The question is not if the Los Angeles Dodgers will make a big trade in 2025, but who that big trade will see them acquire.
In their relentless pursuit of back-to-back championships, the Dodgers showed no mercy to the other 29 Major League Baseball teams with their offseason acquisitions. The same should be expected at the Jul. 31 trade deadline.
One might think the Dodgers' bullpen couldn't possibly use any more upgrades after the offseason signings of Kirby Yates and Tanner Scott. But Yates hasn't been very good so far, and in fact, the LA bullpen as a whole ranks 17th in ERA at 4.03.
To that end, one Dodgers writer believes Los Angeles will go after a lefty who has had some remarkable highs in his career.
In a recent article, Dodgers Nation's Alex Fray named Orioles reliever Gregory Soto, a former two-time All-Star with the Detroit Tigers, as a top hypothetical trade target for Los Angeles this summer.
"Anthony Banda has not looked overly impressive this year. With Tanner Scott assuming the high-leverage role, and Alex Vesia being a guy who can face both righties and lefties, Soto could be a guy pegged as a possible upgrade over Banda as the hard-throwing lefty utilized in the sixth and seventh innings (and in left-on-left situations)," Fray wrote.
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"Baltimore is dead-last in the uber-competitive AL East. Only the White Sox have less wins in the entire American League. As such, a fire sale could occur with the O’s sooner than later. Soto might be the classic ‘change of scenery’ case who the Dodgers fix."
Soto, 30, has a 4.02 ERA in 15 2/3 innings, a year after a 4.42 ERA in 53 innings between the Orioles and Philadelphia Phillies. He hasn't been an All-Star since 2022, but the Dodgers are indeed notorious for getting the best from their veteran pitchers.
While there are still two months until the deadline, Soto is a name worth monitoring, as the Orioles are already nearing the point of no return.
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