The Dodgers are currently in first place in the National League West. Their hold on that lead seems tenuous though as the Giants continue to play solid baseball and the Dodgers continue to lose starting pitchers to injury. The latest Dodger arm to hit the ranks of the walking wounded is left hander Brett Anderson. Anderson believes he injured himself during the first inning of last night’s game against Atlanta on an Andrelton Simmons comeback grounder. He wouldn’t exit the contest however until two innings later when he crumbled trying to field a similar ball off the bat of Jonny Gomes.
Anderson’s MLB career has been mired by injuries as this year is the first year since his sophomore season in Oakland (2010) that he’s crossed the 100 innings threshold. The “good news” is that this isn’t one of those recurring injuries as those have all been arm-related woes. The bad news is he becomes the fourth Dodgers starter on the shelf as we enter the stretch run of the 2015 campaign. Two others, Brandon McCarthy and Hyun-Jin Ryu, are done for the year. Another, Carlos Frias, had tailed off considerably, some say due to pitching through an injury, following a promising start to his season.
So what do the Dodgers do to sure up the rotation as the trade deadline approaches? Firstly, they may not be able to wait all the way to July 31st as they need two starters for this weekend’s series with the Mets. Prospect Zach Lee and the highly erratic Brandon Beachy are on the 40-man roster, but it is unlikely that Don Mattingly will fill both vacancies with those two players. But what does the current market for starting pitching look like?
For one thing, it suddenly flooded with aces. Philadelphia’s Cole Hamels has been there for a while and the Reds have seemingly finally resigned themselves to life without free agent to be Johnny Cueto. The Tigers recently stirred up the pot even more by letting the baseball community know that David Price (and outfielder Yoenis Cespedes) were readily available for trade as the July 31st non-waiver deadline inches closer.
The second level of pitching available is less expensive than the above triumvirate of pitching talent, but still carries a fairly hefty price tag. Chicago is asking for quite a ransom for Jeff Samardzija, even though he seems to be a case of buyer’s remorse for the club. The fee for Oakland’s Scott Kazmir varies from report to report, but rest assured Billy Beane isn’t going to get raked over the coals in a trade deadline deal. LA could even possibly work in the division as the Padres look to deal 2014 All-Star Tyson Ross.
The real question is what will the Dodgers give up to make any of these deals? The money is no issue. GM Farhan Zaidi and the rest of management/ownership have shown time and time again that they are willing to absorb massive salaries in the name of organizational improvement. Unlike older regimes though, they aren’t willing to deplete their sparkling farm system to do that. They balked on acquiring Price at the deadline last year as Detroit wouldn’t come off Joc Pederson’s inclusion in the deal. Zaidi and company seem just as steadfast on the untouchable statuses of their current top prospects, shortstop Corey Seager and left-handed starter Julio Urias. While that is good for Dodgers fans as they look to the future, it will surely be a detriment to the present.
Lee, a former college quarterback at LSU, should be in the Majors already. He’s ironed out his control issues and has pretty much played himself above the Minors. The other spot is where the pitching is needed. They could call up retread Scott Baker along with Lee, but that would mean designating someone like Beachy for assignment since Baker is not on the 40-man roster. That is why the trade is the more likely scenario. It could be just a minor deal for the weekend plug-in, but expect the Dodgers to continue to pound the pavement in trade talks.
Last year Tampa Bay came down significantly on their asking price for David Price. Oakland got Jon Lester for a player who wanted away anyway. Teams may be playing hardball now, but as the 11th hour draws nearer they’ll eventually concede. The Dodgers are in the driver’s seat in the NL West right now, but they can not rest on that. The defending World Series champion Giants are staring at them in the rear view mirror and as the warning goes objects in said mirror are always closer than they appear.