The Dodgers may not have a glaring hole on the roster, but that hasn’t stopped them from showing up in trade chatter as the Aug. 3 deadline nears.
One of the latest names tied to Los Angeles is Tigers All-Star infielder Gleyber Torres, who MLB insider Mark Feinsand of MLB.com listed as a possible fit for the Dodgers, along with the Toronto Blue Jays and Cleveland Guardians.
Second base is the one spot in the Dodgers’ lineup that still feels a little unsettled, which is why Torres makes sense on paper. Tommy Edman is back and producing, though, so any real pursuit of Torres would seem to depend on an injury or some other shift in the picture.
Torres has missed the last few weeks with a left oblique strain, but he is expected back soon. Even with the time missed, he has put together a strong season for Detroit, hitting .280/.395/.395 with four home runs and 18 runs batted in.
There’s also a clear reason he’d appeal to the Dodgers’ way of thinking: strike-zone control. Torres ranks in the 99th percentile in chase percentage, and Los Angeles has long emphasized discipline at the plate.
Detroit’s season has opened the door to all kinds of speculation, and a roster shake-up would not be a surprise. That has put Torres in the middle of trade talk, especially with the Tigers likely to listen on veterans.
The Dodgers have been linked to Torres before, so this isn’t exactly a brand-new rumor. It could simply be the latest chance for the two sides to line up on a deal.
And it’s not just Torres. Los Angeles has also been heavily connected to Tigers ace Tarik Skubal, which raises the possibility that the teams could work out a larger package. Both Torres and Skubal are set to become free agents after the 2026 season, so Detroit may prefer to collect assets now rather than risk losing them later.
The Dodgers certainly have the prospect capital to get involved in that kind of deal. The bigger question is whether the front office decides to push hard enough to make it happen.
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What makes Royer worth tracking from Clevelands side is the way people around him talk about his game and makeup. Cincinnati tight ends coach Josh Stepp praised Royer as hardworking, competitive and a player with strong ball skills, the sort of traits that can matter in a tight end room where every roster spot has to be earned. For a Browns team always searching for useful depth and hidden value late in the draft, Royer is the kind of name that could end up looking a lot bigger later on. [Read more 🡒]
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Monken inherits a roster that has been reshaped with that goal in mind, including a heavy investment in offense and a line that has been overhauled. The bigger challenge is making sure the same mistakes do not follow the Browns into camp, especially after a stretch of quarterback instability that has made every offensive issue feel magnified. If the operation gets sharper early, it can help settle a team that has spent too long reacting to chaos instead of controlling it. [Read more 🡒]