Dodgers: Rich Hill’s struggles and top of the rotation trade options

If there has been one disappointment from the Dodgers offseason, it has been the production of Rich Hill. The team signed Hill to a 3-year 48 million dollar deal this offseason expecting him to be the guy behind Kershaw. However, Hill has found himself with blister issues and doesn’t look like the same elite pitcher that earned him the big payday. Is it time to start looking at other top tier pitching option or should the team wait and see if Hill can bounce back?

If we are willing to wait on Hill, we might have to accept that he isn’t the same pitcher. Because of his chronic blister issues, Hill has yet to find a rhythm and doesn’t have the confidence he had last season.

In fact, Andy McCullough of the L.A Times is reporting he has some mechanical issues he’s working through.

"“It’s just mechanically finding that same, repetitive motion, that I can go to every single time,” Hill said. “Where you can basically close your eyes and throw the ball, and you know where the pitch is going to go. Unfortunately, that just isn’t something I’ve felt for the last little bit."

On the season Hill is 2-2 with a 4.15 ERA and has consistently found trouble with his command. He walked seven batters in a start against the Cardinals and issued four walks to the Brewers in his last start on Saturday.

It looks like Hill might be dealing with a combination of things at the moment and we can’t assume he will make it back to an elite level pitcher for the team this season.

If there is any silver lining in all of this, it’s the fact that we have only begun June and Hill has time to work out these problems. Yes, it’d be good to have the old Hill back in the rotation, but if he can work out all of his kinks by playoff time, I will gladly forget the horrid start to the season.

Let’s assume Hill doesn’t get back to form, and the Dodgers wasted 48 million dollars. So where does that leave us now?

Well, the Dodgers have a good problem on their hands as their current rotation has a 6.2 fWAR, which is good for 2^nd best in baseball and they also own a 3.94 ERA, which is third best. They have a good amount of prospects they would be willing to part with to get another arm to fill in the 2^nd spot in the rotation.

So who should the team be looking at?

Well, when it comes to trade rumors with this front office we always have to look at the Tampa Bay Rays and the Oakland Athletics. Well, our co-expert Sunit Bhakta wrote a piece last week on some top of the line rotation trade candidates the Dodgers could be looking at.

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They will take a look at Chris Archer, who owns a 3.74 ERA and would be under team control for almost possibly four more years. They will also take a look at Alex Cobb, who would come at a cheaper price than Archer. Cobb currently owns a 4.52 ERA and is coming back from TJ.

Over in the bay area, Sonny Gray is working on rebounding off of a terrible 2016 campaign. Gray is a perfect buy low candidate that the team could capitalize on and he would also slide in right behind Kershaw if he can regain his form.

Other names being thrown around are Justin Verlander, who could be a good option depending on how much he would cost. I would love the team to make a run after Yu Darvish, but I doubt that the Rangers would let him go for cheap.

No matter whom the Dodgers opt to go with, they need a second elite arm to fill the rotation. I would hope that Rich Hill would regain his form and become the 2^nd best pitcher in baseball again, but I’ve learned not to bank on hypotheticals.

The other option the Dodgers have is to make a move for that arm, and they definitely have the pieces to make it happen.   A package around Yadier Alvarez, Alex Verdugo or Willie Calhoun and a third part would more than likely bring back the arm they are looking for.

Next: Three Starting Pitching Trade Candidates

We still have another month or two until the team realistically makes a move for a big name player, so this is not the time to freak out. Who knows, maybe Hill regains his form, AND the team acquires another elite starter. Like I said before, don’t bank on hypotheticals.