What’s Next for the Dodgers After Tyler Glasnow Trade, Shohei Ohtani Signing?

The offseason is well underway and your Los Angeles Dodgers have made the biggest splashes thus far. The front office landed the white whale in Shohei Ohtani and made a blockbuster trade to acquire their ace in Tyler Glasnow.

Now that several key moves have been made, let’s check in and see where the roster stands and where they can improve.

Dodgers’ Updated Roster Outlook

Heading into the offseason, the two areas needing the most improvement were outfield and the rotation.

Bringing in Ohtani, while filling the need at DH, does not help the rotation this year. By trading away RHP Ryan Pepiot to get Tyler Glasnow, the front office increased the quality of the rotation but not the number of pitchers in it.

Andrew Friedman and the front office have also started to address the outfield. They brought back Jason Heyward on a one-year deal. Additionally, Manuel Margot also came over in the Glasnow trade completing the platoon in right field.

After these moves, and some smaller ones, the organization still needs to add at least one more starter and a left fielder.

Who Can the Dodgers Add to Adress Their Starting Pitching Need?

The Dodgers have multiple avenues they can take to address starting pitching. An important note, they don’t know if Dustin May will be able to return next season.

While the Ohtani contract looks daunting on the surface, the deferrals in it give the Dodgers a lot of financial flexibility. So, the front office can still go out and spend money to bring in elite talent.

The top two pitchers on the market are RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Blake Snell. Recent reports indicate that Yoshinobu is the front office’s No. 1 target. Conversely, they are reportedly not interested in Blake Snell.

Outside of aces, plenty of options are available in the mid-rotation/depth level. One name to keep track of is Lucas Giolito. A local kid, Giolito makes a ton of sense and fits perfectly at the back of this rotation. A second name is LHP Shota Imanaga. He would be a solid number four or five starter and currently the only lefty in the rotation.

Now, there’s the trade market. The front office still has plenty of ammunition in the organization to make a trade. They could put together an enticing package headlined by the likes of Michael Busch, Miguel Vargas, Diego Cartaya, and more.

Trade candidates can be tricky to predict. Sometimes trades come together out of nowhere or a player is not known to be available until the trade is nearly finalized.

As far as known trade candidates go, the White Sox made Dylan Cease available and the same goes for Shane Bieber of the Guardians.

Since Cease has two years of team control, the front office would have to severely overpay for his services. Bieber had a down year last year and also missed two months with elbow inflammation. Unsure what a package for Bieber would look like, but he has a few red flags associated with him.

Recent reports have said that the Brewers do not want to trade former Cy Young Corbin Burnes at this juncture, so his availability remains questionable. However, if they change their mind then expect the front office to pursue him heavily.

No matter who they go for, the team needs at least two more starting pitchers before the season kicks off in Korea.

Who Can the Dodgers Add to Address Their Outfield Need?

The Dodgers currently do not have an everyday left fielder. In terms of lineup construction, the team needs another quality bat in the six or seven holes to avoid being top-heavy. They also currently have five left-handed bats slotted to play nearly every day with a sixth in Heyward.

Chris Taylor filled in last year as part of a platoon with David Peralta. Given Taylor’s streakiness at the plate, he likely will not be the everyday answer in left field.

Internally, they could give someone like Vargas or Busch some runway in left. However, left field is not the natural defensive position for either player. So they would have to learn on the fly.

The Dodgers were connected to Teoscar Hernandez earlier this offseason. He probably has the best available bat, but he strikes out a lot and plays “exciting” defense.

A reunion with Cody Bellinger does not seem likely at this point. He definitely earned a big contract after his bounce-back season in Chicago. However, it may be more than the front office wants to give him, as the underlying numbers do not project well for him, and James Outman factors to play CF next year.

Now, a reunion that could happen would be one with Joc Pederson. He fits a natural platoon with Taylor in left field. Although, Pederson definitely profiles much, much more as a DH than he does as a fielder.

The Dodgers and Rays could come together a second time this offseason for Randy Arozarena. He immediately becomes the team’s everyday left fielder and a great bat towards the bottom of the lineup. The question comes down to the prospect cost. Arozarena still has multiple more years of team control and the Rays won’t let go of him easily.

The last trade target floated around is Dylan Carlson of the Cardinals. Not a natural trade partner for the Dodgers, Carlson would be a small reclamation project for the coaching staff. At just 25 years old, though, he still has the potential to become a good major league outfielder.

Unfortunately, no answer in the outfield is perfect. The front office certainly has their work cut out for them to fill that need.

Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

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