Letters to Sports: Why did the Dodgers keep their hands in pockets at trade deadline?
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Letters to Sports: Why did the Dodgers keep their hands in pockets at trade deadline?
The self-confident, stay-as-they-are Dodgers did right by not panicking at the trade deadline. This is still the same group of guys picked by most baseball experts to win a second straight championship. It’s a reasonable gamble to believe that their pitchers will stay healthy enough, their hitters will get untracked and Max Muncy will return and pick up where he left off. The Padres are one team that firmly believes in this while the Dodgers always seem hesitant to do so. With their deep pockets, I thought they might have become the first organization in MLB history to trade for an entire team. The time to win is now and that holding onto all their draft capital when it could be used to immediately bolster the roster doesn’t historically or statistically make much sense.
The slumps will pass. The injuries will go away. Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani and the gang will be there at the end when it counts most.
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Marty Zweben
Palos Verdes Estates
Though I don’t agree with his breathless, sky-is-falling sense of urgency, I do think Bill Plaschke is right that the Dodgers should have been more aggressive at the trade deadline. It’s a reasonable gamble to believe that their pitchers will stay healthy enough, their hitters will get untracked and Max Muncy will return and pick up where he left off. But it’s a gamble nonetheless. And if you’ve already sunk $400 million into your payroll, what’s another $10 million to $20 million for a playoff insurance policy: a proven closer and a better outfielder?
John Merryman
Redondo Beach
On Wednesday against the Reds, James Outman attempted to do his best Denzel Clarke-Cedric Mullins imitation by attempting to rob a homer. Unfortunately this last great effort typified Outman’s career with the Dodgers, as it was another case of “so close, but yet so far,” as the ball landed off the heel of Outman’s glove for a two-run triple.
The NL rookie of the month in April 2023 is a great athlete, but it was understandable why the Dodgers traded him.
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Ken Feldman
Tarzana
A few hours before baseball’s trade deadline Thursday, MLB Network dived into how well top minor league prospects across baseball have succeeded in the major leagues over the years, and it’s a pretty dismal percentage. Very few go on to successful big league careers, most just pop back and forth between the minors and majors, move from team to team, while many just fizzle out. They concluded that given the opportunity to garner a quality major league player, let alone an All-Star by just using your draft capital is a no-brainer. The Padres are one team that firmly believes in this while the Dodgers always seem hesitant to do so.
They pointed to the Dodgers with an aging Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy and a 31-year-old, currently healthy Shohei Ohtani that the time to win is now and that holding onto all their draft capital when it could be used to immediately bolster the roster doesn’t historically or statistically make much sense.
Jerry Leibowitz
Culver City
Well the trade deadline passed without much movement from the Dodgers. With their deep pockets, I thought they might have become the first organization in MLB history to trade for an entire team.
Joe Kevany
Mount Washington
Source: https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2025-08-02/la-times-sports-letters-dodgers-at-trade-deadline