Dodgers: Don’t get your hopes up for trading for these 3 players

You better bet the Los Angeles Dodgers will be active at the trade deadline. It’s just unclear to what extent at this point. Bullpen arm? Sure. Outfield help? Perhaps. Rotation depth? Uhhh, looking like it!

The problem is that Andrew Friedman is going to have to get very creative. So many of this year’s trade candidates reside within the NL West with the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks. There’s almost no chance either of those teams opt to fortify the defending World Series champs unless they’re getting a franchise-altering haul in return.

As for the other players available (or potentially available)? There’s going to be a lot of demand.

So many other teams the rest of the league wasn’t expecting to contend (Giants, Cubs, Red Sox, Nationals, etc.) will likely be buyers in some capacity, which means sellers will be rolling in the offers.

Additionally, a number of players have suffered injuries, affecting who might be on the block in the coming weeks. Five weeks, in fact! Can you believe it?!

So who can we likely rule out for the Dodgers at this point?

Don’t get your hopes up for the Dodgers trading for these three players.

3. Kendall Graveman

This one’s two-fold. The first is because the Seattle Mariners are (kind of) contending? Are we sure they’re going to sell? At 39-37, they’re right in the thick of it, and if they can rattle off a nice winning streak between now and July 31, trading their best reliever may not be in the cards.

And even if they were open to it, the Dodgers probably wouldn’t be willing to pay the price given how Kendall Graveman has potentially been the best reliever in the game. Yup, it’s true. His transformation from starter to reliever really didn’t take long.

Through 19 games, the right-hander owns a 1.25 ERA and 0.65 WHIP (what?!) with six saves and 21 strikeouts in 21.2 innings of work. He’s given up just 10 hits and issued only four walks. His power sinker is ridiculous. His slider is filthy. He’s also got a changeup and a fastball, but he’s been throwing his sinker (61.8%) and slider (20.8%) an overwhelming majority of the time. He’s a completely new pitcher.

The Dodgers need bullpen help, but Friedman is not going to surrender an arm and a leg (that is, if Graveman’s even available) for a guy who’s thrown about 30 career relief innings. Look for Ian Kennedy or maybe Richard Rodriguez here.