Dodgers: 3 waiver trades we wish LAD were able to make in August

Hey, whatever happened to August waiver trades?

Ah, right, they were another opportunity for the rich to get richer, preying on failed semi-contenders who fell further off the map between the beginning and end of August. Probably fine to get rid of them, in all honesty.

Shame for the Dodgers, though, who have been among the “haves” every year for the past decade, and certainly would’ve further beefed up their roster by the end of the month if given the opportunity.

Would’ve been nice to have a chance to rob the Astros at this year’s August deadline and get vengeance for the Verlander move that swung a title in 2017, but we guess … we guess Max Scherzer will simply have to do. And an extra month attached, to boot.

In essence, Los Angeles has locked down their neediest spots with marquee acquisitions, and we’d put Scherzer and Trea Turner up against anyone acquired by any other contender.

The bullpen is still a little soft, though, and as the Dodgers front office has prove time and again, they’ll jump at MLB-experienced depth bats for the outfield every time they’re made available in 2021.

The ‘pen options are a little light, even in our hypothetical August that’ll never happen, but we’ve found a few that feel like solid mid-tier buys. Considering LA is plunging their depth right now and has tried everyone short of Andre Jackson thus far, these arms make sense.

Oh, and we threw in two additions from fading division rivals for good measure. Weren’t smart enough to trade your assets in July, huh, Diamondbacks and Rockies? Well, you can always try again before our Fake Sept. 1!

These 3 August waiver trade deadline candidates would’ve helped the Dodgers.

3. Kole Calhoun

Though you may no longer consider him a threat, D-Backs outfielder Kole Calhoun has been putting his peripherals to good use lately, peppering the right-field corner with liners over a red-hot week that would’ve increased his trade value … if this late trade still existed.

Over the past seven games, Calhoun is slashing .345/.387/.517, bringing his season line up to .246/.296/.365 after his average had languished in the .100s for much of the campaign. Of course, you’re all smart enough to know that average isn’t everything, but this is much more pleasing to the eye.

The 33-year-old Calhoun is also a solid defender who could fill the Dodgers’ right-field hole on occasion as their depth continues to get tested. “Second baseman Mookie Betts” might not be here to stay, but we’ve ended up with so many bizarre combinations in the outfield this year that we’re not ruling out another shuffle or two. You could do worse, for the last man on the bench, than Calhoun, who would be an upgrade over Billy McKinney or Matt Beaty, but wouldn’t demand starter reps like, say, David Peralta.

If given another few weeks to consider it, the Dodgers could’ve added another starting-caliber player to take limited appearances in Cody Bellinger’s stead to finish the season. Oh well.

1. Daniel Bard

Daniel Bard is a relatively inconsistent option, sure, but the Dodgers continue to throw every member of their 40-man roster to the bullpen wolves as injuries increase. From Jimmy Nelson to Garrett Cleavinger, no one is safe these days. So why not attempt to rob a division rival in the waning months of our hypothetical year?

We understand why the Rockies didn’t trade Trevor Story (ed. note: not really!), but there was even less of an excuse for holding onto Bard, especially since they’d already squeezed so much value out of someone who’d left the game of baseball for nearly a decade before returning in 2020. Mychal Givens left town! Why not Bard, who is under control through 2022, making him all the more appealing?

The swing-and-miss stuff is very much still there from the peak of Bard’s career, as he’s set down 58 men in 45.2 innings pitched. That’s one helpful way to clean up base runners, which Bard provides plenty of, sporting a 1.51 WHIP this season that’ll scare off some potential employers.

Then again … the Dodgers need names with whiff-centric profiles right now. They’re scraping the bottom of the barrel, and they’re not finding anything terribly encouraging. It would’ve been satisfying to steal Bard from an aimless rival that might’ve screwed themselves in the Nolan Arenado talks by avoiding the Dodgers entirely.

If only this whole exercise weren’t make-believe…

Dodgers: 3 players who survived trade deadline but won’t be on 2022 roster

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