In each of their last two marches to a World Series championship, the Dodgers\u2019 deadline needs were much more pressing and obvious than they are right now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In 2024, the Dodgers made their desire for an impact arm abundantly clear and traded for the best starter available in Detroit\u2019s Jack Flaherty. They still ended up with a dearth of reliable starting options late in the season and leaned heavily on their bullpen \u2014 they got 22 more innings from their relievers than their starters in the postseason \u2014 on their path through October.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last year, they had the opposite problem. An injured and overworked Dodgers bullpen had thrown the most innings in baseball and ranked in the bottom 10 in ERA at the time of the deadline. That was the team\u2019s most glaring need.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But acquiring players in the middle of the season usually requires an overpay in the form of prospect capital. The Dodgers have spent exorbitantly offseason after offseason in an attempt to build a big-league roster that doesn\u2019t need deadline reinforcements.<\/p>\n
“I do not want to buy in July,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman repeated before the 2025 season.\u00a0 “I feel like the more times I say it out loud, the better chance it has to actually be a thing.”\u00a0<\/p>\n
So the Dodgers ended up making just one move for a high-leverage relief arm at the 2025 deadline, trading for Brock Stewart from the Twins, while also adding outfield depth by acquiring Alex Call from the Nationals.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The team\u2019s deadline restraint threatened their chances to repeat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Stewart made just four appearances before joining the club\u2019s long list of injured relief arms. The Dodgers\u2019 bullpen issues forced them to use starting pitchers in relief throughout October and into November \u2014 the six Dodgers pitchers who appeared in Game 7 of the World Series were all starters at some point during the regular season \u2014 though they ultimately had just enough pitching to become the first back-to-back champions since the 1998-00 Yankees.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This year, despite the Dodgers\u2019 thirst for a third straight championship, Friedman might finally get his wish.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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The Dodgers were well-represented at the All-Star Game. (Photo by Rob Tringali\/MLB Photos via Getty Images) <\/p>\n
WITH THE TRADE deadline less than two weeks away, they have no clear needs and the largest division lead in the sport. The Dodgers could do nothing and would still be the favorites to three-peat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Their offense ranks first in OPS, even with Kyle Tucker, Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez underperforming at the plate. Their pitching staff ranks in the top 10 in both rotation ERA and bullpen ERA and is expecting Edwin D\u00edaz, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow back from injury in the second half.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of course, every contending team could use more bullpen arms. So, an approach like last year\u2019s \u2014 some light buying on the margins, potentially even some selling to bolster an already robust farm system \u2014 seems likelier than the team completely standing pat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Remember, amid their quiet deadline last July, the Dodgers also traded big-league starter Dustin May to Boston for outfield prospects James Tibbs III and Zach Ehrhard. That prudent move is an example of how a Dodgers team that routinely picks at the end of drafts with little bonus pool money has still maintained one of the most robust farm systems in the sport. Tibbs (who also plays first base) and Ehrhard are now among the club\u2019s top hitters at Triple-A Oklahoma City, and yet those two aren\u2019t even among the top outfield prospects on the farm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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James Tibbs III is one of the Dodgers’ top prospects. (Photo by Brandon Sloter\/Getty Images) <\/p>\n
Dodgers minor league outfielders Josue De Paula, Mike Sirota, Zyhir Hope and Eduardo Quintero all rank among the top 30 prospects in all of baseball, according to\u00a0MLB.com<\/a>, while Charles Davalan, who was selected 41st overall by the Dodgers last year, has an OPS over .900 over his first two minor-league seasons. With Tibbs and Ehrhard at Triple-A and De Paula, Sirota and Hope at Double-A, it won\u2019t be long until a horde of Dodgers outfield prospects are knocking on the big-league door.\u00a0<\/p>\n But there won\u2019t be room for all of them on a Dodgers team that has Tucker and Hern\u00e1ndez signed through at least next season (Tucker\u2019s four-year deal includes opt-outs after 2027 and 2028) and an All-Star in Andy Pages under team control through 2030.\u00a0<\/p>\n And right now, the Dodgers are set at virtually every position in the field.\u00a0<\/p>\n They have All-Stars in Pages (center field), Freddie Freeman (first base) and Max Muncy (third base). They just re-signed Hern\u00e1ndez to a three-year deal before last season and gave Tucker his massive deal in the offseason. Despite Betts\u2019 struggles at the plate, he remains an exceptional defender at shortstop and has been a much better hitter over the past couple months. Tommy Edman, who has spent most of his time at second base lately, has excelled at the plate after returning from ankle surgery.<\/p>\n Catcher is a question mark with Will Smith\u2019s neck issue taking longer than anyone expected to get right. So, if the Dodgers want some insurance behind Dalton Rushing, they could use some of their outfield prospects to add more catching. Or, they could also use those prospects for pitching depth at the big-league level or to supplement the farm at other positions of need.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u2026Or, they could just throw caution to the wind and win the deadline again, as they have in the past.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tarik Skubal is the main prize of this MLB trade season. (Photo by Scott W. Grau\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) <\/p>\n THIS IS STILL a front office that made deadline trades for Yu Darvish in 2017, Manny Machado in 2018 and Max Scherzer and Trea Turner in 2022. And despite Friedman\u2019s long-stated goal not to buy in July, they have the prospects to get any deal done and had a three-peat on their mind from the moment the confetti landed on the grass at Dodger Stadium during their last championship parade.\u00a0<\/p>\n “We\u2019re gonna be extremely driven and do everything we can to put ourselves in the best position to do it again,” Friedman said last November.\u00a0<\/p>\n There aren\u2019t many players potentially on the block who could meaningfully shift a team\u2019s championship odds. Tarik Skubal, of course, represents an exception, should the Tigers make him available.\u00a0<\/p>\n Maybe the uncertainty around the health of Snell\u2019s elbow, Glasnow\u2019s back and Shohei Ohtani\u2019s knee will convince the Dodgers to push all in for the Tigers ace. Perhaps the Dodgers try to get him simply so the back-to-back Cy Young Award winner won\u2019t stand in their way come October.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Dodgers don\u2019t\u00a0need anything else to win a third straight title. But if their desire for a three-peat is insatiable, they have the resources to keep pushing as far as they desire.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rowan Kavner<\/a>\u00a0is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. He previously covered the L.A. Dodgers, LA Clippers and Dallas Cowboys. An LSU grad, Rowan was born in California, grew up in Texas, then moved back to the West Coast in 2014. Follow him on X at\u00a0@RowanKavner<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n