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If the Dodgers Can Trade for Just One Pl
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Never in my life has it occurred to me to say something like this: Yeah, Id be fine if the Dodgers did nothing at the trade deadline. Not a single time, never. And while its not my recommendation that the club stand pat, Ill understand the Mike Wagner Jersey reasoning if that's what happens.The depth card is played in Los Angeles as much as it is anywhere in baseball. More, really. And the 2020 Dodger roster is as deep as most of us can recall. The team literally does not have room for all the talent it po se ses. You can .The Dodgers have no . Think about that; no needs. Im not even sure they have , but I know they have no needs.It would be nice for lefty-swingers Joc Pederson, Cody Bellinger and Max Muncy to produce normally. Both Joc and Cody had a games worth of good at bats Friday at Chavez Ravine (Dodgers 6, Rockies 1), which is encouraging, and Muncy is a big time postseason performer, so Im not particularly worried about him. More importantly, management isnt either. With the po sible exception of a belated promotion of Gavin Lux, nothing is required to shore up left-side hitting.The bullpen is almost too good to be Roosevelt Nix Jersey believed this year. The relief corps sports a combined 10-4 record (same as the starters), a 1.81 ERA, a 0.977 WHIP, a .183/.262/.261 opponents batting line and 114 strikeouts in 114 2/3 innings. To give you an idea, with as close a match as I could find, Mariano Rivera's 2006 season mark is as follows: 1.80, 0.960, .223/.264/.288, with 55 strikeouts in 75 innings. So for the first time in Andrew Friedmans seven years as the team's big bo s, and going back years prior to his arrival, L.A. could, should and probably will stand pat in the relief pitcher department.They dont need a starting pitcher. At all. They have to choose the right five and four in October but the men are there. Please dont ask me if I think the Dodgers will make the right calls (yes to Gonsolin, no to Alex Wood; Ro s Stripling to the pen if Coty Sensabaugh Jersey there is room for him) because I dont know. But I'm hopeful.To review, Los Angeles is set with lefty-slugging, starting pitching and in the pen. The regulars and their understudies are healthy. So what does that leave? Moreover, per the headline, and since my a signment is to suggest (see SI.com early next week), I shall name one player the Dodgers should trade for. The player is the Royals' Whit Merrifield.To be clear, the Dodgers do not Merrifield. But what if they were to reach out and get him anyway? Just what if?Scroll to ContinueHere's what if: they'd play him at second base, where he would replace Kik Hernndez against right-handers (2020 Merrifield vs. RHP = .293/.356/.494; Kik = .225/.296/.412). Theyd play him in center at times too, with Bellinger moving to first base and Muncy to second. Then theyd marvel at the almost droid-level consistency of the Kansas City veterans offensive performance.Well, they wont marvel, because if they trade for him its because they know precisely what it is they're getting. Because they know that if you look at the splits almost anywhere within the splits the Pavlovian response is to drool.Pick almost any year of Merrifield's career, and especially any of the last four including this one, and youll find the home/road, left/right and first half/second half numbers to be almost identical. Yes, like most right-hand hitters, hes a little better vs. left-handers (.313/.363/.508 lifetime) than right (.291/.339/.428 lifetime), but so what? Look at almost any month of any year and youll see a batting average around .300, an on base percentage of .350 or .360 and a slugging percentage around .450. Hes hitting .313/.373/.525 right now.Please note also that Merrifield is a two-time American League stolen base leader, and whether the Dodgers would choose to use him in that way or not, they'd certainly welcome another excellent base runner to a team full of them.Two important questions remain: Los Mike Mitchell Jersey Angeles trade for Merrifield and they trade for him. The answer to the first question is yes, definitely. With Merrifield's team-friendly contract (pre-shutdown 2020 salary of $5 million, 2021 salary of $6.75 mil plus incentives, 2022 salary of $2.75 mil plus incentives and a 2023 option for $10.5 mil or a $750,000 buyout) it would require a package of fine young Dodgers, of which there are many. Two, three or po sibly four from a list like this, in no particular order: Mitch White, D.J. Peters, Zach McKinstry, Cody Thomas, Victor Gonzalez, Marshall Kazowski, Jacob Amayo, Micheal Busch, Jeren Kendall, Zach Reks or Brayden Fisher. Should KC want someone not on this list (and Donnie Shell Jersey not named Josiah Gray), and they might, theres room for discu sion. the Dodgers make such a trade? I think they would, perhaps more so this year than they would have before or at some future time. All in. the Dodgers make such a trade? That I cant tell you. But it wouldnt be all that difficult to pull off, and it wouldnt surprise me a bit.And the baseball world would exclaim, "Oh c'mon, that's unfair!"