Trade Deadline: Why the Dodgers Have to be Aggressive

Every year at the end of July players are on notice and the rumors fly. Clubs assess whether they’re a buyer or a seller, and burn the midnight oil looking for the right deal. 

One factor that has “muddied the waters”, however, has been the extra Wildcard spot added last year. Because of that extra playoff spot, there are a lot more teams that have a realistic chance to make the playoffs. Even teams with losing records are within shouting distance, which makes it hard to convince their fans they should sell off their best players. 

So it’s harder to find the Max Scherzer, Trea Turner type deals with black and white outcomes.

Another part of the Process that complicates matters is something called the Rule 5 Draft. The Rule 5 Draft was put into place to make sure that organizations can’t hold on to prospects that they don’t plan on advancing to the MLB, just to keep them away from their competition. 

According to the Rule 5 Draft, any player that is signed at or before the age of 18 has 5 years to be placed on an organizations 40 Man roster, or they are subject to the Rule 5 Draft. Players that were signed at 19 or older have 4 years.

Each year the draft takes place in December and the teams draft in reverse order from the previous years standings. 

I cover all that to tie it back in to the Trade deadline.

The Dodgers have 6 players from their Top 30 prospects list that are eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this coming off season. There is no way that all 6, Nick Frasso, Yeiner Fernandez, Landon Knack, Jose Ramos, Kyle Hurt and Devin Mann, will get put on the 40 Man Roster to protect them. 

But, all of those guys except Fernandez have a lot of experience at the AA level or higher, so it could easily be assumed that they would ALL get drafted in the Rule 5 Draft. 

So, the Dodgers need to know which guys they don’t plan on putting on the 40 man, and they HAVE to trade them. Otherwise, they’ll be gone in the Rule 5 Draft leaving the Dodgers with 0 return. 

That is just the Top 30 list, which doesn’t, at all, reflect the value of the prospects in the organization. 

In fact, of the 3 guys that were taken last year, none of them were in the Top 30, and all but one have stuck. 

Alec Gamboa has hit 99 from the left side, John Rooney has had long periods of dominance this year, Mark Washington has been very good, many Dodgers fans would prefer that Hunter Feduccia become the backup to replace Austin Barnes, and Ryan Ward has a great hit tool.

And, they’re all eligible too.

In fact, the Dodgers, by my count, have almost 60 players that are eligible, and likely will have only 5 to 10 spots available, so the competition is going to be fierce.  

That’s why, just by doing math, it becomes obvious that they need to be agressive at the Trade Deadline. Every prospect that the Dodgers think will get taken in the Rule 5 Draft, that they don’t plan on protecting, NEEDS to be traded. 

Even if it’s for a lesser return than one would assume, it’s still better than 0. 

Plus, the Dodgers have a very real chance to win a World Series with the right added piece to the puzzle, so the trade scenarios are wins across the board. 

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