Dodgers Team News

Dodgers: MLB Insider Connects LA to Marlins Pablo Lopez

In case you haven’t heard, the MLB trade deadline is this Friday and the Dodgers need starting pitching. Jose Berrios and Max Scherzer are headline trade targets, but one MLB expert believes there’s a more under-the-radar option.

Former GM Jim Bowden mentioned Marlins starter Pablo López as a great fit for the Dodgers in his MLB trade deadline mailbag this week in The Athletic.



“There are not a lot of starting pitchers available in the trade market outside of Kyle Gibson and Jon Gray. However, I think the Dodgers match up well with the Marlins in a possible swap involving catching prospect Keibert Ruiz for righty starter Pablo López, who’s currently on the injured list.”

If the Dodgers do trade for the 25-year-old righty, they’ll need to do their due diligence. López is currently on the 10-day injured list with a right rotator cuff strain.

López has put together the best season of his career so far for Miami. He owns career lows in ERA (3.03) and WHIP (1.09). Even more encouraging is his Fielding Independent Pitching (3.19) and his ERA-plus (134).

Bowden believes a trade for the Venezuelan hurler would likely include, wait for it, top prospect Keibert Ruiz in return. Presumably, the steep price tag is due to Lopez not becoming eligible for free agency until 2025.

Ruiz is the #41 ranked prospect according to MLB Pipeline. Switch hitting catchers that can hit for power and average don’t grow on trees. Ruiz is also the reigning minor league player of the week (Triple-A West). For the year, he’s slashing .313/.385/.642.

López for Ruiz is certainly an interesting proposition.

Dodgers team president Andrew Friedman has found overlooked starting pitching gems at past trade deadlines. Both Rich Hill (2016) and Alex Wood (2015) weren’t box office names but provided valuable starts for the Dodgers down the stretch.

Could López be next?

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Eric Eulau

Born and raised in Ventura, not "Ven-CH-ura", California. Favorite Dodger Stadium food is the old school chocolate malt with the wooden spoon. Host of the Dodgers Nation 3 Up, 3 Down Podcast.

12 Comments

  1. Lopez is a terrific young pitcher but, once again, Bowden is out of his mind. First, it would take more than Ruiz to get him and second, Lopez is on the IL. The Marlins are considering shutting him down for the year. How does this help the Dodgers now? This is a discussion for the off-season.

  2. Forget Lopez, if Dodgers are going to trade the no. 16 prospect in MLB (Baseball America top 100) then package him with Gonsolin for Alcantara

  3. The Dodgers DO NOT need to deal for Lopez or anyone else currently on the IL. Dodgers have enough injuries and IL stints as it is. Again, Bowden shows zero credibility thinking anyone would be willing to trade a top prospect for someone currently on the IL.

  4. Ya just can’t trade for a guy on the IL who is likely to be shut down for the rest of the season. More over why would we give up our best chip for that scenario? It really sounds like outrageous asking prices will wreck trading deadline deals this season or there will be a flurry of deals 10 minutes before the deadline.
    My message to Andrew is do not trade Ruiz!!!!

  5. Didn’t Bowden guarantee Kris Bryant was coming to the Dodgers? Anyway, if you are going to deal Ruiz (who is somewhat superfluous to the Dodgers needs) and othersyou’d better be getting Scherzer in return.

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