At 71-31 on the season, the Los Angeles Dodgers are in the midst of the best regular season in franchise history. They also have to be considered odds-on favorites to represent the National League in the World Series.
Unfortunately for the Dodgers, one major injury could end up derailing the team’s season. Three-time Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw went down with a strained lower back earlier in the week and is expected to miss at least the next month of action.
With Kershaw sidelined, it’s looking increasingly likely that the Dodgers themselves will indeed land another top-end starter prior to next week’s non-waiver trade deadline.
Jon Morosi of MLB Network is reporting that Los Angeles is “increasingly confident” that it will land Yu Darvish, Sonny Gray or Justin Verlander in a trade here soon.
Sources: #Dodgers increasingly confident they will acquire 1 of Yu Darvish, Sonny Gray or Justin Verlander by Monday. @MLB @MLBNetwork
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 27, 2017
While none of these three pitchers have put up stellar seasons, each one has a track record of success heading a rotation. All three also seem to be on the trade block with just a few days remaining until July 31st.
Of these three, Gray has received the most interest on the trade market. And for good reason. He’s just 27 years old and is under team control through the 2019 season. Verlander is owed $56 million over the next two seasons and is pitching to a 4.50 ERA. Meanwhile, the 30-year-old Darvish is in the midst of the worst season of his career. He entered Thursday’s action having posted a 6-9 record with a 4.01 ERA and 1.17 WHIP.
It will most definitely be interesting to see what comes of this, but we would not be surprised to see Los Angeles add at least one of these pitchers prior to Monday.