THE DODGERS 1 - 2 NEED A 3 - 4
The Dodgers are clearly in the hunt and in need for a 3rd starting pitcher, but at what cost?
After passing on Max Scherzer, which I was very high on, and Jon Lester this off season. Who will get picked up or passed on this trade deadline? Cole Hamel seems to be on the trading block, but Philly is asking for more than just 1 top prospect. Rumors are linked to a possible trade combination of Johnny Cueto and Aroldis Chapman. Now, as of yesterday, the Tigers hinted at a possible David Price and Yoenis Cespedes combo for the right trade.
I really like the Price/Cespedes combo here's why.
With the return of Carl Crawford, there would
be 5 players for 1 position. Granted Scott Van Slyke can also play center, right and first while Alex Guerrero can play 3rd and short and both are great pinch hitters, there is still obviously no room for all of them including Cespedes. So why not "flip" Cespedes along with Carlos Frias and Chris Hatcher for Cueto/Chapman or Yimi, Frias, Hatcher with a couple of prospects. Something anything even kkeep Cespedes aand figure it out later. The Dodgers now would have a 3rd solid ace in David Price, a 4th in Cueto and a second closer in Chapman. Having Chapman would not be bad at all because (1.) Jansen's heart condition (2.) Jansen can't pitch 3 consecutive games without feeling fatigue and (3.) Chapman throws 103 mph with accuracy. God forbid the Rockies make the playoffs through wildcard and the Dodgers face them, Jansen won't be available because of the altitude.... so enter Chapman
For the first half of the season the Dodgers starting pitching rotation has seen many changes.
Spot starters and call ups from the minors, I would've really like to have seen Zach Lee, but unfortunately he was subdued to injury as well, trying to replace the loss of Ryu (3.37 era) and Mccarthy (5.87 era) to season ending surgery. Their ERA might not be impressive, but their 1.19 and 1.22 WHIP prove they can get out of jams. Both have the abilty to strike out 10+ batters and go up to 7+ innings. Last year Ryu flirted with perfection with a torn labrum, pretty wild. Still, they've been very inconsistent, even Kershaw at one point didn't know what was going on with himself. The Dodger bats were providing a lot of run support while the Dodger pitching gave up a lot of runs, but for the majority of the first half the games were against the West. Aside from the giants, the Dodgers have been able to dominate in their own division, reason why they remained in first place despite losing to teams above .500
The obvious leader and ace has been Greinke, who could easily be up 13 or 14 wins if not for the lack of run support. As for Kershaw, he looks to be coming back in to form after the brilliant performance against the Nationals striking out 14 including the MVP candidate Bryce Harper. So why not splurge a bit more? Go get Cueto, Chapman and Price. End the championship drought at Chavez Ravine. With this line up it's obvious the Dodgers would ThreePeat and be the first L.A. FourAgain, FourPeat, FourthGo.... whatever we call it I know we all would be smiling from ear to ear. If I am going to imagine and dream might as well dream big right? Right!
