Now that the All-Star break is over, baseball fans, and especially fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers, turn their eyes to the second half and the trade deadline.
The Dodgers made one of their first move today, reportedly signing Jake Marisnick to a major league contract.
Fans know that the team was looking for a right handed bat. But this move is a head scratcher. Marisnick has never had a great batting average in the major leagues. His best year was 2017 when he was with the Houston Astros, and then he only batted .243. Marisnick broke his thumb in September of that year, and did not play in the playoffs.
He was designated for assignment by both the Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox earlier this season.
One would hope that this is not the teams only move for a right hand bat, as there are a few weeks left until the trade deadline.
The Dodgers also recently claimed right hander Tyson Miller from the Milwaukee Brewers for cash considerations. Miller has a 5.79 ERA on the season.
In the corresponding move, Daniel Hudson was moved the 60-day IL.
As always, the rumors abound about who else the Dodgers are interested in. One is working out a trade with the Chicago White Sox for Lucas Giolito, and perhaps Tim Anderson also.
Giolito is currently 6-5 on the season, with a 3.45 ERA. He is from the L.A. area, and oddly, announced his impending divorce via Instagram during the Home Run Derby on Monday. Perhaps returning home and playing for a contender would be a good thing.
Anderson is having a down year, batting only .223 with no home runs, and doesn’t play exceptionally well defensively either.
Another rumor floating around is the Dodgers have interest in old friend Rich Hill, and Austin Hedges. While a reunion with the journeyman pitcher would be lovely, he is 7-9 with a 4.78 ERA, and at age 43, one wonders about his stamina through another postseason. Hedges of course is a catcher, so presumably Austin Barnes would have to moved in this scenario and that doesn’t seem likely, although stranger things have happened.
As always around the trade deadline, lots of rumors around the Dodgers, and most of them don’t end up coming to fruition. And as always, time will tell.
There is one good piece of news in the injury department for the Dodgers. Starting pitcher Ryan Pepiot is reportedly going to go out and start rehab assignments with Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers on Friday, when the team plays in Sacramento. Pepiot injured his oblique in Spring Training.
The Dodgers start their second half on the season on the road, with series against the New York Mets, the Baltimore Orioles, and the Texas Rangers. Julio Urías will start Friday’s game, with the rest of the rotation schedule yet to be announced. Clayton Kershaw is also expected to return from the IL very soon.
The next few weeks will determine how well the Dodgers will be positioned to make a good run at the playoffs, with series against three teams that are playing very well, and the potential additions. Stay tuned.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
Good news about Pepiot………………at last.
Where did you hear that Anderson doesn’t want to play for the Dodgers? Hopefully, AF takes that into consideration when not trading for him. He seems a bit of a head case who is having a really bad 2023 and nothing says he’ll turn his year around if traded so I don’t see any reason to go after him in the first place.
LikeLike
Well now I can’t find it. I hope it’s not something I just imagined 😂
LikeLike
I don’t mean to be difficult, but where did you hear that Pepiot is ready to go out on rehab assignment? I thought he hadn’t even started throwing yet.
LikeLike
LikeLike
Excellent! Freedman is definitely a reliable source.
LikeLike
Jeff why would you even doubt Andy?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Are you trying to get me in trouble, Gordon?
I just know that, as Dodger fans, we sometimes dream things that seem very realistic.
For example, last night I dreamt that we traded Ramos and Knack for Ohtani and that you said we got the short end of the deal because Shoehei was older than 26.
LikeLiked by 1 person
He’s right in that I shouldn’t write something I can’t back up. I asked around on Twitter last night and others had seen the same thing, although couldn’t find the tweet. So maybe it’s a group memory loss and not just me 😂
LikeLike
What do you mean you shouldn’t write anything you can’t back up? Why should you be any different than the rest of us?
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well you had a good dream Jeff. Not many people would trade 2 prospects for a 26 year old superstars. His career seems to be on the down slope. Oh wait knack is also 26 and Ramos is an outfielder. We haven’t drafted a major league outfielder in 20 years. So that would be a over the hill superstar for a career minor leaguers and a dodger draft that has no chance, because, well he is a dodger draft.
Just apologize to Andy.
LikeLike
I apologize, Andy.
This silly conversation has gone on for so long I’m not even sure what I’m apologizing for anymore, but I’m really good at apologizing. Just ask my wife.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Haha no need to apologize! It’s fine to ask where I’ve seen something. I wasn’t offended. It’s all good
LikeLike
If you weren’t offended, I withdraw my apology. On second thought, just keep it on file should I ever offend you in the future. You can also use it if Gordon offends you.
LikeLiked by 1 person
No we really shouldn’t g0 for Anderson, he’s not much upgrade offensively, .521 OPS, 46 OPS+, no home runs? Terrible.
LikeLike
PS Pepiot hasn’t been good. I’m not holding my breath.
LikeLike
Hell no on Tim Anderson.
LikeLike
It will be fun to sit back and see what happens. I know I will watch a lot of TV that day following the trades.
