Dodgers Blockbuster Trade Proposal Lands $45 Million Starter for Top Prospects

The Los Angeles Dodgers are tied for the best record in baseball, but the season goes much further than simply the first week of July.

With an egregious amount of pitchers on the injured list, many have linked L.A. to acquiring pitching talent ahead of the trade deadline at the end of the month, and this recent trade idea has the Dodgers swapping top prospects for a veteran pitcher.

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Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter linked the likely selling Kansas City Royals, currently 4.5 games out of a tight AL Wild Card race and fourth in their division, to dealing right-hander Seth Lugo to the Dodgers. The would-be return includes L.A.'s Nos. 6 and 7 prospects, outfielders Eduardo Quintero and Mike Sirota.

At 35 years old, Lugo is a durable and proven veteran. Since coming in second place in the Cy Young race last season, and even finishing 15th in AL MVP voting, Lugo has picked up right where he left off after an electric 2024 campaign.

The one-time All-Star is currently at a 2.74 ERA through 15 starts, his lowest total since the 2019 season, back when he was still pitching out of the bullpen.

Lugo has 88.2 innings of work this season and has an ERA+ of 151, just over 50 percent better than the average qualified pitcher.

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Now giving up two prospects for a talented pitcher can oftentimes make sense, but Lugo is no spring chicken. Additionally, he has a 2026 player option for $15 million that he will likely decline if he keeps up his pitching prowess.

Lugo would be a rental in every sense of the term. Look no further than Jack Flaherty when it comes to succesful rentals for the Dodgers, as the hometown pitcher started Games 1 and 5 of the World Series when most of the rotation was on the injured list.

With similar pitching problems already hampering the roster, perhaps a rental pitcher is the way to go for L.A., but Quintero is currently thriving in Single-A at just 19 years old, while Sirota (acquired by way of the Gavin Lux trade) has a 1.088 OPS in Triple-A this year.

President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has some brutal trade deadline deals involving pitchers and parting ways with prospects, but depending on what the final asking price potential turns into, this trade may be too much for the Dodgers to pull the trigger.

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