The Los Angeles Dodgers have been rumored to be in trade discussions with the Cleveland Indians for Corey Kluber with one notable prospect in mind.
The Los Angeles Dodgers‘ front office is looking to change something up in 2019 to avoid falling short in the World Series for the third consecutive year.
The speculation around the front office’s gameplan ended when the team traded Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp, Alex Wood and Kyle Farmer in a salary dump trade with the Cincinnati Reds. With the team freeing up money that it didn’t have to free up, it is indisputable that something is in the cards.
One of the most prominent moves that have dominated the Los Angeles Dodgers rumors is a potential trade for Cleveland Indians ace, Corey Kluber. The Indians have a surplus of pitching and want to free up money, making Kluber a prime candidate to trade.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers would add another great arm to an already deep staff and create the best starting rotation in baseball. The 1-2-3 punch of Clayton Kershaw, Corey Kluber and Walker Buehler would be the scariest three guys to face in a row.
The idea of adding Kluber to this team is definitely a fun one and it is understandable why Dodger fans would be overly excited for the team to make a move for Kluber.
However, boundaries should be drawn and that boundary must start with top prospect, Alex Verdugo.
The Indians are looking to add talented outfielders that can help the team as early as 2019; Verdugo has been big-league ready since the end of 2017. Not only will he be a contributor in 2019, but Verdugo is also a young, controllable asset that the Indians can build around in the future.
Verdugo is literally the perfect piece for the Indians to go after and the Dodgers should have no inclination to part ways with the young outfielder.
Prospects like Verdugo are hard to come by and it wouldn’t be worth trading him for Kluber at this point of his career. While Kluber still put together an elite year last season, he is still going to be 33 years old in April. He might only have one more great year in him.
While it is just as likely that Kluber continues to thrive, Verdugo is still much more valuable than Kluber to the Dodgers. With Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp gone, and Enrique Hernandez and/or Chris Taylor needing to play second, the Dodgers don’t have outfielders to trade.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers still have a great five-man rotation of Kershaw, Buehler, Rich Hill, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Kenta Maeda or Julio Urias. Kluber is an upgrade, sure, but he would be upgrading an area that the Dodgers are already proficient in.
The Los Angeles Dodgers should shut down any trade talks that include Verdugo. Period.
Source: “Los Angeles” – Google News