As the 2024 MLB trade deadline approaches, the Los Angeles Dodgers could be among the teams that make significant moves. Currently controlling the National League West, the Dodgers are seemingly evaluating opportunities to strengthen their roster. As the deadline draws near, all eyes are on Los Angeles to see how they navigate the trade market and position themselves for success in the second half of the season.
A Dominating Offense, Despite the Imbalance
This season is crazy in the sense that the Dodgers are ranked near the top of almost every team offense category, but fans have seen how badly the team can perform on a given night. The team is currently ranked second in the majors with a collective .771 OPS and third with 412 runs scored. Obviously, a lot of that production was before Mookie Betts broke his hand, so it doesn’t necessarily reflect the current potency.
Regardless, we see the offense catch fire to produce double-digit runs sprees only to go dormant for days at a time not long after. Bringing back Betts and hopefully getting Max Muncy back at some point instantly makes the lineup deeper, addressing a subpar bottom-of-the-order group that continues to struggle.
With Betts healthy, the top of the order is about as good as it gets in the MLB. However, the bottom of the lineup could be among the worst.
While the Dodgers look fantastic with all the numbers rolled together on paper, they still lack perhaps one more legitimate bat that could accompany Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman. Teoscar Hernandez, Will Smith, and eventually Betts.
A Deep Starting Rotation
In the pitching department, Los Angeles starting pitchers currently have a combined 3.40 team ERA, third in the majors behind the Baltimore Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies. We’ve seen a few significant injuries so far — see Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Walker Buehler — but the rotation continues to shine. Righty Gavin Stone has been the anchor of the rotation in the first half with a 9-2 record and an impressive 2.73 ERA with one complete-game shutout.
More importantly, Landon Knack has contributed on a high level to allow the team to stay atop the league leaders. James Paxton continues to impress the baseball world with some of the best numbers from a southpaw this year.
It’s been two weeks since Yamamoto went on the shelf with a rotator cuff issue, but he has yet to begin a throwing program, suggesting that his return could be longer than expected. Veteran Clayton Kershaw has been shut down with shoulder soreness, so it’s certainly unwise to expect any contributions sometime soon, if at all. The same probably applies to Dustin May.
While the team looks fairly deep on paper for starting pitching, there really aren’t many MLB-ready options beyond Knack. Snagging a proven starter before the deadline could be a smart choice, depending on how things look with Yamamoto and Buehler over the next two to three weeks.
An Unpredictable Bullpen
With Joe Kelly, Brusdar Graterol and Ryan Brasier all on the injured list, nobody would think the Dodgers have the second-best bullpen ERA in the majors at 3.08. Obviously, ERA can be a misleading stat for relievers, but as a group, the Los Angeles bullpen is still in the MLB Top 3 with a 1.06 WHIP and a .203 batting average against.
Half of the current relief crew is made up of names like Yohan Ramirez, Anthony Banda, Michael Petersen and Ryan Yarbrough, suggesting the bullpen might not be as talented as the numbers indicate. With Blake Treinen seemingly unreliable lately, it could be wise to bolster the relief crew with at least one or two reliable arms, unless you trust Daniel Hudson or Alex Vesia to set the stage for Evan Phillips night in and night out.
Keep an eye on young righty Kyle Hurt, as he could be one of those instant upgrades should the Dodgers not make a big bullpen splash at the deadline.
2024 Deadline Outlook
Teams have been quiet about their negotiations and conversations about trades in recent years, compared to decades ago when the press would run wild with any whisper about a potential deal. Still, there’s more than four weeks remaining before this year’s July 30 deadline, meaning that everything is currently on the table as far as possibilities go.
The Dodgers could be big players in the coming weeks — especially in the reliever market — but the progressions of players like Kershaw, May, Kelly, Graterol, Yamamoto and Buehler over the next month could significantly determine how active they will be.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
All depends on what info Dodgers management has on timeline for injury recoveries. This team makes the playoffs as is. Who is available then? It also depends on their evaluation of current players in the minors. There are a couple of players that could be brought up. Biggio has not been any help. 3 guys in lower lineup with poor OBP & SLG are rally killers. Those guys also need to get on base for the top 5 when the lineup rolls over. Team has a lot of pitching under contract for 25 so not sure they will trade for someone that could need crack the rotation.
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I think they will make at least a couple moves. They need some pop on the bench. Right now, that is the weakest part of the roster.
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They don’t need a SS. Rojas is hitting .297. Mookie will be back in about 7 weeks. Rojas can more than handle the position until Betts is ready to go. They do need a power bat off of the bench. Quite a finish to tonight’s game. Shades of the 9th inning against the Rockies two weeks ago.
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Agree Bear. I think Friedman gets someone to help with the bottom of the lineup problems. Doubt it will be anyone the pundits are talking about. Rojas is having an amazing year and he is a plus defender. Wish a great guy like him could make the All Star team. It’s too much of a popularity contest.
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We keep talking about bottom of the lineup problems but the fact is that the bottom of the Dodger lineup has been among the best in MLB for the past month.
I’ll be the first to admit it may not last much longer and I’m certainly not opposed to bringing someone in at the deadline, but it isn’t nearly the problem it was for the first couple of months of the season.
Rojas has been great all year, JHey is holding his own, Lux is getting better and CT3 looks like he may finally be on the right tract. The two biggest problems right now are Biggio who seems like he’s contributing pretty much nothing and Kike who is more or less an unnecessary duplication of Taylor and one of them should probably be replaced.
