For the Los Angeles Dodgers, no amount of pitching is ever enough.
Over the offseason, the Dodgers thought they created the closest thing Major League Baseball has ever seen to a super-rotation. Now, instead of Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki, they’ve currently got Emmet Sheehan and Dustin May in the rotation.
The Dodgers might be content to let Snell and Sasaki get healthy and focus on the bullpen at the trade deadline, but there’s one sneaky arm Los Angeles should consider if the price is right.
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Credit to Bleacher Report’s Zachary D. Rymer, who identified Baltimore Orioles left-hander Trevor Rogers as a “hidden gem” on the trade market on Tuesday.
Rymer suggested that the Dodgers could be a fit for Rogers, and based on Los Angeles’ present and future needs, they’d be smart to make a call to Baltimore.
“Apart from the velocity, Rogers has also added a sweeper to go with his slider and changeup. Though the changeup is his go-to secondary offering, it’s the slider and sweeper that have better whiff rates. An enterprising team might see an opportunity there,” wrote Rymer.
“In any case, the lefty represents an upside play for both the rest of 2025 and 2026. If he stays on the track he’s put himself on, he fits as a top-of-the-rotation starter for most teams. Potential Fits: Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox.”
Rogers would be a sell-high candidate for the Orioles, because he has a 1.49 ERA in eight starts this season. But there’s reason to believe the improvements are real. On top of the evidence Rymer lists, there’s the fact that he’s nearly improved his strikeout rate by 5%.
But the best part of all is that Rogers could take over for lefty Clayton Kershaw in the rotation next season, and because he’s arbitration-eligible, he could do it for cheap, giving the Dodgers some payroll flexibility at a time they should probably consider it.
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