After two days of meetings, no one really knows if we are inching closer to ending the MLB lockout, which has been going on since December. The possibility of MLB canceling games now seems like a higher possibility. As a fan, it is starting to get a bit concerning to complete a full regular season.
There are many big-name free agents out there, so teams will need a good period of time to negotiate and improve their rosters.
The Dodgers are one of those teams, as they’ve lost a number of key free agents and still have many remaining.
One area in which there are a lot of questions is the starting pitching, which looked to be a strength at the beginning of the 2021 season. The Dodgers starting rotation currently looks like Walker Buehler, Tony Gonsolin, and Julio Urias with newly signed left-hander Andrew Heaney looking like he can also be part of it.
Right-hander Dustin May figures to be back from Tommy John surgery sometime during the season, and there are many questions as to whether Trevor Bauer will even pitch on a major league mound again. The Dodgers already lost Max Scherzer and could possibly still lose Clayton Kershaw, so we’ll take a look and some trades the Dodgers could conceivably swing.
Castillo has probably been the pitcher most talked about in the trade market. The 29-year-old right-hander was an All-Star back in 2019. Throughout five seasons with the Reds he owns a 3.72 ERA and his strikeout stuff is amazing, as he has registered 770 strikeouts.
In 2021, he posted a 3.98 ERA, with a record of 8-16. This year you may remember that Castilo started against the Dodgers and had 10 strikeouts in 6 ⅓ innings. The Reds asking price may be too high for the Dodgers to consider, but Castillo would be a nice addition to the Dodgers rotation.
Montas has already spent time in the Dodger organization from 2015 to 2016, as he was traded to the Oakland Athletics in the deal that brought Rich Hill and Josh Reddick to Los Angeles. The 28-year-old right-hander finished the 2021 campaign with a 13-9 record and a 3.37 ERA along with 207 strikeouts. He finished sixth in American Cy Young voting.
There have been many rumors that Oakland may trade away some of their pieces such as Matt Olson and Montas. The Dodgers and Montas have been linked for a bit and Oakland and LA could swing another trade.
After he struggled with a 5.60 ERA in the 2020 season he turned it around to have a great 2021 campaign. There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Athletics including the direction they want to move forward in and whether they relocate to Las Vegas.
The 28-year-old left-hander enjoyed a great 2021 campaign, one of the few bright spots they had in Baltimore. He pitched a no-hitter this year, and only allowed one runner on a dropped third strike. Means was an All-Star back in 2019.
He missed some time due to injuries in 2021 and ended with a 3.62 ERA in 146 ⅔ innings. Throughout his career, he has had a 3.82 ERA over four seasons and 63 starts. The Orioles the past couple of years has been the bottom feeders of the MLB, so they may want to grab more prospects as they continue their rebuild.
Those are just some of the pitchers that could be on the trade market that could help the Dodgers. Certainly, there could be plenty I missed. Nevertheless, I am eager to see what the front office does before the beginning of the season—if it ever gets started.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
The Bauer problem will continue to be a problem until MLB makes some sort of decision. Of the guys mentioned, I would like Castillo the most, but there is another name that is still a free agent, Rodon, who also would be a great addition. Dodgers signed Sam Gaviglio to a minor league deal with an invite to spring training. He last pitched for the Jays in 2020. Career 11-18 record with a 4.88 ERA . With 98 games at the major league level, he has made 37 starts.
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Means has 3 years of control remaining and is earning practically nothing so he would be very expensive. Trading him would get the Orioles some very good prospects but at some point they need to start holding on to their better players.
That said, it wouldn’t be a total shock to see him traded. Not sure I’d want to give up the prospects it would take to get him though.
The Reds have made it pretty clear that it would take something ridiculous to get them to part with Castillo.
My vote goes to Chris Bassitt of the A’s. Only one year left on his contract so the price would probably be half reasonable. He’s a very good pitcher and a real trooper. Got hit in the face with a liner last year and came back to pitch much sooner than anyone thought he would. Go get Chris!
