Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
After Allan looked at potential position players the Dodgers could be interested in ahead of Thursday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline, I’m here to look at potential pitchers who could make for interesting targets for the Boys in Blue.
The available names aren’t as sexy as last year, when Garrett Crochet and Tarik Skubal were at least rumored to be available (though, most thought Skubal was an extreme longshot to move). And the Dodgers ended up with the best starter at last year’s deadline in Jack Flaherty. Flaherty isn’t available this year, and the available starters are not even at his 2024 level.
Sure, Joe Ryan‘s name has been lightly bandied about, but it’s highly unlikely the Twins move him (some of their relievers, however, remain to be seen; stay tuned). If he is made available, he should become the Dodgers’ No. 1 target. Seth Lugo just agreed to a 2-year extension with the Royals, so he’s out. That leaves few starting pitching options. The Padres might deal Dylan Cease, but not to the Dodgers (wouldn’t want him anyway). Same goes for the Diamondbacks’ duo of Zac Gallen (how he has fallen) and Merrill Kelly. The Nationals probably wait until the offseason if they really want to entertain trading MacKenzie Gore.
It could be argued that the Dodgers do or don’t need to add a starter at the deadline. Yoshinobu Yamamoto is the staff ace and should continue as such. Blake Snell is coming back this week, but durability isn’t his thing. Tyler Glasnow has been great since his return from the injured list, but he has similar durability concerns. Shohei Ohtani is progressing in his starts and might be ready for a bigger workload come the postseason, but that’s still not a sure thing. Emmet Sheehan has been mostly good since his return from Tommy John. Justin Wrobleski has been a bright spot in a bulk reliever role. Clayton Kershaw is what he is at this point, while Dustin May, oddly enough, might be available via trade (and I’d welcome that). After them, you’re looking at the likes of Ben Casparius (who seems bullpen-bound permanently) and Landon Knack, since the Dodgers are moving Bobby Miller to the bullpen with Triple-A Oklahoma City. If healthy, the Dodgers wouldn’t need to add a starter. A top four of Yamamoto, Snell, Glasnow and Ohtani is really good. Of course, health cannot be guaranteed in this sport, let alone life.
Reliever-wise, the biggest prize could be Emmanuel Clase, with guys like Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax also being enticing. Odds are, the Dodgers will opt for a lesser-known name (or even old friends?) rather than paying the going, inflated rate for relievers at the deadline.
The bullpen as a whole has suffered a lot of injuries thus far. Evan Phillips is gone for the season, Michael Kopech can’t come back until the end of August because he’s on the 60-day IL and hasn’t gotten things going. Tanner Scott just went down with an arm injury and, while it wasn’t the worst news, his status could be questionable going forward. Kirby Yates is under-performing and Alexis Diaz probably isn’t the savior. So, even before Scott went down, the Dodgers were likely to add a reliever — most likely from the right side.
Let’s get into it.
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Starting Pitchers
RHPs Sandy Alcantara/Edward Cabrera, Marlins
The 2022 NL Cy Young award winner has had a rough time since then, which included Tommy John surgery that cost him all of 2024 and — so far — pitching to a 6.66 ERA, 4.47 FIP and an 8.3 K-BB%. He’s never been an extreme strikeout pitcher, and he makes up for that by getting ground balls and limiting walks. However, all three of those numbers are trending the wrong direction in 2025. The Marlins want a big return for the righty, but no one is going to pay that price. So, unless Miami lessens its want, Alcantara might be staying put.
Cabrera is quite the enigma. He has premium stuff on par with some of the best in the game, but there’s more to pitching than stuff. He has always been a bit wild, posting double-digit BB% in every season of his career (the lowest being 11.3% in 2022). It seems he has corrected that, as his walk rate has dropped to 8.1%. The fact that he hasn’t really sacrificed strikeouts (24.9 K%) for better command/control is encouraging. He’s having the best season of his career, posting a 3.48 ERA, 3.55 FIP and a 16.8 K-BB%. Getting him in the lab could help unlock untapped potential, but that almost seems like a project for the offseason, not the trade deadline.
LHP Tyler Anderson, Angels
Anderson is here strictly because he’s durable and has a Dodger connection. He was an All-Star with LA in 2022 and parlayed that into his current 3-year deal with the Angels. I doubt any team is foaming at the mouth to acquire a guy with a 4.41 ERA, 5.11 FIP and an 8.7 K-BB%. He isn’t overpowering and doesn’t miss a ton of bats. The thing he does well is limit hard contact, and he’s in the 87th percentile in average exit velo and HardHit%, which would fit in well with the Dodgers. He’s probably too similar to Kershaw in terms of pitching profile, so a reunion seems unlikely.
