Dodgers: Players who were saved with 2020 trade deadline unlikely

Dodgers players saved by no trade deadline: Joc Pederson

Dodgers president Andrew Friedman already tried to trade Joc Pederson once, so why not again? The left-handed power hitter was set to be moving down the freeway to Anaheim before the trade fell through once the Mookie Betts deal was renegotiated between Los Angeles and Boston.

Pederson has spent his entire career in the Dodgers organization, developing into a consistent power hitter, connecting on a career-high 36 long balls last season. However, his splits are extremely tilted toward right-handed pitching. All 36 of his home runs came against righties. He is the most classic case of a platoon player that exists in today’s game.

Ideally, the Dodgers wouldn’t be limiting outfielder A.J. Pollock’s at bats to spot starts against southpaws, but manager Dave Roberts would be hard pressed to find him much additional playing time with Pederson so lethal against righties and superstars Cody Bellinger and Mookie Betts manning the other two outfield spots.

Pollock is in the second year of a four-year, $55 million contract that would be difficult to move in a trade; whereas, Pederson is set to become a free agent after this season. Pederson would be a perfect trade candidate under normal conditions. If trades are restricted this season, he might have bought himself more time to prove why the Dodgers should work harder to move Pollock instead of him.