Dodgers: 3 trades candidates that can be had before July 1

1. Ian Kennedy

To say that the Dodgers bullpen has been ravaged by injuries this season would be an understatement.

While the likes of Brusdar Graterol and Corey Knebel are expected to return within the next month or so, the club’s woeful luck on the injury front proves it should add at least one or two reinforcements before the July 31 deadline.

After all, there’s no way to know how those hurlers, including Tommy Kahnle, who’s expected to be out until at least September after undergoing Tommy John surgery last August, will look upon returning from injury. At the rate the Dodgers are losing relievers, we also wouldn’t rule out one of them suffering a potential setback.

The Dodgers need to bolster their bullpen fast.

Ian Kennedy comes to mind as a potential target for Los Angeles who might be able to be had earlier than the July 31 deadline. The 36-year-old right-hander looked to be one his way out of the league after he tallied a combined 5.61 ERA over the last four seasons, but he’s surprisingly rediscovered his mojo this year with the lowly Rangers.

Speaking of which, the Rangers are in a battle for the worst record in MLB, so they’d be moronic not to be sellers. Kennedy has been utterly dominant thus far (he’s allowed just four runs over 20 innings), and the Dodgers could use him as a valuable bridge to Blake Treinen or Kenley Jansen … or he could be in Dave Roberts’ closer-by-committee system when the postseason rolls around.

When healthy, the Dodgers have the undisputed best bullpen in the league, but that’s not the case in 2021. With the NL stronger than many expected, the Dodgers may need to act fast to avoid a massive bidding war closer to the deadline.

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