Although the Los Angeles Dodgers are expected to be among the most active teams during the upcoming MLB trade deadline, there are still questions as to where exactly they will try to improve the roster.
A key insider has urged the Dodgers to go to the selling Miami Marlins and not only make a deal for a power bat, but to add a reliever as well, fortifying both sides of the ball ahead of the most important stretch of the season.
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Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller first linked left fielder Kyle Stowers to be acquired by the Dodgers as a replacement for Michael Conforto. Stowers just enjoyed his first All-Star honor thanks to a .296 batting average and 23 home runs on the year. His OPS+ of 159 grades him almost 60 percent higher than league average.
Conforto has been better recently, batting .241 during the month of July, but even so, Stowers is having an absurd July, slashing .365/.453/.889 with a 1.342 OPS.
The other piece that Miller is pushing the Dodgers to sign, since Stowers’ talent and four additional seasons of team control will likely require an extreme return, is relief pitcher Anthony Bender.
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The right-hander is having an electric season, tossing a career-low 1.87 ERA through 44 appearances. He would be an instant upgrade to the bullpen and can prove to be extremely valuable through October.
Bender has an elite fastball, a 96.6 mph average that ranks in the 85th percentile of MLB, and has a sweeper that can’t seem to be figured out.
Through 297 offerings, his sweeper has a batting average of just .072 against it, with a swing-and-miss rate of 26.9 percent.
The potential return for these two players would have to be blockbuster-worthy, since Bender has two more years of arbitration left, and Stowers has a pre-arbitration year in 2026, and three more arbitration years of his own. These two players would have the ability to not just greatly impact this season’s trajectory, but can positively affect the team for seasons to come.
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