Dodgers Rumors: Ranking the Best Trade Candidates

Four days until the Non-Waiver Trade Deadline. The Dodgers, Nationals, and Cubs are looking across the country for top-end starting pitching. The Dodgers have also looked into relievers. Out of all the names thrown out there, which are the best?

Amidst all the rumors, three aces were drawn. Yu Darvish, Sonny Gray, and Justin Verlander are the three biggest starting pitchers on the market. The Dodgers were in on all of them until Ken Rosenthal of MLB Network reported that the Dodgers are no longer interested in acquiring Justin Verlander. In the long-run, it may serve well since Verlander has a massive contract and is into his mid-30s.

The relievers the Dodgers have been looking at include: Brad Hand, Addison Reed, Jerry Blevins, Justin Wilson, and Zach Britton. When the Britton rumors first emerged, everyone in the baseball world shuddered at a potential Britton/Jansen combination in the back end of an already dominant bullpen, including Jansen. However, the Orioles don’t seem to be sold on selling this year. Britton’s also not done very well since coming off the DL, giving up six runs in nine innings.

With these new developments, the rankings will exclude Verlander and Britton. However, even if they were available to the Dodgers, they probably wouldn’t have made the list. Another name that won’t make the list at the moment is Brad Hand. Whether it’s strategic or not, the Padres have expressed they aren’t looking to deal Hand. However, they told teams without saying a word that Hand wasn’t available with their unreasonable asking price.