Biggest takeaways from the Dodgers’ trade deadline moves

The 2022 trade deadline has come and gone and the Los Angeles Dodgers did not make a blockbuster trade this time around. Despite having one of the top farm systems in baseball as well as unlimited funds, the Boys in Blue picked their spots instead of making a big trade.

This might seem like a disappointing deadline and it is fair to feel that way. The one thing I would advise you to do is look back at all the massive moves the Dodgers have made in recent years. The top three members of the lineup all came in massive moves. Then look at the MLB standings, as the Dodgers have the best record in MLB.

While it might not have been a monumental deadline, there are still a lot of takeaways to be had.

4 main takeaways from the Dodgers’ trade deadline activity in 2022:

4. Don’t lose sleep over Juan Soto and the Padres… no, seriously, the Dodgers will be fine

The San Diego Padres made arguably the two biggest trades of the deadline by acquiring Juan Soto and Josh Hader. San Diego also acquired Josh Bell in the Soto trade, as well as a standout utility infielder Brandon Drury in a separate deal.

Have the Padres gotten better? Yes, absolutely. Would it have been sweet to see Soto in Dodger Blue? Obviously. I am not going to sit here and pretend that Juan Soto is a bad baseball player because he plays for LA’s NL West rivals.

However, we have done this same song and dance before. The baseball world fell in love with the Padres when they signed Manny Machado, traded for Yu Darvish and Mike Clevinger, traded for Blake Snell, traded for Joe Musgrove, traded for Adam Frazier… the list goes on and on.

What has San Diego won with all of that? Nothing. They won one playoff series, and it was the made-up three-game playoff series in 2020. They still have not advanced past the NLDS since 1998 (before Juan Soto was born) and didn’t even win an NLDS game last time around.

San Diego is a quality baseball team, and any playoff series with them is going to be electric. Juan Soto and a returning Fernando Tatis Jr. do make them better. That does not change the fact that they are 12 back of the Dodgers at the time of this writing and have a 4.87 ERA against the Boys in Blue this season.

3. The Joey Gallo trade is a genius flier by the Dodgers

Having Joey Gallo be the biggest move the Dodgers made is a bit disappointing, I get that. However, don’t let that change the fact that the move itself is a smart one for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Any Yankees fans reading this are laughing at my optimism (hi, Adam and Thomas!), but in the grand scheme of things, this could be yet another savvy Andrew Friedman move. It is a flier for a left-handed power-hitting bat, and if it does not pan out, the Dodgers will be just fine.

Sent in the trade for Gallo was 2020 second-round pick, and LA’s No. 15 prospect on MLB Pipeline, Clayton Beeter. While Beeter did rank in the Dodgers’ top 30, he really is not that valuable of a prospect to LA. He has struggled at the minor-league level and lacks both the command and pitch repertoire to be a solid starting pitcher.

Beeter could blossom into a solid bullpen or long relief guy at the big-league level if he can work on his command. With all of the pitchers in the Dodgers’ farm, it makes a lot of sense to trade a guy who Friedman likely never envisioned to make the starting rotation for Gallo.

Gallo has been Cody Bellinger levels of bad, but if he can figure it out and return to his Texas Rangers self in LA (with a beard), then the Dodgers will suddenly have the power-hitting left-handed bat to put in the middle of the order that Max Muncy and Bellinger were meant to be.

The Dodgers have to figure that one of the three will figure it out and be able to slot into that five spot against right-handed pitching. And if it is not Gallo, then the Dodgers won’t miss Beeter, I can promise you that.

It is much better to have Joey Gallo be that power-hitting option than Jake Lamb, which brings us to the next takeaway.

2. Let’s not forget about the in-house additions for the Dodgers

The only big-league talent that the Los Angeles Dodgers added at the deadline is Joey Gallo, but there are more reinforcements on the way. While it is always fun to root for a new player in LA, the players that the Dodgers are getting back from the IL in the coming days/weeks are big. These are not small additions.

Los Angeles currently has two open spots on the 40-man roster after trading Jake Lamb and Mitch White for non-40-man assets, and it is clear that the team is prepared to activate some guys. One of those activations is likely going to be flamethrower Dustin May, who has made rehab starts at the Triple-A level this season.

May is likely going to come out of the bullpen when he gets back to the big-league club as the team builds him up to a bigger role for the playoffs. He might not even start in October, but if May can be this year’s Julio Urías (circa 2020), that would be huge for the team.

More pitching reinforcements are also on the way in Blake Treinen, who is going to be the best arm in that bullpen once he gets back, and potentially even Danny Duffy, who has the potential to be a wipeout lefty specialist who can throw a few innings out of the bullpen.

Let’s not forget about Walker Buehler. People are forgetting about Buehler because he was pitching poorly before getting hurt. While his return is not a guarantee, getting a Cy Young-caliber pitcher back is no small addition.

Chris Taylor is coming off the IL soon (albeit he is still on the 40-man), and the Dodgers even have the Miguel Vargas card up their sleeve.

Oh, look! It happened immediately!

The current version of the team is not even close to the best version and they are still the best team in baseball.