Dodgers Team News

Dodgers Rumors: Writer Wants to See LA Trade for All-Star Outfielder Bryan Reynolds

The Los Angeles Dodgers have a ton of decent options in the outfield this season. Between David Peralta, Trayce Thompson, James Outman, Jason Heyward and Chris Taylor, there is enough talent to make the outfield work this season next to Mookie Betts. However, none of those options are exactly great, and there is a chance they all struggle this season. That’s why, over at Bleacher Report, Zachary D. Rymer thinks LA should go big, and trade for All-Star centerfielder Bryan Reynolds. Here’s a part of his reasoning.

“[Reynolds] either wants to be traded or extended, and the club’s history of financial responsibility rank cheapness under Bob Nutting surely makes the former more likely.

“As he has a career 127 OPS+ with 51 home runs over the last two seasons, scoring Reynolds would be good enough in and of itself for the Dodgers. Further, it would be a nice bonus to be able to parade him in front of the San Francisco Giants asking, “You guys lose this?“”

Reynolds has been linked to the Dodgers all offseason long, and for good reason. The 28-year-old has had back-to-back great years in Pittsburgh, hitting .282 with 51 home runs, 152 RBIs and 54 doubles. He’s had an impressive OPS of .861, and has played in 304 games since 2021.

Reynolds would fit in perfectly as the Dodgers’ starting centerfielder, and provide a ton more stability in the outfield. Reynolds is a switch-hitter who can play all three outfield positions, allowing the Dodgers to have more versatility no matter who’s on the opposing mound in a game.

Reynolds also hits just as well against righties as he does lefties —like, impressively consistent. In his career, he has a batting average of .281 against righties. Against lefties? Also .281. He also enjoys an .856 OPS against right-handers, and an .808 OPS against southpaws. So clearly, this makes sense on the Dodgers side of things.

But Why Would the Pirates Trade Reynolds?

Well, for starters, they’ve made it clear that they don’t want to pay him what he wants in any extension talks. Also, Reynolds has requested a trade — and you can’t blame him. Pittsburgh isn’t going to be a contending team, and they aren’t going to pay him his desired contract — why would he want to stay.

So, it would be a win-win for everyone for the Pirates to trade Reynolds to one, a contender and two, a team that will actually pay him his desired contracts. Also, the Pirates can get a haul of prospects in return from the Dodgers’ loaded farm system, and continue their everlasting rebuild.

The Pirates have made it clear up until this point that they don’t want to trade Reynolds. But once they change their mind, the Dodgers should be one of the first teams ready to make an offer.

Have you subscribed to our YouTube Channel yet? Subscribe and hit that notification bell to stay up to date on all the latest Dodgers news, rumors, interviews, live streams, and more!

Noah Camras

Noah is an Editor for Dodgers Nation. He graduated from USC in 2022 with a B.A. in Journalism and minor in Sports Media Studies. He's been a Dodger fan his whole life, and his all-time favorite Dodgers are Matt Kemp and Russell Martin.

2 Comments

  1. Love his offensive numbers but I think his days in center field in any park with a spacious outfield are limited. Any trade would assume he is a center fielder and probably result in an over-pay. Would love to see him in left field tho… Outman is our future in CF.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button