The Los Angeles Dodgers are determined to land an ace ahead of Monday’s non-waiver trade deadline and they are working hard to do just that.
With front-line starters such as Texas Rangers’ Yu Darvish, Oakland Athletics’ Sonny Gray and Detroit Tigers’ Justin Verlander all available, the Dodgers are determined to land at least one of the big names being floated on the market.
Earlier today Jon Morosi of the MLB Network reported that Los Angeles has grown “increasingly confident” in their ability to land one of those starting pitchers in the coming days.
Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi told KLAC (h/t Rowan Kavner of Dodgers Insider) about the team’s plans moving forward, which seems to include relievers as well as a front line starter.
“We’re going to be watching [the relief] market,” Zaidi said. “Other than that, be a little opportunistic. Our top three starters have been on a pretty good roll.”
The Dodgers already tout a solid rotation, but they are looking for a dominant pitcher to line up behind ace Clayton Kershaw in the rotation down the stretch run and into the playoffs.
Los Angeles currently boasts the best record in baseball and has a large lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West.
The Dodgers will likely have teams such as the New York Yankees competing with them for some of the big named arms on the market.