Los Angeles Dodgers: Joc Pederson’s best fits outside of LA
By Jason Reed
1. Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians should be picking up the phone and calling Andrew Friedman and the Los Angeles Dodgers front office constantly to try and work out a deal for Joc Pederson. The Indians are in dire need of outfielders if the team wants to contend in 2019 and is looking to add cheap options, which Pederson is.
The Dodgers and Indians have been linked since the beginning of the offseason because of the Dodgers surplus of outfielders and the possible trade pieces the Indians could send in return. A deal was never worked out and speculation faded, however, it could easily be reignited with Pederson on the table.
Pederson would be a great middle of the order bat that the Indians could bat fifth or even fourth and would directly benefit from having Jose Ramirez and Francisco Lindor hitting ahead of him. His RBI numbers would undoubtedly soar and he would excel in the hitter-friendly Progressive Field.
The obvious return that the Dodgers would want would be Corey Kluber, who would undoubtedly give the Dodgers the best starting rotation in baseball.
It would take more than Pederson to get Kluber but Pederson is a good place to start. He is young, controllable and can make an impact now. Pederson, top pitching prospect Dustin May, catching prospect Will Smith and a young big-league arm, such as Caleb Ferguson or Dennis Santana, would be a fair price to pay for Kluber.
If not Kluber, the Dodgers could explore the rest of the starting rotation or flip Pederson for prospects.