MLB insider's latest Junior Caminero update has Dodgers ready to circle the waters

Team Dominican Republic has arguably been the most thrilling team to watch in this year's World Baseball Classic. Of course, there are some legendary Dodgers enemies — Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado, mostly — and not a single current Dodger on that roster, but the talent and aura are undeniable.

Rays All-Star Junior Caminero, in particular, has been having himself a tournament. In Team DR's three games, he's 4-for-10 with two homers, five RBI, and one walk to zero strikeouts. He'd already gone viral for an epic home run trot in LIDOM play last year, but it happened again on March 6, when he hit a go-ahead two-run homer against Nicaragua in the bottom of the sixth.

Caminero's 45 homer, 110 RBI season with the Rays last year already established him as a budding superstar in the game, which means there's almost no way that the Rays will be willing to keep him in the organization when the time comes.

FanSided insider Robert Murray wrote that an extension for Caminero feels "very unlikely," given that, per league sources, he could now be worth over $400 million. His performance in the WBC is only making that more of a certainty.

The Rays would never go that high ... but the Dodgers certainly could.

Junior Caminero's potential $400 million price tag already makes him unaffordable for everyone — except the Dodgers

Caminero is still years away from free agency, but a blockbuster trade doesn't seem out of the cards at all. This is what the Rays do. They develop top talent and, when that talent becomes or projects to become unaffordable for them, they spin them into trade pieces. The Dodgers already did with Tyler Glasnow, who they immediately turned around and extended.

LA doesn't need a third baseman right now, but Max Muncy has a club option in 2028, the same year Caminero hits arbitration eligibility. Even if they exercise Muncy's option, Caminero's only going to get more expensive the deeper he gets into arbitration. It wouldn't be surprising if we hear about talks during the 2028-29 offseason, if not sooner.

The Dodgers also have ample resources to send back to Tampa Bay. That glut of outfielders at the top of their pipeline? All of the excess pitching depth they don't know what to do with right now? What else is the Dodgers' player development system for if not trades just like this one?