The Dodgers have typically been loath to meet steep deadline prices for big-name relievers in the past.<\/p>\n
But based on the way the market is shaping up, they may be left with no other choice this year.<\/p>\n
Wednesday\u2019s flurry of moves saw hefty packages exchanged for Jhoan Dur\u00e1n<\/b> (two top-100 Phillies prospects), Ryan Helsley<\/b> (two of the Mets\u2019 top-15 prospects) and Tyler Rogers<\/b> (two of the Mets\u2019 top-12 prospects).<\/p>\n
The hauls for Helsley and Rogers were particularly surprising, as they were only rentals who will hit free agency after the season.<\/p>\n
That won\u2019t be the case with the top relievers left on the board entering Thursday:<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh Pirates closer David Bednar<\/b> (2.37 ERA, 17 saves) \u2014 who reportedly went to the New York Yankees Thursday \u2014 won\u2019t be a free agent until 2027. Tampa Bay Rays closer Pete Fairbanks<\/b> (2.75 ERA, 18 saves) has a relatively team-friendly club option for next year that could top out at $11 million through incentives.<\/p>\n
While the Dodgers have been linked to both, neither are certain to move.<\/p>\n
The Rays, who remain in AL wild-card contention, would be content keeping Fairbanks unless they receive a compelling offer.<\/p>\n
The Pirates view Bednar (who is making only $5.9 million this year in his penultimate season of arbitration) as perhaps the best value on the market.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, Cade Smith<\/b> of the Cleveland Guardians is under control until 2030, and might be less likely to move after Cleveland\u2019s closer (and another supposed trade chip) Emmanuel Clase<\/b> was put on leave<\/a> amid a gambling investigation.<\/p>\n Likewise, Griffin Jax<\/b> (3.91 ERA, 21 holds) of the Minnesota Twins, under control through 2027, might also be even harder to pry away now, with his former bullpen-mate in Dur\u00e1n having already been shipped out.<\/p>\n If the Dodgers do prefer a rental who would come at a more reasonable price, Raisel Iglesias<\/b> of the Atlanta Braves could have appeal. He has a strong career track record (2.99 career ERA, 236 saves), and has shown improvements in recent weeks despite a career-worst overall season (4.97 ERA). Plus, his $16 million salary might limit his market of suitors.<\/p>\n Kenley Jansen<\/b> (2.93 ERA, 20 saves) would also fit in that category, although the Angels appear to be buyers<\/a> and are unlikely to make trades with the Dodgers anyway.<\/p>\n If relief costs remain too high in the Dodgers\u2019 eyes, they could explore second-tier alternatives, such as St. Louis\u2019 Phil Maton<\/b> (2.35 ERA, 20 holds), and Miami\u2019s Anthony Bender<\/b> (1.83 ERA, 18 holds). Washington\u2019s Kyle Finnegan<\/b> (4.38 ERA, 20 saves) was another potential target but he was dealt to the Detroit Tigers on Thursday, per reports.<\/p>\n There\u2019s little doubt the Dodgers will get something done before the deadline. Given Evan Phillips\u2019 season-ending Tommy John surgery<\/a>, and the struggles top offseason signings Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates<\/a> have endured, the Dodgers need one more arm to shore up the back end of their bullpen.<\/p>\n But with costs high and options dwindling, the clock is ticking for them to land one of the few remaining impact candidates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dodgers have typically been loath to meet steep deadline prices for big-name relievers in the past. But…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":108314,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[69110,1282,462,2442,19176,42296,17711,69109,1286,1287,1266,69107,62,3692,3007,69108,67,132,68,15613],"class_list":{"0":"post-108313","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-andrew-friedman","9":"tag-cleveland-guardians","10":"tag-club","11":"tag-dodgers","12":"tag-injury","13":"tag-lineup","14":"tag-live-update","15":"tag-major-move","16":"tag-miami-marlins","17":"tag-minnesota-twins","18":"tag-mlb","19":"tag-mlb-trade-deadline-tracker","20":"tag-sports","21":"tag-st-louis-cardinals","22":"tag-team","23":"tag-trade-activity","24":"tag-united-states","25":"tag-unitedstates","26":"tag-us","27":"tag-wednesday"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}