RHP Shane Bieber, Guardians
Bieber hasn’t thrown a pitch this season as he’s recovering from Tommy John surgery. He threw just 12 innings last season and 128 the season before. He does have two 200-inning campaigns under his belt and a Cy Young award. He’ll be a free agent after the season and it’d be hard to rely on a guy who has 12 innings pitched since the beginning of the 2024 season to help stabilize the Dodgers’ injury-riddled rotation. He has a 2026 team option for $16 million.
LHP Andrew Heaney/RHP Mitch Keller, Pirates
Much like Anderson, Heaney is here because he has a former Dodger connection. He was a strikeout machine for the Dodgers in 2022, with his 35.5 K% ranking in the 97th percentile. Since leaving the Dodgers via free agency, he hasn’t rediscovered those whiffs. In fact, his Statcast profile is considerably blue (not a good thing). His 4.79 ERA, 5.18 FIP and 9.5 K-BB% back that up. The Dodgers are probably better off just going with Wrobleski instead of trading for Heaney.
Keller has, seemingly, always had untapped potential in Pittsburgh. It might not be enough potential for the Dodgers to gamble on at the trade deadline. He is having his best season in terms of ERA (3.53) and FIP (3.42), but he has sacrificed strikeouts for more contact (and not weaker contact). The numbers suggest he has gotten lucky with his .279 BABIP and that could be a recipe for disaster the rest of the season. Then again, the Dodgers are not shy about trading for pitching at the deadline and trying to maximize said pitcher, but Keller’s acquisition cost is probably higher than the Dodgers want to pay.
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Relief Pitchers
RHPs David Bednar/Dennis Santana, Pirates
Bednar, after a rough 2024 season, has re-established himself as a strong late-inning reliever. He has a 2.19 ERA, 1.93 FIP and a 27.7 K-BB%. His FIP is 2nd-best among qualified relievers, while his K-BB% is 10th — and would be second in the Dodgers’ bullpen behind Alex Vesia (28.5). He has traded some fastball and splitter usage for more curveball usage, and he’s allowing just a .175 batting average against and 79.2 exit velocity against his hook.
Santana, former Dodger farmhand, is having a breakout season int he Pirates’ bullpen. He has a 1.49 ERA, 2.43 FIP and a 15.5 K-BB%. He’s running a subpar 7.31 K/9, but his Statcast numbers look better than the results. He has a 99th percentile chase rate and does a good job limiting hard contact. Perhaps if the Dodgers get their paws on him again, they might be able to unlock some more strikeouts.
RHPs Emmanuel Clase/Cade Smith, Guardians
Clase has been one of the best relievers in the game for the last five years. After posting a ridiculous 0.61 ERA last season, he has seen that number regress to 3.23 this season. He’s still plenty good with a 2.67 FIP and 17.4 K-BB%, but this might be the second-worst of his career. When a guy posting these numbers qualify as one of the worst seasons of his career, you know he’s a good one. He’d invoke memories of Kenley Jansen with is cutter/slider profile.
*Record Scratch*
BREAKING: Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase has been placed on non-disciplinary paid leave as part of MLB's sports-betting investigation, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 28, 2025
Clase is the second Guardians pitcher on leave tied to the investigation, joining right-hander Luis Ortiz.
Welp.
Smith might be one of the most underrated relievers in the sport. He was more dominant than Clase his his rookie campaign in 2024 and, while there has been a little regression, he’s still throwing well in 2025. He has a 3.02 ERA, 2.04 FIP and a 25.3 K-BB%. The fact that he’s in his second season makes it far less likely the Guardians trade him, but if they’re offered a good enough package, they probably wouldn’t hesitate. I wouldn’t expect that offer to come from the Dodgers.
LHP/RHP Reid Detmers/Kenley Jansen, Angels
Detmers has converted full to relief, and it seems to have saved his career. He always did a pretty solid job missing bats as a starter, despite not having even average fastball velocity, and that has translated to the ‘pen. He has a 20 K-BB% to go along with his 3.99 ERA and 3.02 FIP. With Vesia and Jack Dryer, currently, being the most reliable relievers in the Dodgers’ bullpen, they might be hesitant to add another lefty. However, Detmers fits the mold of a guy they look for — oh, and he also went to the University of Louisville, so that plays in his favor a bit.