LikeLike
Pepiot went two innings, made 29 pitches and gave up a run. OKC won in extra’s. Urias, after giving up a lead off double to Nimmo, totally shut the Mets down and Nimmo’s hit was the only one they would get all night. Dodgers finally got to Verlander in the 5th scoring 3. Verlander walked the bottom three in the order before Mookie singled in a run and Freddie doubled in two. Martinez hit his 23rd in the 8th inning off of Leone, who used to be a Giant. Bullpen got three perfect innings from Ferguson, Almonte and Brasier. Weird fact, home plate umpire Tony Randazzo is the cousin of the play by play announcer for Apple TV last night.
LikeLike
With the trade deadline approaching and this team needing some obvious upgrades at places who are some realistic guys you’d like to consider getting? Tim Anderson from the White Sox would be one even though he’s having a down year but we need a SS regardless. I hope they call about a former Dodger though. I would love to have Belly back from the Cubs but he’s going to be a hot commodity and I really doubt he would want to come back after we let him walk. I like Outman but he doesn’t have Cody’s range or glove in the field and doesn’t have his power at the plate even though he does have some pop. I really really really hope they try to make deal to get big red back in Dodger Blue where he belongs and never left. He’s having yet another solid season at the plate and he would give us freedom to move guys around like outing Muncy at 2B and JT and 3rd with Rojas or Taylor at SS. Boston is in last place in their division but still only 8.5 games out of 1st but they still most likely won’t make the playoffs so they would be willing to deal some of their vets. If they did do a deal to get Turner back they would be wise to ask for Kike’ also just for his position versatility of being able to play anywhere on the field besides catcher. Not only would we be upgrading our offense with Turner’s bat but we would be giving the clubhouse a huge lift with 2 of the most beloved Dodgers of the last decade. What do y’all think? We shouldn’t have to include any of our blue chip prospects either to make a deal for Turner which is another benefit. We could get him for a couple top 20 guys in our system. He’s clearly still got another year or two in him so it wouldn’t be just a 2 month rental either.
LikeLike
Anderson is a real enigma. I don’t think the gamble is worth it since Mookie is spending a decent amount of time at short and Rojas and CT3 are outperforming Anderson at this point.
I don’t see Belli coming back. Lots of teams would be in on him and I don’t see AF being high bidder, especially since they now have a very good defensive center fielder, Marisnick on the roster, even though he’ll probably play only against southpaws.
Would love to see JT and Kike back in blue but I don’t think JT is ready to play third every day and if he plays at DH you have to sit Martinez. I doubt Andrew would spend the prospects to bring back Kike when he has so many other needs, but you never know.
Everyone is talking about possibly going after Giolito which I would have no problem with except that he’s going to come at a very steep price since every team that needs pitching will be bidding on him.
Two other starters who are flying more under the radar and have pitched very well recently are Lance Lynn and Kyle Hendricks. We already know that White Sox are ready to deal and if the Cubs sell, they’ll certainly put Hendricks out there.
Another guy who intrigues me is Cards reliever Jordan Hicks. He’s a bit inconsistent and sometimes walks more hitters than he should, but when he’s on he’s really something.
LikeLike
Also adding Kike’ to a Turner deal would bring down the asking price for Turner as they could unload his contract off their books. I know a lot of people are saying no on Tim Anderson but go look at his stats before this season. Before this year he’s been a .300 hitter at the plate with good speed. I’m more than willing to take a chance on him regaining his form. All this is probably for nothing though as I think the Dodgers are set at keeping the payroll down this year so they can do a reset on the books.
LikeLike
Kike is lousy. He has made a ton of errors at SS and is not even playing regularly anymore He is no upgrade over Taylor. Rojas is hitting better than Anderson at this point. He is a plus WAR player and Anderson is not. And his defense is superior to Anderson or Kike. JT is playing mostly first base and DH. He rarely plays third because of the Sox having Devers over there. Martinez is a much better option at DH, JT has nowhere near his power. SO why in the world would the Dodgers waste any prospect capital on two players who had their time in blue and have moved on? Right now, Outman has more homers than Belli. Belli is still owed a large portion of his 17 mil salary. He is not coming back to LA. Rojas is under contract for next season, probably to back up Lux. So why would LA want Anderson who is not performing at anything close to his supposed abilities. They will trade for pitching.
LikeLike
I agree Bear. None of the 4 prospects has shown much, and I don’t think they want to go into the last 2 month with 3 rookies, or even 2. They all do still have some trade value, but less than 3 month ago. I’m assuming kersh will be back sometime. Rojas has been hitting much better . We can live without a 3rd baseman and 2 outfielders.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It will be very interesting, as we have no idea what the Dodgers actually think. They will tell us loud and clear, if we listen. They already told us that none of our outfield prospects are better than Marisnick.
LikeLike
Thor threw 5 innings last night. 2 earned, 6 Ks and no walks. Bruihl got the win in relief. Dahl and Busch homered. Vargas 1-4 with a walk.
LikeLike