Dodgers Linked to Future Hall of Fame Pitcher in Potential Trade

Noah Camras | May 17, 2024

May 12, 2022; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Dodgers have one of the most injury-riddled starting rotations in all of Major League Baseball — and yet, starting pitching has been one of their biggest strengths.

Entering Friday, Dodgers starting pitchers have a combined 3.33 ERA across 238 innings pitched, which is seventh-best in MLB.

Eleven different players have started or opened a game for L.A. this season, and that's without Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, and Emmet Sheehan, who are all on the 60-day injured list. It's also without Shohei Ohtani, who's only hitting this season as he recovers from offseason UCL surgery.

While the Dodgers have been able to make it work through the first almost two months of the season, they seem to be playing on borrowed time.

Tyler Glasnow hasn't thrown more than 120 innings in a season in his nine-year career, and he's already at 62. James Paxton has thrown a total of 117.2 innings since the beginning of 2020, and is already at 38.1. Walker Buehler hadn't pitched in almost two years before his return earlier this month. And Gavin Stone has already set a career-high in innings pitched for a season.

The Dodgers are expecting to get some reinforcements back later this year in Kershaw and potentially May, but a team can never have too much pitching — especially come the postseason. That's why the New York Post's Jon Heyman has recently linked the Dodgers to future Hall of Fame pitcher Justin Verlander.

"The Astros aren’t ones to surrender easily, but if they retool, a prime candidate for trade would be Cooperstown-bound Justin Verlander. And Detroit might make an interesting landing spot for the legendary ex-Tiger," Heyman said. "Confidants suggest Verlander might be amenable to Detroit. The Dodgers, Orioles (he’s from Virginia) and Cubs are thought three more teams Verlander might approve."

The Dodgers were one of the teams reportedly interested in Verlander last trade deadline before he went back to the Houston Astros. Heyman has suspected that Verlander would accept a trade to Los Angeles, assuming the Astros fall out of the race and look to sell off some pieces at the deadline.

Verlander would be a perfect addition to the L.A. rotation as a veteran pitcher with tons of postseason experience. The nine-time All-Star, three-time Cy Young winner, and one-time MVP has a career 3.24 ERA in 514 regular season starts, and a career 3.58 ERA in 38 postseason appearances.

Verlander is a two-time World Series champion as a member of both the Astros' 2017 and 2022 teams. He opened the 2024 season on the injured list, but has been sharp since returning, sporting a 3.38 ERA in five starts and 29.1 innings.

Verlander is 41 years old and a free agent after this season. The Astros are currently 19-25, sitting in third place in the American League West.