Dodgers are in Every Trade Rumor; What it Means for 2019

Alex Wood

It’s funny for me to think about how quickly fans of successful franchises, like us Dodger fans, can turn on former All-Stars and playoff studs like Alex Wood.  In 2017, Alex Wood was coupled with Kershaw and Rich Hill in a deadly trio of lefties. Wood finished off the 2017 campaign with a sparkling final line of 16-3 with a 2.73 ERA and 151 punchouts in 152.1 innings.

In another 150+ inning season this year, Wood finished with a 3.68 ERA and 9-7 record, with just 135 strikeouts.  Yes, I will concede that he was worse this season, but he still was an above-average major league starter, and he’s only 27!

Wood has spent parts of four seasons with the Dodgers since being dealt to LA, in what should now be considered an amazing trade for the Dodgers, and has never had an ERA above 4.00. Even more impressive, Wood has pitched 150+ innings in each of the last two seasons for the Dodgers, something most of the starting rotation, beyond Kershaw, cannot claim.

My fellow Dodger fans, I implore you to trust that Alex Wood is valuable, and should not be discarded to Cincinnati for less than he is worth just to spite him for his poor playoff performance in 2018.  In the saddening scenario in which Puig, Pederson and/or Wood are dealt, I would hope for a prospect return, even if it means eating a painful contract like Homer Bailey’s, as long as it means obtaining solid prospects.

I feel like prospects are growing somewhat overvalued in today’s game, but if trading from an area of depth while using an expanding budget to sign free agents for the bullpen and second base holes while holding onto prospects is what the front office wants to do, I can get behind that as long as they maximize their returns, rather than just accepting a slow market on Puig or Wood.

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If the Dodgers go through with these trades (of guys other than Verdugo) it will be a signal that the team is not attempting to win in 2019 with the current roster, which has made it to two straight World Series’, albeit without taking home the hardware. Beyond a cosmetic change or two to patch up holes at second base and in the bullpen, the Dodgers should not look to bolster their farm system by dealing core roster pieces like Puig or Wood in favor of shinier, and more expensive, new toys like Bryce Harper or Corey Kluber.

The Dodgers should instead exhibit the focus and financial discipline that has gotten them to this point in the first place.  There are so many cost-effective solutions to the bullpen, namely Blake Parker, Hunter Strickland, and Bud Norris among others, available to help solve any problems, the team should not need to consider making a deal with any team for any caliber of bullpen help.

The same sort of players, namely Jonathan Schoop, Josh Harrison, and Jed Lowrie, exist at second base as well and will most likely go for less than what their 2017 and 2018 WAR amounts would normally suggest. There is no need for any crazy maneuvering, just for a calm, rational plastering over existing holes. No need to create new ones that cannot be filled, especially not ones that leave the silhouette of a horse in the clubhouse wall.