Dodgers Rumors: LA in bidding war with Yankees for All-Star Rays slugger

Trade deadline season officially kicked off on Friday night with two major trades. The Rays and Mariners completed a pact that sent a rumored Dodgers target in Randy Arozarena to Seattle, and a deal between the Marlins and Diamondbacks ended with controllable lefty AJ Puk to Arizona. More activity has been kicking up all over the league — the Padres added Jason Adam, the Mets got Jesse Winker, the Red Sox got Danny Jansen, the Yanks picked Jazz, and so on.

But the Dodgers, who were expected to be one of the biggest players at the deadline, have been quiet so far. Maybe they're working overtime on deals that will land Garrett Crochet and/or Jack Flaherty, as neither has been moved as of yet, but LA has been seemingly inert despite all of the action swirling around them.

However, you can pretty much always depend on Andrew Friedman and the Dodgers' front office to move in silence and pull off something big. Bob Nightengale wrote in his most recent rumors column that the Dodgers are engaged in a bidding war with the Yankees for Rays infielder Isaac Paredes.

Paredes, the Rays' lone All-Star representative this year, has long been floated as a potential trade candidate for the Dodgers. Tampa let Arozarena go for a song, but he did struggle through the first few months of the season. How much will it take for them to let go of the much more consistent Paredes? Paredes has one more year of arbitration eligibility than Arozarena, which will also make him a harder get.

Dodgers reportedly in a bidding war with Yankees for Rays All-Star Isaac Paredes

It is somewhat surprising that the Dodgers are gunning hard for an infielder when most of their rumored focus has been on starting pitching and outfield bats. However, with how Max Muncy's return from the IL has been progressing (in a word, badly), the Dodgers will definitely need a third baseman who can give more to the lineup than Chris Taylor or Kiké Hernández can.

Paredes has been filling in more at first base for the Rays since Yandy Díaz went onto the restricted list on July 26, but he's an above-average defender at third. He's also been hitting well above his expected batting average and slugging this season, with a .247 average and .438 slugging along with 16 homers.

While the Dodgers chasing a third baseman doesn't leave anyone with a warm feeling about how Muncy's progressing, it's definitely better than coming out of the trade deadline with the likes of Taylor and Hernández for the rest of the season.