Another Major League Baseball trade deadline is approaching, and the Los Angeles Dodgers are once again starving for pitching help.
Pitching injuries are an unfortunate reality for every team these days, but the Dodgers seem to consistently have it worse than most. Since the start of the season, four starters and a half dozen key relievers have landed on the injured list.
The Dodgers still have some solid rotation fixtures (namely, Yoshinobu Yamamoto), and by the postseason, their rotation could contain Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, and Shohei Ohtani. But health is such a big question mark for most of those arms that adding one more durable veteran to the mix should be a priority.
Dave Holcomb of Fantasy Sports on SI has a good idea of who he thinks that veteran should be.
On Thursday, Holcomb proposed a mock trade that would bring Kansas City Royals 2024 All-Star starter Seth Lugo to Los Angeles for outfield prospect Mike Sirota and infield prospect Logan Wagner.
“With Lugo, the Dodgers could add another capable veteran arm to their starting rotation. Lugo has been particularly great lately, posting a 1.26 ERA since the start of June,” Holcomb wrote.
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“Initially, I thought Dodgers No. 10 prospect and right-handed pitcher Nick Frasso was a good choice for the Royals to acquire in exchange for Lugo. But the Royals need more offense, so it might be more prudent for them to get two hitter prospects — even if they are lower rated — in return for their veteran starter.”
Lugo, 35, has a 2.65 ERA and 3.0 bWAR in 16 starts this season, totaling 95 innings. He was the runner-up in the American League Cy Young Award race last season, and he’s been just as effective this season, albeit with slightly higher expected stats.
The Royals would have to accept their fate and sell if Lugo is going to be available. But if so, there’s no reason the Dodgers couldn’t win a bidding war, similarly to their Jack Flaherty coup at the deadline last year.