The day is July 30th, 2019 and the only major trade baseball fans have seen has been Marcus Stroman to the New York Mets. Besides this, there has been minor trades but nothing significant that would require your jaw to drop. Frankly, I don’t believe a jaw dropping trade will occur until the last hour of the Trade Deadline. One such move could involve either Felipe Vazquez or Edwin Diaz.
The reported asking price for Pittsburgh Pirates closer, Felipe Vazquez, was at least Gavin Lux. I’m sure the Dodgers front office and Andrew Friedman probably scoffed at that request and then hung up the phone. Vazquez is good and he is worth a solid package of players but, he’s not worth a team’s #1 prospect. The Dodgers need Vazquez but they don’t need him at that high of a price. While I’m sure the Dodgers won’t give up Lux, they are possibly looking at what they could expend in a high value trade. Keibert Ruiz’s name has to be an option and I’m sure any of the Dodgers Top 10 prospects would suffice.
Pittsburgh doesn’t need to trade Vazquez but, they should. Yes, Vazquez has team control until 2023 and he is on an extremely friendly contract in terms of money. However, he is a reliever and relievers can fluctuate each year. His stock is extremely high and if the Pirates don’t trade him now, they might not be able to receive as good of a return on him. In my opinion. the Pirates should take whatever the best offer that Andrew Friedman has probably already proposed.
In other news, the Los Angeles Dodgers are still in the hunt for Mets closer, Edwin Diaz. Diaz was acquired in the offseason earlier this season along with Robinson Cano in a deal that sent Jarred Kelenic and Justin Dunn to Seattle. In hindsight, Mets fans and the Mets are regretting this trade. Cano has not performed well this year and neither has Edwin Diaz. However, Diaz has been better as of late but certainly not as good as his breakout 2018.
Edwin Diaz is a right handed reliever that is able to close games and has a power fastball. The Dodgers like this and have been linked to his name in recent days. The unknown is what the New York Mets would want to receive in a trade for Diaz. Surely he is worth a couple of nice prospects but is he worth Ruiz, May or Lux? Not in the eyes of Friedman and most of the baseball teams that aren’t named the Mets. Edwin Diaz could probably nab a return of DJ Peters and maybe a Josiah Gray.
The problem with writing about trades is that everything we write about is just hypothetical. Until an actual deal happens, we have no solid information and it’s just speculation. So, take what I’m writing with a grain of salt. I hope that the Dodgers end up with one of these two players but if not, they still have plenty of other options.
Leadoff Dodgers 