Los Angeles Dodgers: Three trades to make after acquiring A.J. Pollock
By Jason Reed
It appeared as if the Los Angeles Dodgers were out of the J.T. Realmuto sweepstakes when the team traded for a former friend, Russell Martin. However, after signing Pollock, the Los Angeles Dodgers are back in the running and engaged in trade talks with the Miami Marlins.
The reason that the trade talks stalled earlier in the offseason was because of the Marlins massive asking price for Realmuto, reportedly asking for Cody Bellinger to be the main return piece, which should not happen in a million years.
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However, with the calendar nearly turning to February, the Marlins likely realize that they are not going to get the massive return for Realmuto that they had expected earlier in the offseason. However, they still will get a nice return, as Realmuto has been the best catcher in the game the last three seasons.
That includes the Dodgers’ top catching prospect (and the top overall prospect to many), Keibert Ruiz.
Initially, I hated the idea of Ruiz as the Dodgers simply needed a stopgap option at catcher until Ruiz was big league ready. However, upon thinking about it, this is a move that the Dodgers have to make to capitalize on the title window.
The Dodgers are insanely deep at catcher and have Will Smith to bank on if Realmuto does indeed leave after two seasons in LA. However, there is also always the possibility of extending Realmuto or re-signing him, which would undoubtedly make it worth trading Ruiz.
The Marlins would be getting one of the best catching prospects in all of baseball to look forward to alongside some other nice pieces as well. Austin Barnes would give the team big league help, as the Marlins are pretty thin at catcher.
Pederson can patrol the outfield for the next three years and get a chance to fully showcase his power as an everyday guy, not a platoon option. Yadier Alvarez is a prospect that once had a massive ceiling but has since fallen in the Dodgers’ ranks.
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The Marlins should still be high on Alvarez, as he has all-star potential in the MLB if he can piece everything together and can be a huge Cuban star in the Miami market.