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Los Angeles Dodgers: Which star acquisition would help the most

By Jason Reed

BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 14: Gerrit Cole #45 of the Houston Astros throws out Mookie Betts #50 of the Boston Red Sox during the fourth inning in Game Two of the American League Championship Series at Fenway Park on October 14, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 14: Gerrit Cole #45 of the Houston Astros throws out Mookie Betts #50 of the Boston Red Sox during the fourth inning in Game Two of the American League Championship Series at Fenway Park on October 14, 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Dodgers
(Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Dodgers /

The impact of Mookie Betts:

This one was perhaps the most work as we had to figure out a trade that made sense for both sides while also not stripping the Dodgers’ roster down completely.

One potential path would be for the Dodgers to include Gavin Lux in the trade and add an infielder on the free-agent market (maybe even go huge and get Rendon) to replace him. We did not want to make assumptions to instead made a trade where we could fill in the gaps with what was on the roster.

The trade was Joc Pederson, Dustin May and Keibert Ruiz for Betts. That is a solid one-year replacement for Betts and an elite pitching and catching prospect. This trade would only make sense if the Dodgers were assured that Betts would sign an extension. Betts took over Pederson’s spot in the order and Ross Stripling replaced May’s spot in the rotation.

The regular-season results were not as good as Rendon but part of the reason was that Bellinger did not win the MVP in this simulation. The pitching staff was solid yet again and Stripling actually performed better than May (although May would likely perform better in the real world).

The Dodgers still won the division with a 93-69 record. Betts had a better year than Rendon did, hitting .347 with 32 home runs and 125 RBIs in the Dodgers’ lead-off spot. He was a Silver Slugger and Gold Glover.

The Dodgers got past the Braves in the NLDS and faced the Cardinals in the NLCS. Like with Rendon, the Dodgers blew yet another lead. LA was up 3-0 in the series and dropped the next four games.

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