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I agree, getting a decent pitcher for one year is a smart move to bridge to Pepiot, Miller, Jackson et al.
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Thanks for throwing out a great topic Jose.
Castillo is fantastic when he’s on, but he had an era of over 7 for a while last season, frankly he scares the heck out of me, considering what the price would be to attain him. He has the best chance to carry a pitching staff, and also break our hearts. So I would stay away from him, personally.
Means had a great first half, but started fading in the second half, I don’t know if he was wearing down, or there is something going on with his arm. First half Means, definitely, second half Means not so much.
Montas I like, he is a solid pitcher, if he was in dodger blue next season I would be ok with that. But I’m with Jeff here, the Oakland A I really want to see pitch for us is Bassitt he is a great pitcher, and he doesn’t have a ton of innings on his arm.
Bear wins the grand prize for me though, Rodon is the guy I most want to see the Dodgers go after, he’s a FA so unlike the other pitchers mentioned here, he won’t cost anything but money, we can keep our prospects for the trading deadline in case things aren’t working out well.
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Rodon has the same potential pitfall as Means. Great first half, and then he kind of fell apart due to injury. Some people are suspicious that the White Sox didn’t offer him a QO. 18 mil for one year would seem like a bargain. So they may know more about his arm health than they are letting on. For that reason, I would pass on Rodon.
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I agree, he costs only money, the others are going to cost us some players, And why trade for Montas? They had him once and traded him away. I do not care for retreads.
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Montas is 28 and finished 6th in the Cy Voting. That’s a good enough reason to be interested. Not sure I want to give up what it would take though.
Just checked the list of FA’s and their “best fit” likely signing places, which is really nothing more than educated guesses. We aren’t linked to many, that’s for sure. Kershaw of course. Jansen is linked to Toronto, We were a sleeper fit for Verlander. Rodon isn’t mentioned to LA. I think most believe the Dodgers are in pretty good shape as is and will likely respond rather than react. A trade appears most likely and it won’t be rushed.
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Always respect your opinions there Scoop. I really do not think they are in good shape. I think they have holes and they will need to be addressed sooner than later.
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As I yours Bear. I believe they’ll be fine. I can see 5 potential All Stars in that starting lineup, 2 on the starting staff and 1 in the bullpen. 8 All Stars from the Dodgers.
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How recently were we considered a sleeper for Verlander? He signed back with Houston some time ago. I would have loved to have seen us get him.
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This is what it said:
Best fit: Astros. Verlander’s new one-year, $25 million deal with Houston was not finalized prior to the lockout. I don’t know whether something popped up in his medicals that gave the team pause or what, but he is still technically a free agent.
That was in December. Not much current obviously as nothing is happening.
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“HOUSTON — The Astros’ contract with veteran right-handed pitcher Justin Verlander has been made official. Verlander signed a one-year contract for 2022 with a player option for ’23 to return to the Astros on Dec. 1, prior to the expiration of the current CBA.Dec 14, 2021”
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“ORANGE COUNTY – the post suggesting the Dodgers might have been a sleeper fit for Verlander has been edited. The point about the post, that the Dodgers weren’t really linked as a best fit to any free agent (except Kershaw) remains lost in the webular ethos”.
Think I might just take a break from discussing what if maybe perhaps could be feasible scenarios until something between these two warring groups of millionaires actually happens.
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No breaks, Scoop. We depend on you to keep us motivated and engaged.
Consider all the things you could ponder these days. Most of the other topics will depress you. Stick with baseball “what ifs”, it’s better for peace of mind.
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Just thought you all should know, over their entire existence as a MLB team, the Dodgers are 1,166 games over .500. As the Brooklyn Dodgers and as the Los Angeles Dodgers they have a .544 winning pct. Just thought I would put that out there. Oh yeah, Tom Brady is retiring..
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I wonder where that ranks the franchise in all time winning pct. against the league.
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