Los Angeles Dodgers: Southpaw relievers to consider trading for
By Jason Reed
3. Francisco Liriano
Francisco Liriano is probably not the first Pittsburgh Pirates left-handed reliever that comes to mind when discussing who the team should trade for. The better-known option is Felipe Vazquez, who has been one of the best left-handed relievers in the entire league the last two seasons.
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However, Vazquez is young and has multiple years left on his contract. There is no way the Pirates trade him this soon and instead will look to build around him and likely do what the San Diego Padres did with Brad Hand and wait to trade him.
One arm they could easily part ways with, though, is veteran southpaw Francisco Liriano. Liriano has really reinvented himself as a reliever back in Pittsburgh, where he has always been at his best throughout his career.
Liriano has a 1.03 ERA in 26.1 innings pitched this season with 30 strikeouts. His walk-rate is somewhat high, walking 12 batters, although it is not that alarming.
He definitely will not keep up this pace and wouldn’t come to the Dodgers and be the best left-handed reliever in the MLB. However, he obviously has value as a reliever and his veteran presence would be huge for a bullpen that needs consistency.
His numbers against left-handed batters are not as good as the other guys as left-handers actually hit better against Liriano than right-handers. However, with just one home run allowed in 107 plate appearances, he is exactly what the Dodgers need.
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The team will be just fine if he does not work out. He is not going to cost anything significant, has a small contract and can be freed up after this year. Based on his performances thus far in 2019, he definitely deserves to be in the conversation.