Los Angeles Dodgers: 3 backup plans if Justin Turner signs elsewhere

2. Kris Bryant

The Dodgers have been linked to a Kris Bryant trade for what feels like forever.

If there’s any third baseman that the Dodgers trade for, I would bet it’d be Kris Bryant, who is entering his last season of team control in 2021. It’s clear the Cubs don’t have any plans to keep him around long-term, and they’re shedding payroll this offseason, so Bryant being traded almost feels like a foregone conclusion.

This is very similar to the Mookie Betts situation last year when the Red Sox were looking to get something for the former MVP knowing they weren’t going to extend him. The chances of a Byrant extension seem to be zero, so a trade is simply a matter of if, not when.

If there’s any team that knows how to construct these kinds of trades without sacrificing too much of the farm it’s the Los Angeles Dodgers. Even better for the Dodgers, Bryant is coming off of an extremely disappointing season, which likely lowered his trade value in the process.

Bryant would not be extended like Betts and would instead be a one-year rental. In fact, I would not be shocked if the Dodgers just don’t do anything this offseason and wait until the deadline to add Bryant as they did with Manny Machado.

Regardless, the Dodgers have the farm system depth to get a deal done. The team could focus the package around Michael Busch, who is a promising player bat but is kind of redundant with the slew of left-handed bats that the team has at every level of the organization.

It all depends on the asking price, and I do not think the Dodgers will nor should trade any of their big three pitching prospects (May, Tony Gonsolin, Josiah Gray) in a deal for Bryant.