The Los Angeles Dodgers have a depleted starting rotation a quarter in to the 2025 season, and it remains to be seen whether the team’s pitching woes will propel the front office to orchestrate a blockbuster trade for another ace.
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On Dodgers Dougout Live, Dodgers Nation’s Doug McKain discussed the latest trade proposal from MLB insider Jeff Passan which linked L.A. to Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes.
“Paul Skenes and the Pittsburgh Pirates fans deserve better,” Passan said on the Pat McAfee Show. “What incentive does he have to extend with the Pirates right now. The Pirates haven’t shown that they are worthy of a Paul Skenes extension at this point.”
Passan proposed a few different trade packages the Dodgers could send to Pittsburgh. One such return for Skenes included Dalton Rushing, Zyhir Hope, Josue DePaula and Andy Pages. Another idea from Passan included sending Rushing, DePaula, Hope, Kellen Lindsay, River Ryan and Hyeseong Kim to the Pirates.
McKain explained why a trading away so many top prospects for Skenes would be a detrimental move by the Dodgers.
“You guys know my mantra. You guys know my phrase I’ve coined: Trades over prospects. But I don’t know if that’s the case with Paul Skenes,” McKain said. “I’ve talked to people that are Pirates insiders that cover the team. They tell me that he’s basically their marquee player. It’d be tough to actually even put a valuation on what he’s worth, but Passan was putting out some crazy trades.”
Skenes is a frontrunner to win the NL Cy Young award with a 2.44 ERA and 0.941 WHIP across 10 starts this season.
“Yes, there’s no doubt about it, Skenes is the most electric pitcher in baseball. He’s that guy. But the truth is with Paul Skenes, if you trade for him, can you guarantee he’s going to be healthy?” McKain said. “I don’t want to throw this out there, but I got keep it a buck with you guys.
“Paul Skenes is in the 95th percentile in velocity, and this season he is averaging 98.1 mph on his fastball. The facts show the harder you throw, the higher the risk of injury. And would you really want to absolutely gut your entire farm system? Might as well throw in the Hollywood sign, the Sandy Koufax statue, an In-N-Out.”
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Photo Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports
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