Dodgers should steer clear of rumored trade target who they just crushed in Wild Card

Earlier this month, the Los Angeles Dodgers were shelling Cincinnati Reds flamethrower Hunter Greene in Game 1 of the National League Wild Card series. Now, they are rumored to be interested in trading for him.

In a recent column for The Athletic (subscription required), former MLB general manager Jim Bowden noted that the Dodgers would be among the teams likely to be interested in Greene if the Reds make him available for a trade this offseason – which rumors suggest that they might.

It makes sense; Greene’s name keeps surfacing in trade speculation, and the Dodgers are perpetually linked to any power-armed starter on the market. But despite his electric stuff and upside, there are several reasons the Dodgers should steer clear of pursuing a trade for Greene – especially given their current roster makeup, payroll structure, and philosophy on pitching development.

Dodgers should not pursue trade for Reds right-hander Hunter Greene

The Dodgers have built their success on durability, command and predictability – not just raw talent. Greene's biggest issue, however, is instability; he's brilliant one outing, unwatchable the next. Over the past two seasons, he’s averaged around a 4.50 ERA with extreme pitch-count inefficiency – a lot of five-inning starts and high walk totals.

For a Dodgers team trying to win the World Series every year, they can’t afford a starter who constantly throws 100 pitches in 4 2/3 innings. They also can’t commit top prospects for a pitcher who hasn’t proven he can get through a season without volatility or bullpen overuse. They need innings, not highlight-reel fastballs.

The Dodgers excel at taking command-oriented arms with plus pitch design and making them elite. Greene, by contrast, is a pure power thrower who still hasn’t refined his secondaries. His fastball averages 99-100 mph but gets hit hard because it lacks movement. His slider is devastating at times but inconsistent. He also lacks a dependable third pitch. Those are red flags for the Dodgers’ system, which prioritizes sequencing and efficiency.

Greene is signed through 2028 (with club options through 2030) at around $53 million – which, on paper, seems team-friendly. But team-friendly only matters if the pitcher is reliable. If Greene continues to hover around mid-rotation performance with high volatility and injury risk, that contract quickly flips from “team-friendly” to inflexible.

The Dodgers already have significant money committed to Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani. They don’t need another medium-sized, mid-ceiling contract clogging payroll space for someone they might not trust in October. A predictable, 3.70 ERA innings-eater is more valuable to Los Angeles than a 100-mph wild card locked in for five years.

Greene has already undergone Tommy John surgery (in 2019) and has battled multiple shoulder and hip issues since his MLB debut. His high-effort mechanics and extreme velocity put him among the league’s top percentile for injury risk. The Dodgers have learned the hard way that you can’t rely on fragile power arms for stability. Adding Greene would multiply that risk.

At the end of the day, Greene is the kind of pitcher who dazzles highlight reels but isn't what's advertised. The Dodgers don’t need flash; they need innings, control and October dependability. Instead of chasing Greene’s upside, Los Angeles should keep doing what it does best: turning solid arms into great ones, not betting prospects on volatility disguised as potential.