Dodgers Way Team Makes A Big Splash on the Hypothetical Trade Market

Willie Calhoun, Second Base 

As we’ve mentioned before when creating the Dodgers future prospect lineup, Willie Calhoun is one of the better Dodger prospects they have. In fact coming into the season, Calhoun ranked in the top 5 in our prospect rankings for the Dodgers. So why move him?

Calhoun likely won’t make an impact this season because of the Dodgers depth and Logan Forsythe holding down second base.

Calhoun’s potential window to break onto the Dodgers MLB roster will be next season if the Dodgers don’t elect to resign Logan Forsythe. The chances of the Dodgers resigning Forsythe are slim, and in my opinion, the front office will only do so if it’s at a discounted rate.

That being said, our team was willing to part ways with Calhoun because they have that depth that much of the MLB so badly desires. Assuming Forsythe is gone and Calhoun is moved this trade deadline this opens up an everyday roster spot for Chris Taylor.

Taylor who is currently shuffling around the field in the outfield and the middle infield will be the leading candidate to take the starting second base job come 2018. This allows an opening in the Dodgers outfield for the perhaps most polished prospect, Alex Verdugo, or even Rob Segedin.

Taylor’s flexibility to play in both the infield and outfield allow the Dodgers to trade prospects from either the infield or the outfield. It would come down to who the front office feels is ready for a starting role and at this point, Alex Verdugo has shown enough to fall into that role.

This is no knock on Calhoun by any means. He’s a solid run producer with surprising power for his size. But this move would be a fallout of the win now mentality.