8 trade candidates to upgrade Dodgers' bullpen

Buck Farmer

Farmer is another guy who will be a free agent after the 2023 season who also happens to be putting up arguably his best showing in the majors. He does a lot of things reasonably well and his slider has become borderline unhittable this year. He isn’t a fireballer nor does he put up big strikeout numbers, but there's a lot to like here.

The fit for the Dodgers is a good one, but the Reds are in a weird spot similar to the White Sox except Cincinnati is showing actual signs of life now. The call-up of Elly De La Cruz seems to have really energized the Reds, and given the fact that the NL Central is only marginally better than the woeful AL Central, they may not be selling at the deadline as they are likely to be hanging around in the division race. Farmer’s impending free agency does help the cause, though, so this is a name to circle for now.

Kendall Graveman

The White Sox are making another appearance here, but this time in a guy that has another year of team control in Kendall Graveman, who is having a solid season for Chicago yet again despite a middling strikeout rate thanks to top-notch marks for his two fastballs. The walk rate hasn’t been great this season, but has historically been better on that end so there's some reason to think that he won't keep giving up too many free passes.

Aside from the aforementioned “the White Sox may be in contention” problem, a mutually agreeable price could be a bit of a problem. On the one hand, Graveman is under control through the 2024 season which has real value. On the other hand, the White Sox probably think they will contend in the AL Central in 2024, even if 2023 ends up being lost. And at $8 million a year, Graveman doesn’t provide much in terms of surplus value over what he's getting paid.