LOS ANGELES — There are 12 shopping days left before the Aug. 1 trade deadline, more than enough time for the Dodgers to address their most pressing needs — a starting pitcher or two for an injury-ravaged rotation, an impact arm for an improving but still-thin bullpen and perhaps a right-handed-hitting outfielder.
It's a sellers' market, with 19 teams entering play Thursday with a division lead, in a wild-card position or within six games of a playoff spot, and two or three teams — the New York Mets, San Diego Padres and perhaps the Cleveland Guardians — on the bubble, trying to decide whether to hold — and maybe be bold — or fold.
Starting pitching, as usual, is the focus of most trade talks, and there appear to be a fair number of solid rotation candidates available, though no surefire ace unless the Angels shock the baseball world and decide to part with two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani.
But with so many teams, including the Dodgers, Texas Rangers, Houston Astros, Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles, in pursuit of starting pitching, the competition for the best arms will be fierce, likely driving up their prices.
Ohtani, of course, is the wild card. Virtually every contender would move mountains (of prospects) to acquire two great players wrapped up in one, a top-of-the-rotation right-hander and a left-handed slugger who entered play Thursday with a major league-leading 35 homers and 1.075 on-base-plus-slugging percentage.
But the Angels do not seem inclined to trade Ohtani, who will be a free agent this winter, and even if they did, the chances of them sending him to their Southern California rivals — even though the Dodgers could probably offer them the best package of prospects for Ohtani — would be remote.
That doesn't mean the Dodgers will emerge from the trade deadline empty-handed. Assuming Ohtani isn't in play, and that the Padres aren't going to send ace left-hander Blake Snell and closer Josh Hader to their hated National League West rivals, there should still be plenty of arms and a few bats for them to pick from.
A look at trade targets who might be fits for the Dodgers:
Starting pitchers
— RH Lucas Giolito (Chicago White Sox, 29): A move to the Dodgers would be a homecoming for Giolito, a former Studio City Harvard-Westlake High star who was a first-round pick of the Washington Nationals in 2012. Giolito, who is making $10.4 million and will be a free agent this winter, has rebounded from an injury-plagued 2022 to go 6-6 with a 3.96 ERA in 20 starts, with 122 strikeouts and 39 walks in 116 innings. He was dominant in seven starts from June 6 to July 9, going 2-1 with a 2.45 ERA and 48 strikeouts and yielding a .595 OPS in 44 innings, before being rocked for eight runs and six hits, including three homers, in 3 2/3 innings of Tuesday's 11-10 loss to the Mets.
— RH Marcus Stroman (Chicago Cubs, 32): What the 5-foot-7, 180-pounder lacks in physical stature he makes up for with stuff, a six-pitch repertoire led by a 91.5-mph sinking fastball, an 85-mph slurve and a 90-mph cut-fastball. Stroman is 10-6 with a 2.88 ERA in 20 starts and has given up only six homers in 118 2/3 innings. His .203 average and .560 OPS against are far below his career marks of .250 and .678. He rebounded from a shaky three-start stretch (0-2, 7.71 ERA) entering the All-Star break with a six-inning, one-run, three-hit effort in a 10-6 win over Boston last Saturday. Stroman is making $25 million and has a $21-million player option for 2024.
— LH Eduardo Rodriguez (Detroit Tigers, 30): The Tigers are on the fringe of contention in the weak AL Central, so there is no guarantee Rodriguez will be moved, and a deal for him could be complicated by the 2023 opt-out clause he has in his five-year, $77 million contract, which runs through 2026. But there is no doubting Rodriguez's stuff and track record. The fastball-cutter-change-up specialist missed all of June because of an index finger injury but is 6-5 with a 2.69 ERA in 14 starts, with 88 strikeouts and 18 walks in 83 2/3 innings, and is yielding career lows in average (.207) and OPS (.579). He went 13-5 with a 3.82 ERA for the World Series champion Boston Red Sox in 2018.
— LH Jordan Montgomery (St. Louis Cardinals, 30): The 6-6, 228-pounder is more middle-of-the-rotation workhorse than ace, but he would boost a Dodgers rotation that currently includes three rookies. Relying on a 93.5-mph sinking fastball, 84-mph change-up and 80.5-mph curve, Montgomery is 6-7 with a 3.14 ERA in 19 starts, striking out 101, walking 29 and giving up 10 homers in 109 innings. He has 11 quality starts (six innings or more, three earned runs or less), including his six-inning, one-run, six-hit effort in Tuesday's 5-2 win over Miami, and an above-average 46.3% ground-ball rate.
— RH Kyle Hendricks (Chicago Cubs, 33): The former Mission Viejo Capistrano Valley High star missed the first two months of the season recovering from a shoulder tear but has been his usual crafty and consistent self since his late-May return, going 3-4 with a 3.38 ERA in 11 starts and holding batters to a .237 average and .653 OPS. Hendricks, in the final year of a four-year, $55.5-million contract that includes a $16 million option for 2024, won't overpower anyone with his 87.6-mph fastballs and 80.4-mph change-ups. But he has a knack for missing barrels, ranking in the 94th percentile for average exit velocity (85.7 mph), 90th in hard-hit rate (31.6%) and 90th in chase-rate (33.1%).
