Ranking Dodgers’ rumored trade targets ahead of Aug. 2 deadline

After sweeping the San Francisco Giants over the weekend, the Los Angeles Dodgers now have one less direct competitor to deal with on the trade market. What a turn of events.

That’s significant, because many were expecting the division rivals to go toe-to-toe on some in-demand trade targets, but now the Giants would be crazy to buy hovering at .500 in a stacked NL playoff race.

Nonetheless, there will still be plenty of teams lining up to pay a premium to upgrade their roster for the final two months of the regular season and playoffs. The Dodgers have multiple areas to address, so fans can expect Andrew Friedman to be involved in multiple conversations concerning starting pitching, relief pitching and positional depth over the next week.

As of now, the Dodgers have been linked to a number of players via reports and rumors. Dodgers Twitter has done its best to add some other candidates to the list and speak other scenarios into existence, but for the purpose of this exercise, we’re only going to include those who have been mentioned by insiders when ranking LA’s potential trade targets before Aug. 2.

Hopefully more are added to this group in the coming days, but as of right now, here’s where LA’s priorities might lie (combined with the talent level they might be working with).

Ranking the Dodgers’ rumored trade targets before Aug. 2 deadline

5. Brandon Drury

With Chris Taylor out for a little while longer thanks to a broken foot, Brandon Drury has been a name the Dodgers were reportedly considering. The Cincinnati Reds slugger has logged reps at first base, second base, third base, shortstop and right field in 2022 and could be a valuable utility option for LA.

Perhaps overvalued because of his .274 average, .850 OPS, 126 OPS+, 18 homers and 54 RBI in 84 games thus far, Drury might have a bit of “buyer beware” attached to him. He’s quite literally never performed this well in his entire career (and this is his eighth season) and the Reds are more than likely going to ask for a haul for two months of the soon-to-be 30-year-old.

Then again, there’s no denying his defensive versatility, and if he’s been able to mash like this alongside a lackluster group of Reds hitters, just imagine what he could do with endless protection in the Dodgers’ lineup?

Such a deal will take finessing, because the Dodgers shouldn’t overpay here when Trayce Thompson is taking care of business just fine.