Los Angeles Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman is keeping the door open for a possible starting pitching trade ahead of the deadline in July. LA's rotation has been hampered by injures, and Friedman recently discussed ‘potentially' making a move, per Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register.
“Potentially,” Friedman said of possibly re-evaluating their rotation ahead of the trade deadline. “Right now it’s early. I think using the first 3, 3½ months to assess your roster and what the needs are helps crystallize how you approach things in July. So things we thought in February or March turn out to be things you don’t need to focus on. But another area pops up. It’s a little bit like a game of whack-a-mole.”
Julio Urias and Dustin May are both on the injured list. Urias is expected to return fairly soon, but May isn't expected back until after the All-Star break.
Meanwhile, young pitchers Ryan Pepiot and Michael Grove have battled injury concerns of their own. Walker Buehler still remains on the IL, but could return in September. Tony Gonsolin also missed the first portion of the season due to injury. Noah Syndergaard has mostly been able to stay healthy, but he's labored on the hill. Bobby Miller has just one MLB start to his name, although he looked sharp.
That's left Clayton Kershaw for the Dodgers, who's been injury-prone over the past couple of seasons. Kershaw is pitching like a Cy Young candidate in 2023 but the team would unquestionably benefit from added depth around the future Hall of Famer.
Nothing is guaranteed at the moment, but trading for a star pitcher (like Shane Bieber of the Cleveland Guardians) would make sense for the Dodgers in July.
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