Dodgers trade rumors: Three ways to make space for Yu Darvish

Trade #1:

The first possibility for the Dodgers is to try and get rid of their expiring contracts. The two most notable expiring contracts on the payroll is of slugging catcher Yasmani Grandal and left-handed starting pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu. With neither guy necessarily having a sure-fire job in 2018, it makes sense to move on from the duo.

Grandal is in the midst of a positional battle with Austin Barnes that, at the best, will result in Grandal being used as a left-handed hitting platoon partner. Plus, the Dodgers’ faith seems to lie in Barnes after Grandal started just two games in the 2017 postseason.

However ,As for Ryu, he is simply an expendable piece that would be immediately replaced by Darvish. As it stands, Ryu is set to be the Dodgers fifth starter in the rotation and is one of four left-handers.

Therefore, with Yu Darvish, Alex Wood would slide to the third spot, thus moving Rich Hill back to fifth and keeping Kenta Maeda fourth to give LA a L/R/L/R/L outlook.

For the Blue Jays, this deal makes sense towards their contention in the AL East in 2018. Russell Martin only hit .221 in 91 games for the Blue Jays last year and the team lacks depth in the starting rotation. If Ryu and Grandal don’t pan out it won’t hurt the Blue Jays long term due to their expiring deals.

Give the Dodgers two mid-level prospects and it is a fair trade off. Toronto gets a better chance to contend for relatively cheap and the Dodgers get $14.9 million in freed up cap space.