As the Dodgers’ run for a title in 2018 ends, takes and rumors begin to swirl on who each team should go after in trades and free agency, and how those teams should go about picking up those said players.
While skimming through some ideas from fans on Twitter, a hypothetical linking Jacob deGrom and the Dodgers caught my eye, and within seconds I was hooked. Here’s a little paraphrasing of what the tweet said:
“With the Dodgers coming into a large sum of money this offseason after competing under the luxury tax, the Dodgers could work out a trade with the ‘looking-to-rebuild’ New York Mets, paying the contract of Jay Bruce and sending prospects in return for Jacob deGrom.”
The Dodgers managed to stay under the luxury tax threshold this season, and in turn will not be subject to paying taxes on their payroll. Because of this, the Dodgers will have a sizable amount of money to play with this offseason, making a splash on the free agent market and looking to return to the World Series in 2019.
The extra money the Dodgers will have could potentially be used in trade talks with the Mets, who have recently inked a deal with Brodie Van Wagenen for their spot general manager spot. Van Wagenen will presumably look to turn around the Mets, who have struggled to be a true contender in the National League over the past few seasons. In order to do so, star players or veteran players will have to be traded away for prospects, building the farm system and setting the Mets up for a bright future.
Jay Bruce, a 31 year old outfielder for New York, is owed $26M over the next two seasons, making his contract a piece that the Mets would preferably like to dump onto a different team’s payroll.
The Dodgers would seemingly be willing to take on the salary of Bruce if the upside of the deal included the talent of Jacob deGrom. Obviously, in return, the Dodgers would have to deal prospects to New York to sweeten the deal.
However, with the Mets looking to brighten their future by opening cap space and acquiring prospects, and the Dodgers looking to bolster their pitching corp, a trade like this would benefit both organizations.
deGrom finished the 2018 season with a 1.70 ERA, posting MVP numbers for a team that struggled to give him the offensive support needed for him to be as successful as he most likely would prefer to be.
Arrick Joel has covered the Dodgers since 2017, and for Dodgers-LowDown since 2018. Follow @ArrickJoel and @DodgersLowDown on Twitter for more.