— Worth a look: RH Lance Lynn (White Sox), RH Michael Lorenzen (Tigers), RH Jack Flaherty (Cardinals), LH Patrick Corbin (Nationals), RH Mike Clevinger (White Sox), RH Paul Blackburn (Athletics).
Relief pitchers
— RH Jordan Hicks (St. Louis Cardinals, 26): The Cardinals are true deadline sellers for the first time in president of baseball operations John Mozeliak's 15-year tenure with the club, and Hicks, who turns 27 in September and will be a free agent next winter, is his most valuable chip. Hicks, who is 1-6 with a 3.76 ERA and eight saves in 39 games, has an electric arsenal featuring a sinking fastball that averages 100.5 mph and touches 103 mph and an 87.5-mph sweeper that has generated a 58.6% whiff rate and held hitters to an .097 average (three for 31) in at-bats ending with the pitch.
— RH David Robertson (New York Mets, 38): The 15-year veteran seems to be getting better as he gets older, with a 4-2 record, 2.13 ERA, 13 saves and a 1.039 WHIP (walks plus hits per inning) in 38 games this season and an 8-5 record, 2.29 ERA and 33 saves since the start of 2022. The key for Robertson has been maintaining the velocity and shape of a 93-mph cut-fastball that he has used to hold batters to a .143 average (nine for 63) in at-bats ending with the breaking pitch.
— RH Justin Lawrence (Colorado Rockies, 28): The price for the sidearm-throwing Lawrence might be steep because he has five more years of club control, but his 95.3-mph sinking fastball and wipeout 84-mph sweeper are worthy of pursuit. Lawrence is 3-3 with a 2.57 ERA in 41 games and has held hitters to a .181 average and .534 OPS, and he has been nearly untouchable away from hitter-friendly Coors Field, giving up one earned run in 21 innings (0.43 ERA) in 18 road games. He has held batters to a .104 average (10 for 96) with 44 strikeouts in at-bats ending with his sweeper.
— RH Scott Barlow (Kansas City Royals, 30):The Santa Clarita Golden Valley High graduate, who is 2-4 with a 4.89 ERA and 11 saves in 34 games, will be a free agent after 2024, so he is more than a two-month rental, but he shouldn't demand a steep price. Barlow is not dominant with his mix of 83-mph sliders and 78.5-mph curves, but he has held hitters to a .158 average (nine for 57) in at-bats ending with the slider and a .200 mark (10 for 50) in at-bats ending with the curve.
— RH Keynan Middleton (Chicago White Sox, 29): In a season in which so much has gone wrong for the White Sox, Middleton, who signed a minor league deal last winter and is making only $750,000, is one move the team got right. The former Angels reliever is 2-1 with a 2.91 ERA in 36 games, with 44 strikeouts and 14 walks in 34 innings, and has used his changeup (87.8 mph), slider (86.1 mph) and fastball (95.7 mph) mix to generate a career-high 37.3% whiff rate.
— Worth a look: LH Brooks Raley (Mets), RH Mark Leiter Jr. (Cubs), RH Chris Stratton (Cardinals), RH Daniel Bard (Rockies), RH Hunter Harvey (Nationals), LH Brad Hand (Rockies), RH Adam Ottavino (Mets).
Position players
— OF Randal Grichuk (Colorado Rockies, 31): Grichuk can play all three outfield spots and would provide a platoon option for left-handed-hitting David Peralta, James Outman and Jason Heyward. Grichuk, who missed the first month of the season recovering from sports hernia surgery, is batting .300 with an .837 OPS, five homers and 22 RBIs in 55 games. He hit .322 with a .985 OPS, four homers and seven RBIs in 17 games from June 18 to July 14 before suffering a minor left groin injury.
— OF Tommy Pham (New York Mets, 35): The 10-year veteran played himself into an everyday role as the Mets' left fielder and is batting .274 with an .838 OPS, nine homers and 34 RBIs in 73 games. The well-traveled Pham, who has played for six teams, is a solid and often fearless defender who has played mostly in left field and center field. He has always had good plate discipline and has better career numbers against left-handed pitchers (.275, .847 OPS) than right-handers (.255, .770 OPS).
— RF Lane Thomas (Washington Nationals, 27): The price for Thomas, who turns 28 on Aug. 23, would be higher because he has three more years of club control. But in addition to his solid overall .289 average, .819 OPS, 15 homers and 51 RBIs in 94 games, Thomas has crushed left-handed pitching to the tune of a .361 average (43 for 119), 1.041 OPS, seven homers and 21 RBIs in 119 at-bats.
— Worth a look: OF Mark Canha (Mets), OF Dylan Carlson (Cardinals).
