Dodgers Rumors: Ranking the four pitchers most likely to be traded for

4. Chris Archer, Tampa Bay Rays

Chris Archer has been rumored to depart from Tampa Bay for quite some time now. Stemming back to last season, Archer has continued to be amongst heavy trade rumors as the deadline approaches. While Archer being dealt certainly is a possibility, it would take quite the pretty penny to rip him out of the Rays’ grasp.

Understandably so, as well. Archer is one of the best young pitchers in all of baseball. The 28-year-old right-hander has shown signs of greatness, pitching to a 3.92 ERA in the extremely tough AL East. With four more years of control after 2017, Archer now becomes one of the best long-term targets for teams in need.

Put Archer in the NL, pitching in the very friendly Dodger Stadium, with Rick Honeycutt mentoring him, and he will undoubtedly return to superstar status. His ERA will likely creep back down to 3.00, and most likely, would fall well below it. The sky truly is the limit for Archer, with Los Angeles perhaps being the best place to reach said limit.

With the Dodgers already doing business with the Rays when they acquired Logan Forsythe, the foundation for this deal may already be in place. If the Rays fall out of playoff contention, they very well may go back to the drawing board.

However, we have seen that Andrew Friedman does not like to overpay for players. While it definitely can be argued that Archer’s incoming prowess outweighs the potential price for him, seeing the Dodgers front office actually pull the trigger may be unlikely.