Los Angeles Dodgers: Three trades to make after acquiring A.J. Pollock

Even with the Los Angeles Dodgers signing A.J. Pollock it is still unclear who the team is going to field in left field. The Joc Pederson trade rumors obviously indicate that he won’t be the starting left fielder and I doubt that the team turns to Andrew Toles for starting duties.

Of course, the team could have one of Enrique Hernandez or Chris Taylor in left field, which does work, but the chances of one of them being available to play left field every day is slim. At least one of them has to help fill innings at second base alongside Max Muncy and the other might start in place of a resting starter.

It is never a bad thing to add depth and to trade Pederson for a minor leaguer that won’t help is a bit silly. Instead, the Dodgers should look to flip his left-handed bat for a right-handed left fielder and go after Nicholas Castellanos.

Castellanos will more than likely be traded from the Detroit Tigers this offseason as he reportedly wants the deal to happen sooner rather than later. Luckily for the Tigers, there is a team in the Dodgers that is actively exploring the market and has what the team should be looking for.

This is a very similar situation as with Abreu; Castellanos’ contract expires after this season and the Tigers would essentially be flipping one year of him for multiple years of Pederson. Add in Rios, who is a top-30 prospect in the Dodgers system and is undoubtedly ready to be a starting third baseman, and this is a pretty nice return.

Castellanos does have some holes defensively but he can, at the very least, be the team’s starting option against left-handed pitching in left field. His hitting is good enough to mask his bad fielding so he certainly can see time against right-handed pitching as well.

Either way, he led the major leagues in batting average against southpaws last season and is a career .295 hitter against left-handed pitching. That is the perfect bat to hit fifth in the Dodgers’ order.