With the Major League Baseball trade deadline just a week away, all eyes are on the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers, who are the favourite to land free agent Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Angels, 29) this winter, have a complicated trade deadline to contemplate.

As perennial World Series contenders, the Dodgers have made big moves at the trade deadline in the past. They made big deals for Darvish Yu in 2017, Manny Machado in 2018, and Max Scherzer and Trey Turner in 2021. They’ve built a strong farm system to develop prospects and use them as trading chips.

This year, with weaknesses in both the starting rotation and bullpen, the Dodgers have every reason to be active in the trade market,메이저놀이터 but it’s unlikely they’ll be able to make big deals. That’s because they’ll have to consider signing Ohtani, who will be a free agent this winter. Ohtani is expected to receive a mega-contract worth more than $500 million.

On the 25th of this month, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Dodgers, who are expected to sign Ohtani, will take a big loss by giving up several prospects. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said, “We get asked this question every time we approach the trade deadline. We’ve done a good job of enriching our farm system over the last nine or 10 years, but we don’t take that for granted,” said Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, indicating that the team is not willing to trade prospects easily.

As the LA Times put it, “Giving up too many prospects at the trade deadline could affect next season. Throughout the past year, the Dodgers have expressed interest in signing Ohtani. They filled their roster with players whose contracts expire at the end of this season, leaving them with about $95 million in payroll after the season,” explaining the Dodgers’ decision to empty their payroll last winter without making a major signing in order to acquire Ohtani.

[OSEN=LA(California, USA),Reporter Junhyung Park] LA Dodgers Clayton Kershaw. / soul1014@osen.co.kr

[OSEN=LA(California, USA), Kyuhan Choi] Julio Urias of the Los Angeles Dodgers. /dreamer@osen.co.kr

‘The only problem for the Dodgers if they sign Ohtani is that they have little financial flexibility. The combined salaries of Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman alone would be close to $100 million. If Julio Urias or Clayton Kershaw leave, they could have holes at second base, third base, left field, centre field and even the entire pitching staff. Adding Ohtani would make it harder for the team to re-sign Urias and Kershaw, who are both free agents.

As the LA Times notes, “This is where the Dodgers’ farm system comes into play. The more young options they have at each position, the more they can develop into low-cost, productive big leaguers to balance the team in the future.” “The Dodgers are good at developing prospects, but it’s never easy to calculate between the present and the future. Deciding how to utilise the farm system to win a World Series is a difficult task,” he said.

That’s not to say that the Dodgers shouldn’t look to bolster their roster to challenge for a title this season. The future of the team is important, but you have to take the opportunity to win when it comes. The Dodgers, who are 57-42 (.576 winning percentage) and in first place in the National League West, have a number of top prospects in their pitching staff, including pitchers Bobby Miller, Emmitt Scherzer, Ryan Pheffiatt, and Gavin Stone, catcher Diego Cataya, and infielders Michael Bush and Miguel Vargas. With the exception of Miller, who is currently an integral part of the major league starting rotation, the rest of these prospects could be traded. Read more at /waw@osen.co.kr

[Photo] Emmitt Schoen of the Los Angeles Dodgers. ⓒGettyimages (All rights reserved)

[Photo] Miguel Vargas of the Los Angeles Dodgers. ⓒGettyimages (All rights reserved)