Dodgers Rumors: Team Interested In Premier Starting Pitchers
The Los Angeles Dodgers went to Spring Training with the chance to have one of the best rotations in baseball with NL Cy Young and MVP award winner Clayton Kershaw, former Cy Young award winner Zack Greinke, Korean left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu and two other starters with lots of talent and a shaky past in Brandon McCarthy and Brett Anderson.
Once they finished the spring, they were still holding out that hope, but Hyun-Jin Ryu was unavailable. They used a handful of starting pitchers in that span to try and fill the void, but were unable to find an arm to stick at first. Eventually, Carlos Frias settled in as the fifth starter. Then in the span of a couple weeks, the Dodgers lost McCarthy and Ryu for the season. Frias’ time in the rotation was now permanent and right-hander Mike Bolsinger followed shortly.
All in all, the Dodgers used 10 different starting pitchers before the current quintet became a full rotation. The overall starters’ ERA is 3.42 and good for fifth in the Majors; however, the current rotation holds a collective ERA of 2.95.
Despite the success of the rotation so far, it appears the Dodgers are in the market for at least one more starting pitcher. According to Mark Saxon of ESPN LA, the Dodgers have their sights set high:
At the top of the Dodgers’ wish list, according to a source, is hard-throwing Washington Nationals right-hander Jordan Zimmermann, with Cincinnati Reds ace Johnny Cueto and Detroit Tigers lefty David Price also on the short list of desirable targets.
Along with being some of the top pitchers in the game, the three mentioned above have something else in common: impending free agency. Zimmermann and Price would be a bit tougher to imagine because their teams are expected to compete for their respective divisions. The Reds are currently 11 games out of their division, but only 4.5 games out of a wild card spot. That could change in the next few weeks, making Cueto expendable.
Saxon adds that the Dodgers have had scouts observing Zimmermann and Cueto starts. It’s unknown what it would take to get these starters, but the Dodgers have quietly built some depth in their farm system that could be used in a potential deal.
The likeliness of the Dodgers pulling off a blockbuster deal seem low at the moment, but with Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi, it won’t be a quiet trade deadline.
[divide]Dodgers And Hyun-Jin Ryu Knew About Labrum Tear For Two Years
Can we trade Donny DD Baseball??
That’s Donnie Softball sir.
You Mattingly haters are a joke…he must be doing a horrible job. After all, the dodgers are only second in MLB in wins. It’s not like he has managed the team to that record with a full squad either…
Blue I agree with you. If you are going to be negative about DM at least say what your beef is. The Dodgers lost 2 starters and their Closer plus Puig who is a dynamic player and Crawford for the first 1/3 of the year. Of Course Ryu and McCarthy are gone the entire year. They had to find a couple of starters on the fly and did a great job with Bolsinger and Frias. With Puig in the line-up and Frias and Bolsinger holding up the back of the rotation we will be better going forward. We are still in first place and I believe that is amazing with what the Team has had to work through the first third of the year. What a wonderful surprise Pederson has been. Not only his offense but what a good defensive force he is. This team when everyone is in position is one of the better defensive teams in the league and it has been a long time since we could say that about the Dodgers. Grandal has surprised also. Hope they can sign those two stud college pitchers they drafted that would really help the rotation in 2017 or so.
I’d love to see any solid starter but Cueto. I wonder what happened to the Hamel rumors??
They went down the toilet with Philly’s asking price.
They had better get one or possible two starters I am Pulling for Cueto and Hamels, the Phillies will be offering him and I would trade the the lower prospects for him not Seager,