With the MLB trade deadline only a week away, Los Angeles Dodgers fans are anxiously waiting to see if and how the roster might change ahead of the playoffs.
Will the Dodgers add superstar pitcher Tarik Skubal from the Detroit Tigers? Or will the Dodgers add another catcher given the lingering neck injury to Will Smith?
If they do make a move, will they move on from a starting pitcher like Emmet Sheehan or Eric Lauer? Or will the wealth of outfield prospects be used as compensation?
It all remains up in the air, but president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman recently made clear that this team isn’t afraid to be aggressive if the situation calls for it.
Dodgers ‘lurk’ as trade deadline nears
Speaking with Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register, Friedman made clear that the Dodgers don’t necessarily need to trade at all.
“We feel really good about our roster, feel really good about the depth,” Friedman said. “So I would say that we’re going into this deadline without necessarily having an acute need – which is definitely the goal in the offseason. That said, there have been a number of moves we have made closer to the deadline (in past years) that weren’t necessarily on our radar 10 days, two weeks out – just from opportunities that pop up.”
Those “opportunities that pop up” have led rival executives to describe the Dodgers as “lurking,” Plunkett noted, a term that drew a chuckle from Friedman.
“First of all, I think the depth of our system puts us in position to have a lot of different conversations and also puts us in position to field some calls from teams that want to try to target a specific guy or guys from our system which allows us to participate in a lot of different conversations whether direct or three-way,” Friedman said.
Given that combination — a team that’s well-built already but loaded with talent and always looking to get better — Friedman hinted that some roster changes could indeed be coming.
“We feel really good about our team as we go into the last (week) here with a very opportunistic mindset,” he said.
One Response
I think the Dodgers are going to to get Skubal. Hopefully they will finally jettison that pos Sheehan who proved time after time he’s NOT a major league starter. Use him. If you have to give up a couple prospects,so be it. They are loaded at AS and AAA. They need to cut bait on Phillips. Some guys recover from TJ,some not. He is the latter. 4-5 mph off his fastball and at least one home run in 4 of last 5 outings sort of says it all.