Trade Deadline approaches, LA Teams Start Making Deals

The MLB trade stove is burning hot as big names are moving to and from Los Angeles before the Tuesday, August 1st trade deadline. 

The Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim has been the center of trade talks all season long, as the greatest baseball player of our time, Shohei Ohtani, becomes a free agent after this season. 

Media speculation almost talked the Angles front office into trading the Unicorn before the team announced on Wednesday that Ohtani is off limits as they attempt to break into the playoffs for the first time since 2014. 

The team doubled down on this mindset, announcing a deal with the Chicago White Sox shortly after. The trade sent former All-Star pitcher Lucas Giolito and reliever Reynaldo López to the Angles. In exchange, Anaheim sent back their numbers two and three prospects. Catcher Edgar Quero, and left-handed pitcher Ky Bush, this trade has a familiar James Shields, Fernando Tatis Jr feel. 

After a disappointing first half in a wide-open division, Chicago has a plethora of pitching on the market. Earlier in the day, reports of Lance Lynn trade talks surfaced. Not to mention Dylan Cease- who the White Sox said they wouldn’t trade, as they are not interested in a complete rebuild and see next year as a chance to compete. 

Across the highway, the Dodgers weren’t stopping after reuniting with Kiké Hernandez, adding another veteran infielder. The deal with the Cleveland Guardians put Amed Rosario on a plane to California and Noah Syndergaard back to ‘Believeland.’

Syndergaard burst onto the scenes with the New York Mets and quickly became one of the league’s most lights-out pitchers. But injury and age caught up with the righty. The Guardians are his fourth team since 2021. The 30-year-old still has capability left in the tank, showing that in the 2022 Phillies World Series run. 

Amed Rosario has had a tough time at the plate this year. He ranks second to last in WRC+ (weighted runs created) among all qualifying shortstops. But since June 1st, his .301 batting average is the second highest among the same qualifying shortstops. Baseball is funny in that way. 

The absence of a reliable infield has been the Dodgers’ Achilles heel all season. Dodgers shortstops have been batting .222/.296/.315 and a 71 WRC+ since June 1st. The Dodgers will be upgrading despite Rosario’s regression.