Dodgers Way Weekly Rumor Roundup: Indians a Trade Fit?

For the Dodgers another week of the offseason has come and gone.  With it, there were some roster moves and a new set of rumors.

Another week has gone by in the Dodgers off-season and with it we are one week closer to the MLB winter meetings when the hot stove will really get cooking.  While there have been no major signings for the Dodgers yet, there were some roster moves and a new set of trade rumors.

Indians a trade fit?

The biggest trade rumor surrounding the Dodgers this week was that the Dodgers and Indians were discussing several trade scenarios.  Any of the Indians starting pitchers could be in play although Corey Kluber is the biggest fish and he has the biggest salary that a rebuilding team like the Indians would love to clear.  Catcher Yan Gomes is also a possible trade piece who could help shore up the Dodgers’ depth at catcher.

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Dodgers trade Tim Locastro

The Dodgers made several roster moves as they reached the deadline to protect rule five eligible prospects and one subsequent move was trading Tim Locastro to the New York Yankees.  Locastro is a speedy versatile utility man but the Dodgers had no room for him and his bat seemed over-matched at the major league level.  Locastro could have a better shot at making the big league roster in New York.

Dodgers release three players

Three other moves that the Dodgers made this week was releasing Erik Goeddel, Tom Koehler, and Zac Rosscup.  Rosscup and Goeddel were waiver wire reliever pickups who both had some use in 2018.  They proved expendable however and were released but it wouldn’t be surprising if the Dodgers brought both back on minor league deals for the 2019 season.

Koehler was supposed to be the next big reclamation project for the Dodgers in 2018 but injuries derailed his season before it ever began.  The Dodgers did have control of Koehler through arbitration but chose to release him rather than take up a forty man roster spot.  It would be wise to bring Koehler back on a minor league deal.

Five prospects protected

The Dodgers did add five more players to their forty man roster to protect them from the rule five draft. Those five were Keibert Ruiz, Edwin Rios, Yadier Alvarez, Matt Beaty, and Josh Sborz.  Ruiz and Alvarez were obvious prospects to protect while Beaty and Sborz were a bit surprising.  Rios will look to crack the Dodgers’ roster as a bench bat in 2019.