Dodgers could pursue Andrew McCutchen trade as fallback option

Ken Rosenthal reports that the Dodgers are “at an impasse” in trade talks with the Twins about Brian Dozier, and that there could be a connection to Andrew McCutchen and the Pirates.

The connection is a tenuous one, and if it weren’t a slow news day it might not be noting, but since it is, let’s see what we’ve got. The Dodgers and Twins have reportedly been in the midst of discussions for quite awhile involving Dozier and young pitcher Jose De Leon, but they apparently reached a stalemate when the Twins felt the Dodgers weren’t offering enough beyond De Leon. That means the Dodgers could instead look to different trade targets, like Ian Kinsler or Logan Forsythe, to play second base.

If the Dodgers can’t land either of those players, another possibility is that they could pursue a righty-hitting outfielder, like McCutchen or Ryan Braun (to whom they were connected last summer).

That’s a lot of ifs, and another issue is that if the Dodgers perceive Dozier as a flawed player (which they apparently do, since he strikes out a fair amount, is coming off a career year, and has never played in a large market, via Rosenthal), they would likely feel doubly so about McCutchen. The Pirates would be unlikely to move McCutchen unless they got serious talent in return, and at this point they seem poised to keep him to start the season. File this rumor, if you can call it that, under “unlikely” for now, but maybe it’ll develop into something if the Dodgers can’t find a righty bat some other way.