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Kike helped his case with a couple of hits today. Taylor cracked his second homer and looks a lot better at the plate. Barnes even contributed a 2-run hit. I think Biggio is as good as gone, especially since Roberts has said Taylor is going to get a runway at third. Roberts also said he would absolutely consider moving Mookie to second and keeping Rojas at SS when Mookie returns. I think the Bichette to LA rumors are nothing but that. No substance at all.
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Biggio should be DFA’ed immediately and Lipcius brought to see what he can do. And one of Taylor/Kike needs to go away. The Biggio experiment is working out like the Gallo fiasco. AF trying to take sh*t and make it into Shinola is not a good strategy for improving the team. Especially for the playoffs.
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Calling up Lipcius, who is not a great defensive 3rd baseman so far, .940 fielding pct, requires clearing a roster spot. Biggio’s would do, but they expect Max back right after the All-Star game. He is starting to take swings now. Roberts has also said that Taylor is getting a runway at third. I take that to mean he is going to get the bulk of the starts there until Max is back.
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Good article Dennis. Pretty much nailed it. If 2 of those injured players come back, where in the world would a new pitcher go. As it is knack, Miller and Paxton will be sent down and we only need 4 starters in the playoffs.
Bottom of the order problem has been an issue for years. Rojas has solved one of those problems. Moving Betts back to second solves another problem. That just leaves 2 holes on the bench and 1 in the outfield. Keep the best defensive/versatile guy on the bench and get rid of the other 2. Unfortunately there are no catchers in the system so I guess with barnes.
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Paxton cannot be sent down. He is long out of options. Now, he could be left off of the post-season roster, but I doubt that happens as he is the only left-handed starter on the roster. And some of those teams are loaded with leftie hitters. Kershaw is not a lock to be the Kershaw of old, so unless they trade for one, Paxton will be on the playoff roster. At 7-2 so far, he has earned a spot.
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realize Paxton can’t be sent down but he is one of the weak links as I see it. Kersh has been our ace the last 10/12 years and I don’t have to remind anyone how that has worked out. We are probably past the lefty/right thing and should maybe focus on our 3/4 best pitchers. Right now that is Yamamoto, Glasgow, stone and whoever. Could even be kersh or Buehler. Our post season problem over the years has seldom been pitchers, but almost always the hitting. I suspect that will be the problem again this year, if they can’t solve one of the position player delemas.
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I agree. Even if guys like Rojas, Lux and Heyward are amid a hot streak right now, it doesn’t guarantee they’ll produce in October. There are at least five guys at or below the Mendoza line right now.
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doesn’t matter how many superstarsyou think you have, you need some production from the bottom half of the order. Always amuses me that everyone talks about the farm system , for years and yet produces almost no position players. This team is built with free agents, and has been for many years. And here we are again looking for outfielders, shortstop, second base. And nobody seems to understand this or talk about it. A good farm system is a far cry from a productive farm system. Oops there goes my frustration again. Lol
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There are no guarantees in the post season. How many times have you seen a role player become the biggest star in post season? When they lost to Boston in 18, it was Steven Pearce, a bench player who was the series MVP. Against the Braves, it was Eddie Rosario, a mid-season pickup. It is whoever gets hot wins. It happened last year, and the year before. It will probably happen again.
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I respect your opinion I really do, but I totally disagree. They need a left-handed starter in the playoffs against teams that are lefty heavy power wise, which is the Phillies. Both Schwarber and Harper kill RHP. Kersh has not been as bad in the playoffs as one might think. He has had a couple of really bad games that skewed his stats. He has been better the last several years and went 4-1 in the Championship run in 2020. His worst game came in last year’s playoff against the D-Backs. But in all honesty, he was not healthy when he pitched that game. He should never have been on the playoff roster. You have Yamamoto on there, but he has not even started a throwing program yet. You cannot count on him until you know he is healthy. May won’t be ready, and I have my doubts about Kersh or Buehler. The problem in the post season has been both. They have had years where the pitchers did well, but no one hit. And they have had years where they scored but lost because of the bullpen. Last two seasons, it has been the non-performance of the teams’ superstars. In 21 it was because Kersh, Muncy were hurt and out and in the LCS Scherzer was unable to answer the bell. Taylor, Bellinger and Pollock carried the team against Atlanta. Mookie, Seager, Smith all struggled.
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They are not, repeat not, looking for a SS. They feel Rojas can carry the load until Mookie is back. And if he needs a day, Kike or Taylor can play for him. Bichette? Please, he is having a bad year. Adames is not getting traded, and neither is Abrams. Roberts even said the other day that he would feel comfortable putting Mookie back at second and keeping Rojas at SS, so they do not need a second baseman either. They need a starting pitcher who can give them some innings, a power hitting outfielder, preferably left-handed, and a decent bench player with some bat to ball skills.
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If they’ve decided they want to move Mookie back to 2B when he returns, they will most definitely be looking for a SS. I very much doubt that AF thinks 35 year old Rojas can continue at this pace for another 1/2 season plus the huge pressure of the playoffs. He’s a major asset for this team but should be the first guy up as a sub at 2B, 3B and SS once Mookie and Max return.
You are right when you say Abrams won’t be traded and you are almost definitely correct on Adames.
Bichette on the other hand (my opinion only) is very likely to be traded if the Blue Jays don’t straighten themselves out in the next 2-3 weeks. Yes, he’s having a lousy year but it’s the first bad year he’s had in his six year career. He’s still only 26 and 26 year old players rarely lose their skills at that age. He hasn’t even reached his prime yet. If he’s available AF should definitely see what it would take to bring him here.
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I agree. If a fantastic SS deal presents itself, Friedman will jump on it. I think the only two starting spots that aren’t up for grabs right now are DH, 1B and catcher.
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