Dodgers' $15 Million All-Star Named Potential Trade Candidate in Blockbuster Move

Gabe Smallson | Feb 13, 2025

Jul 25, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers center fielder James Outman (33) celebrates with shortstop Chris Taylor (3) after hitting a walk-off double in the 10th inning against the Toronto Blue Jays at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Dodgers have had a stellar offseason.

For a team coming off a World Series championship, they have retooled the roster with the perfect mix of veteran leadership, international talent, key players from the title run, and pitching standouts.

And they may not be done quite yet.

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The Dodgers 2025 offseason:

- Signed Blake Snell, Roki Sasaki, Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates, Michael Conforto, Hyeseong Kim

- Re-signed Teoscar Hernández, Blake Treinen, Kiké Hernández

- Extended Tommy Edman

The Dodgers won the World Series, and aced the offseason right after.

— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) February 9, 2025

With a clear overflow of talent on the roster, there still appear to be a few moves to make to pare down the team and fit the MLB-mandated 26-man roster by Opening Day.

Unfortunately for Dodgers faithful, this may come at the expense of an All-Star who has helped bring two titles to Los Angeles, as Maren Angus-Coombs of dodgersnation.com named Chris Taylor as a potential trade candidate for L.A.

Taylor started his MLB career with the Seattle Mariners and made his way to the Dodgers in the midst of the 2016 season. He has been a fan favorite ever since.

Helping the team get to the Fall Classic four times in Dodger blue, there is no question regarding Taylor's productivity over the course of his Dodgers tenure. A utility man in every sense of the word, he has logged starts in every position around the diamond that isn't first base, pitcher, or catcher.

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As the Dodgers continue their historic offseason, they have recently brought back future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw, as well as another utility man in Kiké Hernández.

Thus, a clear spot for Taylor unfortunately doesn't exist on the current roster. However, his contract has a few interesting stipulations, according to Angus-Coombs.

"While he does not have a no-trade clause, his contract does include two other things: A $2 million assignment bonus with each trade, plus his 2026 option increases by $1 million if traded after the 2024 season and before start of the 2026 season," Angus-Coombs wrote.

These are essentially peanuts compared to some of the other blockbuster deals the Dodgers have shelled out, but it is worth considering if Taylor is moved as his new team would likely not see his contract as very team-friendly. Thus, the Dodgers would likely need to eat a good amount of the money to make a deal work.

Other candidates that could be traded include Andy Pages and James Outman, whose coming off a struggle of a season in 2024. However, both have minor league options, which makes it easier to keep them around.

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For more Dodgers news, head over to Dodgers on SI.