Los Angeles Dodgers: Three trades to make to setup Bryce Harper
By Jason Reed
![WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 21: Bryce Harper #34 of the Washington Nationals bats against the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning at Nationals Park on August 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 21: Bryce Harper #34 of the Washington Nationals bats against the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning at Nationals Park on August 21, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/1365f43ecd8ff8d4e2820b316a54686ccb344c2470f0b5f7ef98fda102bd6383.jpg)
The final results:
This is a lot of moving pieces for the Los Angeles Dodgers to make and the chances of the team being able to pull off all three of these deals and sign Harper is probably slim. However, if the Dodgers were to accomplish something similar to this, it would leave the team in a tremendous position.
First, with Harper being the focus of this article, we will look at the outfield.
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Harper would start in right field and top prospect Alex Verdugo would finally have his chance to play in the big leagues and would be manning center field. In left, the Dodgers could run a two-bat platoon of Joc Pederson and Chris Taylor, with Pederson playing against right-handed pitching and Taylor playing against southpaws.
In the infield, the Dodgers would have a great outlook as well. Justin Turner and Corey Seager are locks to be everyday players at third base and shortstop. Cody Bellinger probably should be an everyday player as well at first, however, I would not mind giving David Freese some good matchups against southpaws.
At second base, the Dodgers have to go a bit untraditional and run a platoon of Max Muncy and Enrique Hernandez. I do not love Muncy’s fielding but his bat is hard to deny, especially against right-handed pitching. He does have a career .992 fielding percentage at second base and is a big league athlete, after all.
Behind the plate would be the Barnes-Cervelli platoon that we already mentioned.
Then we get into the starting rotation and it gets really juicy. The Dodgers have an insane five-man rotation of Kershaw, Kluber, Buehler, Hill and Ryu. Personally, I think the Dodgers would benefit from a six-man rotation and should go that route, throwing Julio Urias in as the sixth pitcher.
That is a rotation that could have a sub 2.50 ERA.
Not many changes in the bullpen as the only addition in Ronnie Elias. Elias is better than some of the Dodgers already in the bullpen, so the team would have some juggling to do. Depth is never a bad thing.
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All of this leaves the Los Angeles Dodgers with a lineup looking something like Alex Verdugo, Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Bryce Harper, Bellinger/Freese, Muncy/Hernandez, Pederson/Taylor and Barnes/Cervelli. Spots five through seven are interchangeable and man is that is a great lineup.