MLB Rumors: LA Dodgers, New York Yankees Are World Series 2019 Favorites, Eyeing Trade For Pitching

The Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees are the best teams in baseball, sitting atop the MLB standings with over 60 percent of the 2019 season completed. Even though the two clubs are on pace to win well over 100 games, both are expected to upgrade their respective rosters by the July 31 trade deadline.

New York has been at the center of trade rumors for months, targeting a starting pitcher that could potentially start a playoff game. Los Angeles is in need of bullpen help as they look to win their third straight National League pennant.

The Dodgers have the best 2019 World Series odds, running away with the NL’s No.1 seed after losing in both the 2017 and 2018 Fall Classic. The Yankees have the best World Series odds in the American League, leading the defending champion Boston Red Sox by 10 games in the AL East.

Those odds might only improve after the trade deadline.

Recent history indicates that talk of the Yankees looking to add a starter will end with a significant move. New York traded three prospects for Sonny Gray in 2017. Last year, they acquired J.A. Happ, who would start Game 1 of the ALDS at Fenway Park.

Noah Syndergaard, Trevor Bauer and Madison Bumgarner are reportedly among the Yankees’ top targets. Those pitchers might ultimately stay put, making someone like Marcus Stroman a more realistic option.

Stroman has a 3.06 ERA for the Toronto Blue Jays and has been known to welcome pitching in big games. With Happ, C.C. Sabathia and James Paxton all sporting ERA’s well north of 4.00, Stroman could conceivably be a Game 2 starter for New York, as well as a difference-maker in getting the Yankees back to the World Series for the first time in a decade.

L.A. doesn’t need another starter. The Dodgers have the best rotation in baseball with a 2.95 ERA. Hyun-Jin Ryu leads all starters with a 1.76 ERA, while Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler rank among the league’s top pitchers.

Los Angeles’ bullpen is average at best with a 4.07 ERA. Closer Kenley Jansen hasn’t exactly been lights out, leading to rumors that the Dodgers could trade for one of the best relievers on the market.

The Dodgers have been linked to Cleveland Indians’ reliever Brad Hand and Will Smith of the San Francisco Giants. There’s speculation that Los Angeles could trade for Pittsburgh Pirates’ closer Felipe Vazquez, but the team might be unwilling to give up the top prospects it would take to pull off such a move.

The Dodgers recently had a scout at a Detroit Tigers’ game, according to MLB.com’s Jon Morosi, likely to check in on closer Shane Greene.

“We’re going to be aggressive. We’re just not going to be stupid,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said, via Spectrum SportsNet LA. “It’s one of those things that if we feel like it is ripping out too much of our future of what we’re looking to sustain with this championship-level team, then it’s just something we’re not going to do. We’ll wear it, take it on, be honest about it and go through it.”

The Dodgers’ World Series odds are more than three times greater than that of the next NL team.