Los Angeles Dodgers: A trio of American League East players to target
By Jason Reed
1. Ken Giles
Two years ago Ken Giles was pitching against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2017 World Series and was not all that spectacular. Giles posted a 27.00 ERA in that series and an 11.74 ERA overall in the 2017 postseason after a strong regular season with the Houston Astros.
Giles posted a 2.30 ERA in 2017 and then had a 4.99 ERA through 34 games with the Houston Astros in 2018. This prompted the Astros to include Giles in the trade for Roberto Osuna, upgrading the closer position in the process.
Giles has reinvented himself in Toronto and once again looks like the elite reliever that he was in Houston. Giles was one of the best in the Major Leagues last season, posting a 1.87 ERA with 83 strikeouts in 53 innings. He was the only other pitcher alongside Kirby Yates to average 14 or more strikeouts per nine innings with an ERA under 2.00 last season.
Giles is now entering the last year of arbitration before becoming a free agent and is a prime candidate to get traded yet again. The Toronto Blue Jays have no realistic expectation to contend next season and would benefit more from getting something out of one year of Giles.
For the Dodgers, this would likely mean a mid-tier, big-league ready prospect, perhaps someone such as Edwin Rios, who has the bat to make a difference but simply is not good enough to get playing time over the existing players on the roster.
The Blue Jays get a young player to play first and join the young core and the Dodgers bolster the bullpen.