LOS ANGELES, CA— After eighty-five games, the calendar has finally turned to July, which puts us thirty-one days away from the Major League Baseball trade deadline.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are in a great spot: first in the National League West, seven games up on the San Diego Padres. They have the best record in the National League, three games over the Philadelphia Phillies. And despite all their injuries, they are tied with the Detroit Tigers for the best record in Major League Baseball.
However, like all teams, even super ones like the Dodgers, there are still holes in the roster that must be addressed. But with the deadline looking like a seller’s market and a good chunk of teams still “competing,” who’s available, and what are the Dodgers’ needs?
Will the Dodgers be Active?
Since Andrew Freidman took over during the 2015 offseason, the Dodgers have been somewhat quiet at each Major League trade deadline.
While there have been some massive trades, such as the Yu Darvish trade in 2017, the Manny Machado trade in 2018, or the epic acquisition of Trea Turner and multi-Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer in 2021, for the most part, Friedman has been reluctant to “overpay” at the deadline.
Last year’s “big” trade was a three-team deal between the White Sox, Cardinals, and Dodgers which sent utilityman Tommy Edman and right-handed relief pitcher Michael Kopech to Los Angeles, Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham to the Cardinals, and Miguel Vargas, 2B Jeral Perez, and INF Alexander Albertus to the White Sox in a deal that in hindsight was a massive steal for the Dodgers.
However, despite the issues the Dodgers are facing with injuries, an underperforming starting rotation, an overworked bullpen, and an unproductive Michael Conforto, Andrew Friedman is still standing by his previous statements.
“I’m still optimistic,” Friedman said. “It requires guys coming back on or close to the timelines that we have penciled out.
“We have shown that, if we’re not in a position to do that, we’ll be aggressive to add. But our strong desire is not to.”
For the Dodgers, that is a smart move, as their expected returns from the injured list in the second half can be defined as deadline additions. Both Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell should return to the rotation post-All-Star break.
The team has also not lost hope on Roki Sasaki, the 23-year-old Japanese phenom, rejoining them at some point before the season is over, along with right-handed relief pitcher Blake Treinen, but if that doesn’t work out, they’ll be forced to act.
Then you have the injury to All-Star contender Max Muncy, who left Wednesday’s game after a collision with White Sox center fielder Michael A Taylor. The next day, an MRI revealed that Muncy had no ligament damage but would miss the next six to ten weeks on the injured list with a left knee bone bruise.
Regardless, the Dodgers should be highly active at the deadline as they look to march their way back to the Fall Classic and become the first team to repeat since the 2000s New York Yankees.
Needs
At the start of the regular season, the Dodgers were seen by many as the “perfect” team, which makes sense after adding multiple All-Stars after winning the World Series just a few months ago.
However, what has killed the team is injuries, particularly in the pitching staff, with Los Angeles already using over thirty different arms this season, and they were not at the All-Star break yet.
Despite the Dodgers having the largest lead of any National League contender, the team will have to address some key issues on the roster.
Starting Rotation Help
The issues with the Dodgers starting rotation are clear as day: they need a quality arm in the rotation that can not only eat innings but provide above-league average statics.
Despite the additions over the last two off-seasons, the Dodgers ’ rotation currently ranks in the bottom third in the league in ERA (4.21), FIP (4.58), and innings pitched (413.0).
The injuries have been a significant issue for the Dodgers’ pitching staff, particularly the starting rotation. At this point, despite the returns of veteran lefty Clayton Kershaw and two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, the team is still without lefty Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Roki Sasaki, and Tony Gonsolin.
Snell, who signed a massive 5-year, $182 million contract over the winter, has made just two starts this season. Glasnow has continued to battle injuries in his Dodgers tenure, most recently being placed on the 15-day injured list in April.
Sasaki, 23, came to the States with massive expectations and showed flashes but was widely inconsistent across the board, including with his velocity, which reached as low as 93 mph.
