The offseason is here and now for all but three teams across Major League Baseball.
That includes the Los Angeles Dodgers, who had an abrupt exit from the playoffs.
Well, MLB insider Jim Bowden wasted absolutely no time proposing a massive trade for the Dodgers to get insanely rich with more young, automatic offensive production.
Bowden recently floated the following trade idea on the podcast ‘GM Territory’:
- Dodgers receive: OF James Wood, SS CJ Abrams
- Washington Nationals receive: C Dalton Rushing, P Emmet Sheehan, All-Star starter Justin Wrobleski, and top prospect Josue De Paula
There is certainly a ton of angles to digest from this wild trade idea by Bowden, so let’s get into it.
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Is This Wild Trade Idea Actually Realistic?
CJ Abrams has constantly been the subject of trade rumors since he burst onto the scene in MLB.
But would the Dodgers even be a team that wants to acquire him? They could move Abrams to 2B, which makes sense, but LA rolls with Mookie Betts as shortstop for now.
As for potentially acquiring James Wood, would that mean Teoscar Hernandez also gets traded? He’s not featured in this trade idea, but a spot in the outfield would need to be cleared for Wood, because he’s that talented as one of the premier sluggers in baseball.
Speaking of the trade haul that the Nationals would receive, it wouldn’t be the first time they’ve traded a star player for young talent to build for the future. Josue De Paula is the Dodgers’ top prospect, and both Emmet Sheehan and Justin Wrobleski made 22 starts this season, so those two MLB-ready arms could be the foundation for the Nationals’ pitching staff going forward, and De Paula/Dalton Rushing are great supplemental pieces who also appear to be MLB-ready.
However, this trade idea stems from the fact that nobody thinks the Nationals would be able to retain either Abrams or Wood in free agency, so why not maximize their value now before inevitably letting them walk out the door.
That’s just speculation, of course, but it’s also speculation that the Dodgers are thinking about offloading any of these players that Jim Bowden names.
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Who Says ‘No’ In Dodgers-Nationals Proposed Trade?
Which side would turn this down??
It’s very hard to say, but judging how important CJ Abrams and James Wood are to the Nationals organization, it’s hard to think they would give away both players in one deal.
Perhaps it’s more realistic that Washington decides to offload one of their All-Star players.
It’s not a completely lopsided trade idea for either side necessarily, but it would be hard for people to grasp the concept of the Nats giving up on two potentially generational players.
However, if the Dodgers get back into ‘desperation’ mode this offseason, expect Andrew Friedman to potentially be as active as ever in making moves.
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