controllable for multiple seasons. Soto and Finnegan are the rentals in the group, while Jax might be a pipe dream, as he's the cheapest and potentially owns the dirtiest relief pitching arsenal in the sport.
It's a lot to process, but the takeaway is that the Dodgers are highly unlikely to come up empty-handed. But the more impactful a reliever they can land, the better.
More MLB: Mets predicted to acquire pair of relievers, including two-time All-Star
Category: Baseball
