Dodgers: 3 moves to improve the Dodgers while staying under the tax

Trade Joc Pederson and Ross Stripling for Corey Kluber and Adam Cimber

The Dodgers will likely need to include another prospect or two in the deal but it wouldn’t need to be any of their top five prospects.  The Dodgers have an abundance of prospects and they could add a couple to Joc and Stripling to buy low on Corey Kluber and Adam Cimber.  Kluber is coming off an injury-filled season while Cimber is coming off a poor second half.

Corey Kluber is still an ace when healthy but he was not in 2019.  In 2018 he had a strong season posting an ERA of 2.89.  He and Cimber combined make roughly 18 million dollars in 2020 which is only around a seven million dollar increase after shedding Joc and Stripling’s salary.  Francisco Lindor is the Indian player that everyone wants but the asking price will likely be Lux or Verdugo and Ruiz for two seasons of Lindor.

Cimber had a strong first half in 2019 but fizzled out in the second half pitching to an ERA of 6.29.  When he is right he is excellent against right-handed batters and getting soft contact via the ground ball.  Cimber is under contract through the 2023 season via arbitration.  Kluber makes 17.5 million in 2020 and will make 18 million in 2020.

Kluber’s 2021 contract year is an option year so the Dodgers could buy him out after 2020 if he continues to get injured.  In a best-case scenario, the Dodgers get two productive seasons out of Kluber at a very reasonable rate and his contract clears the books after 2021 when Corey Seager is set to become a free agent. This trade would bolster the Dodgers’ rotation and bullpen.