With about 4 hours ’til the trade deadline, here’s the up to date status of each Dodgers target and where the market stands in general.
At the moment it seems unlikely Noah Syndergaard gets since he’s been reportedly pulled off the market. Some speculate a Zack Wheeler trade since it’s his walk year. Others believe the Mets plan to hold on to all their assets and possibly buy to make a push for the playoffs. This includes Edwin Diaz staying put as well.
The general belief is the Dodgers will not part with any of their top prospects for a reliever and that includes All-Star closer Felipe Vasquez who’s under control until 2021 with 2 club options for ’22 and ’23. This doesn’t mean a deal can’t be done. The Dodgers farm is loaded with mid to high tier prospects in all levels. It all depends if the Pirates find them worthy enough and at the moment it doesn’t appear to be so. So, the question as of now is, does Andrew Friedman make an unconventional move and give up one of his prized prospects to solidify the bullpen.
There are still a decent amount of relievers left in the market:
- Shane Greene has been linked to the Yankees, Astros, Dodgers and a few others.
- Will Smith, Sam Dyson, and Tony Watson should be on the market but the Giants have expressed not moving any of them, preferring to make a playoff push instead.
- Ken Giles was just given a cortisone shot in his elbow which probably makes his chances of being traded next to nil.
- There are a lot of teams that should be selling in the American league like the Royals, White Sox, Orioles, Rangers, Angels, Mariners, and Tigers pretty much being all out of the race. All those teams have relievers worth selling, taking advantage of opportunities heading into the last few hours.
The market for starters seems to be drying up some with Madison Bumgarner being the headliner but the Giants asking price still being too high; The Tigers are asking price for Matt Boyd is worthy for an ace-like pitcher which most believe he isn’t; Mike Minor has a 10 team no-trade clause with most teams being unknown on the list but the Rangers are still considering trading him.
The Market is loaded with sellers in both the AL and NL. Most AL teams are out of the race but in the NL, the wild card race is close enough where a decision to sell in the last minute can be very difficult to make. Even teams who’ve reportedly taken players off the market or put a high asking return on certain players can eventually change their minds during the last day. The market is always fluid.
The Andrew Friedman has always made significant trades by the deadline and there’s no reason to believe he won’t come away with an impactful trade again. The market is there for the taking. Teams will have to make last-minute decisions to ultimately sell. I’m on the edge of my seat just like you all.