1 Los Angeles Dodgers trade target no one is talking about

Hey, why hasn’t anyone theorized yet about the contender that desperately needs bullpen help possibly placing a call to the team that always trades everyone prominent who they deem to be overvalued/replaceable?

Perhaps it’s time the Los Angeles Dodgers get the Tampa Bay Rays on the phone.

The last time these two teams met on the biggest stage (yes, we thought they’d be clashing again this season, whoops), Nick Anderson was the de facto closer in the most effective plug-and-play bullpen baseball’s modern era had seen. They were 2015 Kansas City Royals-ish without any set roles. It was very impressive, and Tampa Bay’s thievery of Anderson from the Miami Marlins was the main reason behind the madness.

Now, just about one year later? Anderson is fresh off just six innings in 2021 after battling a partially-torn elbow ligament, and will not be pitching again until midway through the 2022 season. He’s 31 years old. He’s first-year arb eligible, with escalating costs through 2024.

Basically, he’s a pile of buzzwords the Rays hate to hear, and he also struggled mightily in the 2020 playoffs.

We’re sure he’s not available? Please. The bigger shocker is he wasn’t traded last winter along with Blake Snell.

Dodgers Trade Target: Nick Anderson, Tampa Bay Rays

Anderson is very much an unknown at this point for the first time in a long time, and with three full years of control left over, there’s an argument to be made for the Rays accommodating the comeback in hopes they can get one more successful half-season out of the right-hander … before almost definitely flipping him between 2022 and 2023.

We see that. We acknowledge that. Any dealings done with injured players mid-lockout could result in a trade that’s unbalanced on the value scale.

However, if the Rays don’t trust the medicals and cut bait at a bargain, Andrew Friedman should be extremely interested. We know the Rays front office. We know they have a laundry list of favorites in the Dodgers system because they have a similar list of favorites from every system. Give Tampa their pick of a headliner from prospects No. 10-15, then let them add an underrated asset off the board they like, and call it a trade.

Remember, there won’t be an Anderson sighting until midsummer, with hopes that he can work himself back into shape by the postseason. Presuming he does that, though, you’ll have two full unblemished (and expensive) years of him.

The Dodgers already absorbed Tommy Kahnle’s Tommy John surgery, and they’re still waiting for that move to pay off. You’re promising me they wouldn’t bite on a reliever who posted an 0.55 ERA in 2020 and a 2.11 mark in the second half of a Wild Card race in 2019?

We’re not guaranteeing he’s available, but he’s not quite as far off the Dodgers’ board as people might think.

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