The Dodgers faced a similar issue last season, losing Glasnow, Yamamoto, and Kershaw for most of the summer. That prompted Andrew Friedman and Brandon Gomes to acquire the best starting pitcher on the trade block, Jack Flaherty, who was a pivotal member of the team’s World Series run.
This season, the Dodgers are in a similar situation, but they expect to be much healthier in the second half of the season.
Tyler Glasnow completed his third rehab appearance last Thursday, tossing 4.1 innings and one three-run ball, and per Dave Roberts, the righty will possibly be activated during the final road trip of the first half.
Emmet Sheehan completed his second start of the season, tossing five innings, allowing one run and punching out four against the Houston Astros, and seems to be here to stay.
And Snell, who has been out since early April, is finally set to begin his minor league rehab assignment, and Dave Roberts stated that Ohtani, who has only gone two innings so far, should be stretched out to five or six by season’s end.
Despite all that, the team still needs to add one more arm as insurance.
So far this summer, the Dodgers have been linked to a variety of names, but one player that stands out is right-hander Sandy Alcántara of the Miami Marlins.
According to Bob Nightingale of USA Today Sports, the Dodgers, like many contending teams, have circled Alcántara on their trade board.
While the stats aren’t as sexy as they used to be, primarily due to this being the first year since the righty underwent Tommy John surgery, Alcántara posted his best numbers of the season in June with a 4.34 ERA in twenty-nine innings.
The enticing part of Alcántara is the contact, as the right-hander is under team control at a low cost until 2027.
However, if Alcántara is not in the cards, the Dodgers could settle on a mid-tier arm that can provide stability in the rotation for the second-half stretch.
Best fits: Sandy Alcántara, Seth Lugo, Chris Paddack, Andrew Heaney, Mitch Keller, Luis Severino, Nick Martinez
Hot take: Freddy Peralta or Jacob deGrom
Third Baseman
This is a relatively new area of concern for the Dodgers this season due to Max Muncy’s left knee injury.
Last week, 2025 All-Star contender Max Muncy suffered a significant left knee injury, which fortunately ended in just a bone bruise. Still, Muncy is expected to miss the next eight to ten weeks, leaving a massive hole at the hot corner.
In the meantime, Dave Roberts stated that a trio of Miguel Rojas, Kiké Hernández, and Tommy Edman would hold down third base, along with top prospect Alex Freeland waiting in the wings.
However, Rojas has not been an everyday player since Mookie Betts’ absence last summer. Tommy Edman has a fractured pinkie toe, and Hernández could land on the injured list with an elbow issue.
Since Muncy’s injury, Freeland has started exclusively at third base for the Triple-A OKC Comets and has hit well there this season with a .267/.382/.411 slash line and a .823 OPS in seventy-nine games.
Still, in an interview with Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times last week, Dodgers General Manager Brandon Gomes stated that despite the injury to Muncy, the team is not focused on adding help at the hot corner.
While a lot can change between now and then, this is one area I don’t expect the Dodgers to focus on unless something drastically changes with Muncy’s recovery or the production between Edman, Rojas, and Hernández is unplayable.
However, if the team decides to make an upgrade, there are a few options.
The most popular option is for the team to acquire eight-time All-Star and ten-time Gold Glove Award winner Nolan Arenado. However, due to the remaining salary and the Cardinals in the hunt for a postseason spot, it’ll be tough for them to see Arenado.
Another name that was linked to Los Angeles was Colorado Rockies third baseman Ryan McMahon, but an in-division trade with the Rockies seems even less likely.
Best fits: Yoán Moncada, Nolan Arenado, Ryan McMahon
Corner Outfielder
Entering the year, the least of the Dodgers’ worries was the outfield. Headlined by 2024 All-Star and Home Run Derby Champion Teoscar Hernández in right field, upside-down candidate Michael Conforto in left, and sophomore Andy Pages in center field.