Speaking of Kenley, Jansen’s inclusion here might be a bit more nostalgic than anything, but he’s having a solid season with the Angels despite it being his worst since leaving the Dodgers after the 2021 season. There isn’t a ton of red in his Statcast profile anymore, but the Dodgers wouldn’t be acquiring him to be the Kenley of old. He could probably be had for cheap, if Arte Moreno gets over himself and allows the Dodgers and Angels to make a trade.
RHPs Jhoan Duran/Griffin Jax/Brock Stewart, Twins
Duran might be the best arm — starter or reliever — potentially available at this trade deadline. The flamethrower is going having the best season of his career, pitching to a 1.86 ERA, 2.38 FIP and 17.9 K-BB% (which would, ironically, be the worst of his career). His Statcast profile is littered with red and isn’t just velo-based. He does a good job limiting hard contact and induces a ton of ground balls. Pair those with the ability to miss bats and you have one of the game’s best relievers.
Jax is even better at missing bats than Duran, but he comes up a little short in other areas. His 4.00 ERA leaves a lot to be desired, but when you factor in his 2.07 FIP and 29.7 K-BB%, it’s easy to see Jax has been lit up a few times this season, but has mostly been really good. He’s getting BABIP’d pretty good (.375), so that might explain a lot of his struggles. That and his 15.4 HR/FB%, which would be his highest since his rookie year when he was on the way to being a failed starting pitcher. He, like Duran, is under team control through the 2027 season, so he (and/or Duran) would cost a lot to get.
Stewart has gone onto have a solid career since being traded by LA in 2019. In three seasons with the Twins, he has a 2.36 ERA, 2.93 FIP and a 22.2 K-BB%. This season, he has a 2.45 ERA, 3.12 FIP and a 21.5 K-BB%. He only has 76 innings pitched in those three years, but the Dodgers know Stewart and what he’s capable of doing on the mound. Again, like Duran and Jax, he’s under team control through the ’27 season, but his acquisition cost would be much less than them.
RHP Pete Fairbanks, Rays
Fairbanks is very likely to be dealt by the Rays, but he shine is off him a bit. Sure, he has a 2.84 ERA and 2.93 FIP, but his 10.8 K-BB% leaves a lot to be desired — especially since he has shown the ability to be so much better. He also comes with durability issues (45 1/3 IP is his career-high), so he might not be the best option for the Dodgers’ bullpen.
RHP Ryan Helsley, Cardinals
Helsley has been one of the best relievers over the past handful of seasons. He’s having a good-not-great season for the Redbirds — 3.00 ERA, 3.50 FIP, 17.2 K-BB% — and is very likely to be traded. He’d be purely a rental, so the cost won’t be as high as it would have been a year ago or over the winter. He throws hard (99.3 MPH average velo) and gets a lot of chase (94th percentile), but he does allow his fair share of hard contact (91.5 MPH EV against; 45.5 HardHit%). He’d be more recognized for his name rather than his performance, but would still be a welcome addition.
Honorable Mentions: Shawn Armstrong, Anthony Bender, Yennier Cano, Andrew Kittredge, Phil Maton, Justin Topa
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Ranking the likeliness of acquisition:
Starters
- Cabrera
- Alcantara
- Bieber
- Keller
- Heaney
- Anderson
I, actually, don’t see the Dodgers trading for any of these guys. If they do, Cabrera could be a nice longer-term project.
Relievers
- Stewart
- Bednar
- Santana
- Duran
- Helsley
- Jax
- Detmers
- Jansen
- Fairbanks
- Smith
- Clase
Clase probably would have been higher before the leave. Stewart appears to make the most sense in terms of acquisition cost and fit. Bednar would be a bit of a splurge, while Santana would be a “lesser” version of Stewart. Duran, Helsley and Jax would all be the higher-upside plays, but would cost more (especially Duran and Jax). Detmers would be a sneaky good pickup, while Jansen would be more nostalgic. Fairbanks just isn’t that good, considering the cost, while Smith’s availability is even less than it was just 24 hours ago.
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Twins’ general manager Jeremy Zoll came up through the Dodgers’ front office ranks, so the relationship preferred to make a deal is already there with Andrew Friedman and Co. If the Dodgers want some 1-stop shopping with the Twins (Harrison Bader, Willi Castro), now would be the time.
It’s highly likely the Dodgers come away with at least one arm at this deadline. There’s a chance they even grab two — and an even better chance it isn’t someone listed above. With the injuries and uncertainty, it’s almost a lock for them to bring in a fresh hurler before Thursday’s deadline.
