Dodgers Rumor Round Up: Corey Kluber, Free Agent, Outfield

If you are a fan of Alex Verdugo or are thinking about investing your fandom in him, now is the time to do so. After roughly two seasons in Triple-A and a blockade of outfielder stashed in the majors, Verdugo is trending towards an Opening Day start with each and every day.

More from Dodgers Way

• Are the Dodgers really prepared to hand Shohei Ohtani a blank check?
• Dodgers fans shouldn’t dismiss interest in Dansby Swanson for this reason
• Giants laughably sign pitcher that Dodgers absolutely own
• Dave Roberts’ quote about Padres in NLDS should motivate Dodgers
• Dodgers might find their next Tyler Anderson with this free agent target

The first reason this is coming to fruition is simple: Bryce Harper is not yet a Dodger and he probably never will be. The big bat is looking for even bigger money and the Dodgers are not in the market to spend that way so off he goes.

Second and need I remind you, the Dodgers shipped off two outfielders to the Reds in Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp opening two starting roles and Verdugo is ready to claim one.

But, what could stand in the young outfielder’s way is AJ Pollock or Marwin Gonzalez. While the Dodgers have had no reported interest in either of those players, it is not far fetched that they are prepping a run for one or both of them.

The team cleared almost $30 million in cap space and are yet to do anything with the space they created. Pollock and Gonzalez are solid outfielder both offensively and defensively and adding one of them to the roster can’t hurt for the right price.

If it happens, Verdugo could again be relegated to a bench role with a surplus of infielders already on the roster and a stash, albeit smaller than before, of outfielders on the roster.