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The Los Angeles Dodgers are having a hard time fielding healthy pitchers and they could look to the Pittsburgh Pirates for some help.
After the Pirates shockingly fired manager Derek Shelton just 38 games into the season, speculation has grown that the team could be willing to make another surprising move by trading away young ace Paul Skenes.
"You'd get a forever return for him," Harold Reynolds said in a recent MLB Network segment, when asked if the Pirates should consider trading Skenes away. "If the franchise isn't circling the wagons around him, you've got to move him. That's just the way it is."
That thinking drove ESPN baseball insider Jeff Passan to explain a similar line of thinking, as he pointed out that Skenes is virtually guaranteed to leave the Pirates when he becomes eligible for free agency, given the state of the franchise. By trading him now, Passan argued, the team could recoup a lot of his future value before that happens.
With Skenes, a recently unthinkable trade candidate, suddenly at the center of trade speculation, Jacob Mountz of FanSided identified the Dodgers as one team with an "inside track" to obtain him.
"Los Angeles has a long list of starters that are currently unable to pitch: Shohei Ohtani, Roki Sasaki, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow, Emmet Sheehan, Kyle Hurt, etc.," Mountz noted. "Should they trade for Skenes, the Dodgers would only cement their status as World Series favorites."
Mountz added that the Dodgers possess the kind of farm system talent that could compel the Pirates to relinquish Skenes.
"Since the Dodgers are stacked with pitching, we might expect them to part with No. 9 prospect and promising hurler, River Ryan," he added. "But regardless if Ryan is traded, the Pirates will also inquire about higher ranking prospects as well as major leaguers. This would include Hyeseong Kim and recently promoted No. 1 prospect Dalton Rushing."
If Skenes really does become available amid the surprising developments in Pittsburgh, the Pirates can probably name their prospect package from the Dodgers and get a deal done.
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