Although Nolan Arenado and Alex Bregman rumors are swirling (again) as the trade deadline approaches, the Dodgers don't seem to be anywhere near those discussions despite tenuous links to Arenado in the offseason. The Dodgers might've looked like they needed a new third baseman for a time, but Max Muncy has come back in full force this season to stake his claim on the hot corner.
Muncy's cold streak dragged all the way through April, but he's gotten back to being the player fans expect to see since the calendar flipped over to May. He's been one of the Dodgers' best hitters in June, batting .328 with a 1.101 OPS, and made it to the second phase of All-Star voting because of his meteoric rise.
The Dodgers have some needs to address at the deadline, mostly in terms of pitchers and maybe an outfielder if Michael Conforto's recent blip of power turns out to be completely Coors Field-related, but Muncy has taken the need to worry about third base off of their hands. It was pretty clear that the Dodgers were never fully sold on Arenado to begin with, but thanks to Muncy, they won't have to reengage in all of that babble again.
Max Muncy is eliminating Dodgers' need to find a new third baseman at the trade deadline
In the offseason, Muncy said that he had heard the rumors and would be happy to have Arenado on the Dodgers as long as he still had a place to play. If the Dodgers had traded for Arenado, Muncy probably wouldn't have gotten his wish, as DH is covered by Shohei Ohtani, first base by Freddie Freeman, and second base by Tommy Edman. It could've led Muncy to the same fate as Chris Taylor and Austin Barnes.
Aside from Muncy's ascent securing his spot, Arenado's gone the opposite direction. He had a far better start to the season than Muncy, but has since come down to earth and is even worse at the plate so far than he was last year — .242 average, .696 OPS. The Cardinals also don't seem as eager to trade him now as they were in the offseason; maybe they realized they missed their window.
From June 22-25, Muncy has three multi-hit games in a row, three homers, and 13 RBI, more than he logged in March and April combined. He added another two-run homer in Friday night's razor thin win over the Royals. The Dodgers definitely don't need to worry about third anymore.