Hold onto your seats, Dodgers fans, because the trade market is officially open for business. The first major domino fell on Friday evening, and it takes one potential target off the board for Los Angeles.
After having interest from a handful of contending teams, the Cincinnati Reds have traded their longtime ace, Luis Castillo, to the Seattle Mariners.
Reports have the Reds getting three of Seattle’s top 5 prospects, which is quite an impressive haul considering the Mariners had the second-best farm system heading into the season.
What does this mean for the Dodgers?
Pitching is an obvious area of need for the Dodgers, so seeing Castillo taken off the market is obviously not ideal. It does tell us one of two things, however – the Dodgers either view Frankie Montas as the better option in a trade or they are focused on improving in other areas.
Andrew Friedman has proven that he isn’t afraid to pull the trigger on a major move, and this season should be no different. With players like Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani potentially on the trade block, there are plenty of impactful trades that can be made.
After missing out on Castillo, perhaps their chances at another top target improve with Seattle likely out on most of the top remaining names.
The biggest question is what will Friedman be willing to part with when his team is already one of the best in the league? Holding on to their top prospects would be the calculated choice, but letting the competition get better while standing pat isn’t a recipe for success either. Dave Roberts doesn’t see many glaring holes on the roster this year, but it doesn’t mean that there isn’t room for improvement.
There are less than four days before the August 2nd deadline, but a lot can happen between now and then. The Dodgers remain the team to beat in the National League even if they stand pat, but it sure would be fun to see them go all-in to try and win it all again.
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