3 Dodgers trades that can help LA win the offseason

2. Dodgers Trade for John Means

This deal would look a lot better if Kershaw came back too, wouldn’t it? One Hall of Fame lefty tutoring his theoretical replacement on how to plus up his curveball and make several straight All-Star teams? Sign us up, as long as Baltimore’s ready to have a real conversation about John Means, rather than just floating his name.

Means remains under control through 2024, and battled back from assorted injury issues and a step back in the shortened 2020 to throw a no-hitter, earn the O’s 4.0 WAR, and post a 1.030 WHIP for a bedraggled Orioles club that really back him up all that often (6-9 record on the season, nice).

What would it take to pry Means loose from the rebuilding Orioles? It’s impossible to say what this O’s team is actually looking for. Would they like to supplement Cedric Mullins and Adley Rutschman and actually compete relatively soon? Then they could be interested in Busch, Bobby Miller and Andre Jackson. If they’re giving Means away, it might signal they’re starting the cycle all over again, though, and would rather target faraway lottery tickets like Cartaya, Andy Pages, Wilman Diaz, and Maddux Bruns.

We’re going to draw a line in the sand and say Means isn’t the type of absolute sure thing you surrender Cartaya for, so maybe a hybrid package makes more sense; Busch, Diaz and Bruns. Who says no?