Always looking to upgrade their club for a postseason run, the Los Angeles Dodgers have been one of the more active clubs at the trade deadline the past few seasons, acquiring some of the best starting pitchers available like Rich Hill and Yu Darvish.
So far this year though, they have gone with a bit of a different approach by acquiring a position player to help fill the void of Corey Seager being out for the rest of the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
They got the best position player available in Baltimore Orioles shortstop Manny Machado, so even if they don’t make another move they will have already been among the trade deadline winners.
With still a couple days until the deadline though, the Dodgers look like they might not be done yet as according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, they are among the teams pursuing Tampa Bay Rays starter Chris Archer:
#Yankees, #Dodgers and #Padres among teams trying for #Rays’ Chris Archer, sources tell me and @JimBowdenGM.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) July 28, 2018
The Dodgers have been linked to Archer multiple times in the past, although Tamp Bay’s price tag has always been too high for the flame-throwing right-hander.
That tag may have come down a bit though with one less year of club control left and being in the midst of a bit of a down season.
In 17 starts this year, Archer is 3-5 with a 4.31 ERA, 3.62 FIP and 1.39 WHIP while striking out 102 and walking 31 in 96 innings.
The Dodgers currently have six healthy starting pitchers and Hyun-Jin Ryu set to return soon as well, so it would make more sense for them to acquire bullpen help before the deadline. If they have the chance to acquire a pitcher of Archer’s caliber that isn’t just a rental though, they may end up pulling the trigger.
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