Dodgers' trade deadline pipe dream just died after latest reveal

Don’t let the Dodgers’ sizable lead in the National League West fool you: they’re going to be all-in at this year’s trade deadline. Whether it be reinforcements to the lineup, rotation or bullpen, chances are you’re going to spend most of the next month hearing about how the Dodgers have “checked in” on most of the big players of the trade deadline. 

Well, maybe except for one player. 

Over the weekend, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Noah Hiles put out a report saying that Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds has a partial no-trade clause that allows for him to block trades to six teams, the Dodgers being one of them.

Dodgers' trade deadline pipe dream just died after latest reveal

Most of the time, players put together no-trade clauses to prevent trades to undesirable locations. Instead, Reynolds’ list consists of the Yankees, Mets, Blue Jays, Dodgers, Giants, and Padres — six of the top teams in baseball. 

It’s hard to make exactly what Reynolds is hoping to achieve with this no-trade list. Most of the time, players put together a no-trade list because they don’t want to go to some teams where they feel like they won’t be able to win. 

That likely isn’t the case here, as all six of those teams are poised to be buyers in this year’s weird trade market. 

This could also be a case of Reynolds trying to get the most out of his leverage, as he’d need to sign off on any trade to those six teams. So if the Dodgers and Blue Jays both put together offers, as an example, then Reynolds would get to pick which one of those teams he’d want to go to, if any. 

All of this comes with the caveat that Reynolds is struggling a bit this year, as he’s currently slashing .229/.294/.380 and has been worth -0.7 bWAR. He’s also still under contract for five more years along with a $20 million team option for the sixth year along with a $2 million buyout. 

But even though Reynolds has struggled this year, he’d still be better than some of the options the Dodgers have had to turn to this year. Last week, the Dodgers added Esteury Ruiz to their roster after Max Muncy was placed on the injured list with a knee injury. 

While Ruiz led the American League in steals 2023, he’s still a negative player by career bWAR and isn’t a building block. Reynolds would be a building block, albeit an expensive one, who would provide some pretty good insurance against Michael Conforto's continued struggles. 

That said, the Dodgers shouldn’t get in a bidding war for the former All-Star, especially since they’ll need to take this no-trade clause into account. 

Yes, the Dodgers have a hole in left field, but Andy Pages has been playing at All-Star pace in center field and Teoscar Hernández has been playing well in right. The Dodgers only have so many prospects to give up in trades, and it’s not worth giving up the farm for Reynolds.