3 Dodgers-Padres trades LA fans wish would happen, but won’t

Blake Snell would be an amazing trade target for the Dodgers

It's hardly a secret that Dodgers are looking to add a starting pitching at the trade deadline. Julio Urías is back, but with Clayton Kershaw on the IL with shoulder issues, the Dodgers are currently placing a lot of hope in some young arms to be able to make it through the second half.

Trade options like Lucas Giolito and Jordan Montgomery have been mentioned a ton as the top end of the trade market, and both remain very reasonable options. However, if the Padres were to make Blake Snell available in trade, he would instantly become arguably the best rental starter trade option on the market at the trade deadline.

Snell has been awesome this season with a 2.71 ERA in 19 starts in 2023, and his recent run over this last 11 outings has been incredible. The strikeouts are still there, and while his walk rate and chase rate haven't been great, the rest of his peripherals look really good this season. He's on pace to have his best season since 2018 when he won the Cy Young, which is a really good place for him to be in his walk year.

Aside from the "the Padres won't want to trade with the Dodgers" problem, there are a couple other wrinkles in the Dodgers adding Snell. First, Snell is making real money this season at $16 million, which is problematic for the Dodgers, who want to keep funds tight in preparation for a Shohei Ohtani pursuit. Secondly, Snell hasn't been the healthiest guy the last few years, which may bring some risk that he wouldn't hold up in the second half.

All of that said, it would still be sweet if the Dodgers could actually make a push for Snell. LA could find other moves to make to free up some money if they really needed to, and Snell is exactly the kind of arm that LA needs in their rotation the rest of the way.