Dodgers: 3 trade targets LA needs to beat Giants to

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ roster was constructed to withstand injuries and other absences, but they can kiss their World Series hopes goodbye if they don’t make at least two major trades before the upcoming July 31 deadline.

With just three true starters on the active roster and a depleted bullpen, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman already confirmed the club will be extra aggressive on those two fronts over the next several days.

While the Dodgers probably have a good idea of which players they plan on pursuing — if negotiations haven’t started already, that is — they’ll unfortunately have to fend of the unflappable Giants, who took the opening game of their series with LAD on Monday.

Given that Los Angeles and San Francisco have similar needs, though the Giants will be on the prowl for more position players, the Dodgers must beat their longtime rivals, who now have a two-game lead in the NL West, to the punch with these three targets.

The Dodgers need to beat the Giants to these trade targets.

3. Richard Rodriguez

The Pirates have a couple of promising pieces to build around, but they will undoubtedly be looking to sell players that don’t fit into their rebuild plans.

At 31 years old and clearly ready to play a role on a contending team, Richard Rodriguez is currently wasting away in Pittsburgh. The overpowering right-hander owns a 2.65 ERA and 2.61 FIP on a team that’s second to last in the NL standings, to go with 31 strikeouts, a 0.804 WHIP, and just four walks across 37.1 innings of work.

If someone like Craig Kimbrel proves to be too expensive for the Dodgers, Rodriguez would be quite the consolation prize. While the Pirates star’s current numbers are among the best for relievers this season, it’s worth noting his ERA stood at 1.78 before the month of July.

That wasn’t too long after MLB banned foreign substances, so the Dodgers should ask themselves whether the Pirates star was using it, or if his recent run of form is simply a case of him regressing to the mean after an unforgettable start to the campaign.

Either way, we’ve seen enough from Rodriguez to want the club to pursue him in aggressive fashion at the deadline. If they don’t there’s an excellent chance he lands with one of the San Francisco or San Diego, and LA would live to regret it if that happened.

1. Jose Berrios

Though we never would’ve guessed it in spring training, the Dodgers’ have a glaring need for starting pitching as we approach the trade deadline.

Of course, Clayton Kershaw’s elbow inflammation will sideline him longer than the club anticipated, while Trevor Bauer’s administrative leave keeps getting extended (and it would be shocking if he pitched again in 2021). The Dodgers also haven’t found a replacement for Dustin May, who was lost for the year after undergoing Tommy John surgery.

With the Twins in free-fall mode, Jose Berrios, whose effectiveness continues to fly under the radar from a national recognition standpoint, would be a perfect addition for Los Angeles. He might not be a high-end rotation guy, but his 3.69 ERA, 1.081 WHIP, 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings and 2.5 walks per nine innings would be a sight for sore eyes for the Dodgers.

While the Giants’ starting rotation has been immaculate this season, it has some burning questions behind Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeSclafani and Alex Wood. In other words, Berrios could be a target for them, too, as they look to maintain their spot atop the NL West.

According to Dan Hayes of The Athletic, the Twins’s reported asking price for Berrios — one pre-arbitration player and two top-100 prospects — is extremely reasonable. In other words, they’re practically begging the Dodgers to take the two-time All-Star off the their hands.

Dodgers: Division-rival pitcher surprisingly emerges as trade candidate

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