Dodgers Expected to Pursue Blockbuster Trade With Twins at Deadline, Says Insider

The 2024 Dodgers offer a rare case study: the team that "won" last year's trade deadline might have clinched themselves a World Series championship in the process. In acquiring Tommy Edman and Michael Kopech in a three-team trade with the Chicago White Sox and St. Louis Cardinals last July, the Dodgers acquired two key components of their title run.

Kopech and Edman were not necessarily the best players traded last summer. Yusei Kikuchi, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Randy Arozarena might have a case. But no trade was more consequential than the eight-player swap that saw Dodgers infielder Miguel Vargas go to the White Sox, who sent Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham to St. Louis.

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Three months later, Edman was the National League Championship Series MVP. Kopech was ticketed for a set-up role in October that saw him make 10 appearances — nearly all in close games — and allow runs in only two of them.

Could the Dodgers approach the deadline with a similar trade in mind?

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According to USA Today national baseball writer Bob Nightengale, the Dodgers have an eye on Minnesota Twins outfielder Harrison Bader and one of the Twins' high-leverage relievers, either closer Jhoan Duran or Griffin Jax.

“I think Bader’s a perfect fix, put him in the mix, obviously they’ve been disappointed with Michael Conforto," Nightengale told Doug McKain of Dodgers Nation. "Conforto has performed better lately. Bader’s got a very good glove. … It’s almost like, ‘Hey, they struck gold with Tommy Edman, now they want to do it with Bader.’"

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So is that the trade they're going to pursue?

“Yeah if they’re gonna swing big, you want one of the two guys from Minnesota," Nightengale said. "I mean Bader’s nice as kind of an extra outfielder, but (they want to) get Duran or Jax.”

The Dodgers just hosted the Twins last week at Dodger Stadium, winning two of three.

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The Dodgers have yet to make a trade in advance of Thursday's 3 p.m. deadline, but their need for relief pitching is well-documented. The team will reportedly look at veteran right-hander Joe Kelly, who hasn't pitched in 2025, as a possible midseason free agent acquisition.

The possibility of adding an outfielder to replace Conforto, the only qualified hitter in MLB with a sub-.200 batting average, has emerged as a distinct possibility in recent weeks as well.

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It's a seller's market, with several teams still on the fence about buying or selling. But Nightengale believes the Dodgers will make a move of some sort in the next two days.

“I’d be stunned if they don’t come away from the deadline with at least one late-inning reliever," he told McKain.

For more Dodgers news, head over to Dodgers on SI.