With the Dodgers’ upcoming roster crunch, it would make sense for the team to move a few guys who are taking up space and don’t have a future in L.A.
The Dodgers are going to make some trades this offseason. For one thing, they’ll head into the offseason with several holes in the starting rotation and a few more in the batting order. In addition, they have a roster crunch coming for their 40-man roster, so a handful of players either currently on the 40-man or knocking on the door might find themselves wearing another uniform next year.
So the trades are a foregone conclusion. The question is: Who will be traded? There will likely be some prospects heading out in moves to address needs, but we want to talk about a slightly different type of trade here. Some guys probably need to be traded simply because there’s not a path to playing time so there’s not point using a roster spot on them.
Let’s talk about a few of those.
Edwin Rios
Rios looked like a budding star, playing a pretty big supporting role on the 2020 World Series championship team. A shoulder injury in 2021 limited his effectiveness and eventually ended his season, and then he never really got things going in 2022, spending the last four months of the season in Triple-A.
Rios will turn 29 in April and doesn’t have a path to playing time in L.A., so it probably makes sense to ship him somewhere where he can play regularly and mash some dingers.
Andre Jackson
Jackson could be a fourth or fifth starter on a lot of teams in baseball, but the Dodgers aren’t one of those teams. He has an outstanding changeup and excellent poise, and he’s probably as ready as he’s going to be to pitch in the big leagues.
Chances are, that chance isn’t going to come with the Dodgers, so there’s not much point in him using up a 40-man roster spot anymore.
Phil Bickford
Bickford has pitched well enough at times over the past two seasons that another team might be interested in him. The Dodgers would be selling low on the righty, but the alternative at this point might be losing him for nothing by non-tendering him or designating him for assignment.
Simply put, Bickford was lousy in 2022 and doesn’t fit in the Dodgers’ future plans.
