One Outfielder the Dodgers Should Trade For That Nobody’s Talking About
The Los Angeles Dodgers have an outfield problem.
Dodgers outfielders this season are hitting a combined .201, which is tied with the Kansas City Royals for the worst in all of Major League Baseball. The Dodgers have gotten a combined 0.7 fWAR from their outfielders this season, which is in the bottom 10 in all of baseball. Dodgers outfielders have a combined 78 WRC+ this season, which ranks 26th in MLB.
The positives of those numbers mostly come from free agent addition Teoscar Hernández, who’s slashing .246/.313/.462 with 11 home runs, 37 RBIs, and an OPS of .775. He’s given the Dodgers 1.2 fWAR.
So, without Hernández, the Dodgers outfielders have a combined fWAR of -0.5. That includes James Outman, Chris Taylor, Andy Pages, Kiké Hernández, Jason Heyward, Miguel Vargas, and Taylor Trammell.
Outman was recently demoted to Triple-A, Taylor is hitting .097, Pages is in the midst of his first MLB slump and Hernández, Heyward, and Vargas are all platoon players.
Related: James Outman’s Locker Removed From Dodger Stadium
The Dodgers clearly need an outfielder, and on Thursday, Dodgers Nation’s Doug McKain had an interesting idea on the daily Dodgers Dougout live show.
McKain revealed five outfielder targets, and his No. 5 target is one that no one’s been talking about in Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Connor Joe.
Joe, 31, is slashing .268/.337/.446 with six home runs, 22 RBIs, and an OPS of .783 this season. The five-year MLB veteran can play both corner outfield spots, albeit at a below average clip.
Joe is able to hit both right- and left-handed pitching, and has been an above average hitter with a 125 OPS+ and a 123 WRC+.
Joe is also under multiple years of team control, as he doesn’t hit free agency until 2028, and has two option years left.
Most importantly, Joe wouldn’t cost too much — L.A. definitely wouldn’t need to trade a top 10 prospect — and would turn into a solid everyday player in a Dodgers outfield that needs all the help it can get.
Interestingly enough, Joe was actually in the Dodgers organization for two seasons. He was traded to the Dodgers for international bonus pool money, and was then selected in the Rule 5 Draft two years later.
To watch McKain’s full breakdown of Joe and why he would make sense for the Dodgers, click the video at the top of the article or here.
Stay tuned for the rest of McKain’s trade targets on dodgersnation.com.
Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Luis Robert, center field, White Sox. Juan Soto, free agent after the season.
It cracks me up how Dodger Media never talk about how bad our offense has been over the last few weeks. Instead, media types tend to pick on the pitching, with nothing said about the hitting! In my view, the pitching has been great and will continue to be great throughout the rest of the season. Meanwhile, the offense sputters, making opposing pitchers who just walloped by another team look like Cy Young. Furthermore, when complaining does Aire, media types like to blame the bottom third of the lineup to explain the woes, completely ignoring how drastically hot and cold Mookie Betts has been. The first month he carried the team, but lately is consistently inconsistent. This is the guy that the Dodgers offense revolves around. Mark my words, this team, as constructed now, will be bounced forthrightly in the playoffs again this year. I think hungrier, grittier, less paid hitters are the best hitters. What to do about it now? How ’bout we call up Michael Busch and put him in a corner and give him some runway??? Oops, forgot.