For whatever holes the Los Angeles Dodgers have, at least they enter the second half knowing they have no problems at DH.
Then again, the only Shohei Ohtani-related problem is that a team — in this case, the Dodgers — can’t field 26 of him. Ohtani is well on pace for his fourth MVP in five years, entering Friday batting .276 with 32 homers, 60 RBI, and an NL-leading .988 OPS.
That doesn’t mean the Dodgers can’t add a bat ahead of the July 31 trade deadline. In fact, The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya predicts that the Dodgers' biggest trade deadline acquisition will be a hitter, citing Andrew Friedman's desire to always add more firepower and all the pitchers Los Angeles has coming off the Injured List in the next few weeks. Even better, they may not even need to leave the state of California to get it done.
Athletics designated hitter Brent Rooker entered the national consciousness earlier this week after impressing in the Home Run Derby. Rooker’s enjoying another solid season and, with 20 homers to his name at the break, has an outside chance at topping 35 for the second straight year. The 41-57 A’s are inching closer to waving the white flag yet again, so get ready to hear Rooker’s name mentioned in various trade pitches over the coming weeks despite the fact that he just signed a long-term extension over the winter.
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Dodgers trade for Brent Rooker in mock deal with Athletics
Here’s what we believe a potential Dodgers-Athletics trade featuring Rooker could look like.
As we know, the Dodgers have long since accepted they need to spend money to win championships. Rooker signed a five-year, $60 million extension in January, and the deal also contains a club option for 2030. However, the A’s signed Rooker with both sides intending for him to remain a full-time DH, and he’d likely need to play left field upon potentially joining the Dodgers.
Rooker has only played 17 games in the outfield in the last two years, 13 of which came in left field. Although that isn’t ideal, remember that the Dodgers’ current left fielder is Michael Conforto, along with his .184 average and -0.6 bWAR.
As for the A’s return, Major League Baseball considers Bruns the Dodgers’ No. 20 prospect with a 2026 MLB ETA. The problem is that Bruns owns a 5.31 ERA over five Minor League seasons, and he is somehow 0-10 across 35 starts. We’re not sure how that’s possible, either.
“He might become a No. 3 starter if he could develop even fringy control, but he has yet to show that he can do that or handle a rotation workload,” his official scouting report reads. “He’s still intriguing as a lefty reliever with power stuff, though he’d have to locate his pitches better to be trusted in a high-leverage role.”
Wagner is faring slightly better at High-A, batting .219 with 10 homers, 48 RBIs, and a .725 OPS. He likely profiles as a corner infielder moving forward. We’ll also include Bobby Miller, who owns a 5.44 ERA in 185.1 big-league innings, in this trade as a depth piece.
At least this theoretical trade allows Rooker to play meaningful games during the dog days of summer. For his sake, he should hope the A’s follow through and send him packing soon.