The word “break” is in the name of the next milestone on the MLB calendar.
In some ways, the Dodgers need a break as bad as any team in all of baseball. The dividing line comes between the people on and off the field.
On the field, the Dodgers are hurt, a handful of players are slumping, and the pitchers who are healthy and available are getting plenty of work.
For example, Tyler Glasnow is 11 innings away from tying his career high in innings pitched before the All-Star break. He has pitched 109 innings. His career high is 120 innings last season with the Tampa Bay Rays. As a team, the Dodgers’ bullpen is fifth in the majors in innings pitched.
The main reasons for that bullpen work are as follows:
- Glasnow’s innings
- James Paxton’s high level of pitching in his age-35 season
- The rotation on the IL is capable of winning a World Series (Glasnow, Kershaw, Yamamoto, Buehler, etc.)
That list, of course, does not include position players like Mookie Betts
Relatively speaking, the time between when the “first half” ends on Sunday, July 14, and when the “second half” starts on Friday, July 19 will fly by.
On that theme of speed, the Dodgers need to treat that window like a NASCAR pit crew. The car comes into pit row, and the crew checks and does work on every piece of the car that needs it. They fill the tank, change the tires, and check under the hood. You get the idea.
This is the time to take a closer look at why guys like Chris Taylor, Gavin Lux, Jason Heyward, and James Outman are struggling to the degree that they are. The beauty of having MVPs and World Series champions at the top of the lineup is that the guys in the bottom half of the lineup do not have to feel pressure to produce at a high level.
It would behoove all parties involved, however, for those guys to be less of a liability. For Taylor and Outman, the Mendoza Line is sitting on top of a mountain. Heyward and Lux have seven home runs between them. For context, rookie Andy Pages has eight long balls.
This is the time to figure out who the Dodgers might be able to acquire before the July 30 trade deadline.
You might be wondering how the Dodgers could possibly spend any more than they already have. That is a perfectly reasonable question.
The club actually has a little bit of wiggle room before reaching the threshold for the Competitive Balance Tax (a.k.a. luxury tax).
This season, the Tax threshold sits at $237 million. According to Spotrac, the Dodgers’ total cap allocation figure sits at $230.3 million. That roughly six million dollar difference will not be enough to bring in a staff ace or MVP candidate. What the Dodgers have at their disposal is the ability to pay that tax and long-standing assets at their disposal.
This is also the time for the Dodgers to start looking into cashing in the chips at their disposal. For many years, L.A. has had one of the best farm systems in all of baseball as the club has also been a consistent winner at the big league level. MLB.com has the Dodgers with the eighth-best farm system in baseball this season, a group that was ranked second-best in 2022.
What is missing is the accompanying postseason success and World Series rings in full 162-game seasons.
Should the Dodgers fall short this year, it cannot be because the team did not explore all available options, even if that means making hard decisions with players currently on the roster.