The biggest question facing the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of this year\u2019s trade deadline may appear to be whether they will trade for two-time American League Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal. Given the Detroit Tigers\u2019 dismal slide in the AL Central, Skubal\u2019s pending free agency, LA\u2019s deep farm system and the fact that this is the Dodgers we\u2019re talking about, all of this speculation is actually plausible.<\/p>\n
But is that really the path Andrew Friedman and Co. will ponder over the next five weeks? Similar to their thinking last offseason, the Dodgers will add to their roster only if it greatly increases their chances of winning their third straight World Series. That\u2019s a high bar. Los Angeles has the best record in baseball. Ahead of their 4-2 win over the San Diego Padres on Sunday, the Dodgers\u2019 rotation had the second-lowest ERA in baseball (3.27) and the third-most strikeouts in the National League (447). Their offense leads the majors with a .786 OPS and has hit the third-most home runs (113).<\/p>\n
Friedman will also be wary of moves that could impede the team\u2019s next core of homegrown players. The Dodgers aren\u2019t just striving for another title. They\u2019re trying to ensure their dynasty runs much longer than that.<\/p>\n
The Dodgers have one of MLB\u2019s top farm systems, including an abundance of promising outfield prospects they could easily deal from should they want to swing big. But traditionally, Friedman\u2019s operations at the deadline are far more modest than his mega-moves in the offseason.<\/p>\n
What will the Dodgers do before the Aug. 3 trade deadline? As they\u2019ve proved over the last few years, we can\u2019t really count them out of anything \u2014 and the allure of a three-peat remains their driving force. Still, given the state of their roster and the slew of impact players slated to return in the second half, could Los Angeles also justify being less aggressive and focus on improving their organizational depth? It\u2019s a possibility \u2014 and according to multiple sources familiar with the team\u2019s early thinking, who were given anonymity in exchange for their candor, it\u2019s the likelier route.<\/p>\n
Record: 54-30<\/p>\n
Record this time last season: 52-32<\/p>\n
Standing: 1st in National League West<\/p>\n
Playoff odds: 100 percent (FanGraphs), 99.9 percent (Baseball Reference)<\/p>\n
If the season ended today: No 1 seed in the National League, best overall record in baseball<\/p>\n
Biggest series between now and the deadline: Will play the Phillies for three games at Citizens Bank Park in a rematch of last year\u2019s NLDS. Series begins July 20.<\/p>\n
Current needs: Key players must get healthy. Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez will be activated off the injured list ahead of Monday\u2019s game against the Athletics. Will Smith and Evan Phillips should be back within the next couple of weeks as well. And Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Edwin D\u00edaz and Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez should all return from the IL in the earlier portion of the second half, which will improve the Dodgers\u2019 roster more than any potential deadline acquisition not named Skubal.<\/p>\n
Major-league execs love to speak in cliches (more than usual) this time of year, and it\u2019s not uncommon for a general manager to say getting an injured player back before the deadline is like making a trade. That might elicit eye rolls from a fan base, but in the case of the Dodgers, it\u2019s a fair assessment.<\/p>\n
History says: Improve on the margins. Friedman isn\u2019t usually one to swing big during the deadline (that order of operations is reserved for the offseason). In a perfect world, Friedman would avoid buying at all. But if the Dodgers are looking to add, expect it to be someone who can add depth and flexibility without depleting the farm system, such as when they traded for Tommy Edman in 2024 or Alex Call in 2025. These are usually the types of deadline deals Friedman prefers, unless an obvious need pops up between now and Aug. 3.<\/p>\n
What will determine what they do: The Dodgers front office has an oft-used phrase to describe its process. The Dodgers will \u201chang around the backboard\u201d like opportunistic rebounders and wait for the market to dictate their order of operations. Los Angeles has the advantage, and Friedman is one of the industry\u2019s best at waiting out his competition. With no dire need and so many highly touted prospects within the organization, the Dodgers can let the market play out and pounce if an opportunity arises.<\/p>\n
What should they do:\u00a0For the back-to-back champs, what matters most is ensuring they have as much versatility as possible as they aim for another deep October run. The Dodgers don\u2019t need to unload their farm system to be World Series favorites \u2014 they already are, especially when factoring in several second-half returns. Still, they are loaded when it comes to outfield prospects. Trading one or two to land an impact player \u2014 either for now or for the future \u2014 could help address a need while alleviating a jam.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The biggest question facing the Los Angeles Dodgers ahead of this year\u2019s trade deadline may appear to be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":768921,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,487,462,82],"class_list":["post-768920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=768920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/768920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/768921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=768920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=768920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=768920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}