Dodgers Rumors: LA 'lurking' around buy-low trade candidate everybody predicted

Even with Shohei Ohtani officially back on the mound, his presence won't alleviate much for the Dodgers' bullpen for a while. He pitched just one inning in his team debut, and the Dodgers will want to extend him slowly. Anthony Banda got two outs in the second inning, then Ben Casparius took over for 3 2/3 as LA works him up to a proper starting role.

So the Dodgers obviously need pitching at the trade deadline, especially if Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, and Tony Gonsolin are still out of commission. Jack Harris of the LA Times wrote in early June that it seemed unlikely for the Dodgers to make a big splash for a starting pitcher, but Bob Nightengale's latest rumor drop suggests otherwise.

To the surprise of no one, the Dodgers are reportedly "lurking" around Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara.

The Dodgers have been sporadically linked to Alcantara since the Winter Meetings, but that was before he returned to the Marlins after missing 2024 recovering from Tommy John and grossly underperformed. Through 14 starts, he has a 6.88 ERA and hasn't pitched more than six innings so far this season.

Dodgers reportedly "lurking" around Marlins ace and Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara at trade deadline

Of course, Alcantara's underperformance means that his price has never been lower. He's making $17.3 million this year but has turned in a nearly 7.00 ERA, so the .400 Marlins would probably be delighted to get him off of their books.

But gone are the days when Alcantara was capable of pitching six complete games in a season. The Dodgers wouldn't necessarily need that out of him, but if he might not even be able to offer a respectable amount of length when the Dodgers desperately need it, is it worth it to take him on when he's also underperforming?

The Dodgers have proven time and time again that they can fix worn-down pitchers, but they've also proven over the last two years that they can completely break them. Alcantara's risky not only because of how few innings he's pitching and how much he's been underperforming, but because taking him on would mean having just another starter the Dodgers have to handle with care and run the risk of breaking.

"Lurking" doesn't necessarily have to mean anything, but it would be incredibly characteristic of the Dodgers to trade for Alcantara, get him back to winning form for all of four starts, and then announce he's down for the count again.