While the defense was likely to be an issue for all three, their offensive production was set to outweigh that. However, now, as we enter mid-July, the team is left scrambling for production in the outfield on both sides of the ball.
Hernández, 32, got off to a hot start to the year, hitting .328 with forty hits, nine homers, thirty-three RBIs, and twenty runs scored in thirty-one games between March 20th and May 6th.
However, after suffering a groin injury, which landed him on the 15-day injured list, Hernández has looked like a shell of his former self with a .207 batting average and just five home runs since his activation.
Defensively, it’s been an even scarier situation for Hernández, who has sometimes looked atrocious in right with an overall -9 OAA and some questionable routes to flyballs.
As for Conforto, it has been an awful one-year experience with the former San Francisco Giant, who inked a 1-year $17 million contract this winter.
Among qualified National League outfielders, Conforto ranks last in batting average (.176), 27th in on-base percentage (.296), last in slugging (.307), and last in wRC+ (76).
While the bat has heated up with the righty hitting .250 with three home runs and eight RBIs since June 24th (faced the Rockies, Royals, White Sox, and Astros), the team has had no choice but to run him out there, hoping for some more consistency.
Out of the bunch in the outfield, the best by far this season has been Andy Pages, who, despite some early-season struggles, turned into an All-Star candidate overnight.
It has been a breakout season for Pages, who is hitting .290/.329/.497 with a 129 wRC+ and leading the team in RBIs with fifty-eight. Defensively, it has been a significant improvement, with Pages ranking in the 94th percentile in OAA, Arm Value, and the 96th percentile in Arm Strength.
Internally, the Dodgers do have a few options, such as utilityman Tommy Edman, but due to an ankle injury and now a toe fracture, he has seen little time in center field.
Hyeseong Kim, 26, has appeared in fifteen games in center, but his more natural position is the middle infield.
Like last season, the Dodgers could greatly benefit from a defensive-first outfielder, such as Kevin Kiermaier, or a full-time replacement for Conforto if he continues to struggle.
Even with the efforts of Andy Pages, the Dodgers outfield group currently ranks middle in the league with a 101 wRC+ this season and could use an improvement.
Best fits: Harrison Bader, Jesús Sánchez, Taylor Ward, Luis Robert Jr., TJ Friedl
Backend Bullpen Help
If there’s a word to describe the Dodgers’ bullpen this season, it’s overworked.
Thanks to all the injuries in the starting rotation, the Dodgers’ bullpen has been tasked to cover the workload, and they’ve done so at an alarming pace.
The Dodgers’ bullpen this season has pitched the most innings in the sport, with a total of 400 innings, 39 more than the second-most team, the Miami Marlins.
It also hasn’t been pretty for the Boys in Blue, with their bullpen posting a combined 4.46 ERA, which ranks 24th in the league, along with a 4.01 FIP.
Top free-agent relief pitchers Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates each have an ERA of 3.76 this season.
Ben Casparius, Jack Dryer, and Justin Wrobleski have been tasked with the bulk innings role of the ‘pen and are starting to show signs of fatigue, with Casparius posting an 8.24 ERA over his last five appearances.
The team has been without top veteran right-handed relief arm Blake Treinen since April due to a right forearm strain, and while he’s set to begin a rehab assignment this week, who knows what he has left in the tank?
Like most World Series contenders, the team is always looking for an arm to help solidify their chances in October, and the Dodgers this season are no different.
Bullpen arms are a hot commodity around the league at the deadline, with essentially all contenders looking to add and all sellers looking to capitalize, leading to inflated trade prices.
Usually, Andrew Friedman steers clear of those types of deals, but with the team fighting the injury bug and clearly needing help with some innings, they’ll be forced to acquire an arm or two.
The Dodgers have already been linked with multiple bullpen options, such as Pete Fairbanks of the Tampa Bay Rays, who has a 2.34 ERA in 34.2 innings this season.
Fairbanks has a $7 million club option for the 2026 season, which could be too much for the cheap Tampa Bay Rays.
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