With Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp now gone after a trade with the Reds and the very possible departures of Manny Machado, Yasmani Grandal and Brian Dozier via free agency, the Dodgers all of a sudden have a very left-handed heavy lineup heading into 2019.
With that in mind, the Dodgers need a solution and with pitchers and catchers scheduled to report in a little less than two months that solution is approaching sooner rather than later.
A possible solution is Tigers outfielder Nick Castellanos who could be one of the few ‘established’ right-handed bats Los Angeles could considering according to Jon Morosi.
To that end, the Dodgers have shown interest in trading for Tigers right fielder Nicholas Castellanos, one source said.
Castellanos, 26, is coming off a career-best offensive year and will become a free agent following the 2019 season. A trade for Castellanos is plausible for the Dodgers now that Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp — who accounted for 152 of the Dodgers’ 163 regular-season starts in right field — have moved on to Cincinnati.
Despite the interest, the Tigers are said to have a high asking price for Castellanos after slashing .298/.354/.500 in 2018 with 23 home runs and 89 RBI. This also included a 2.9 WAR and .854 OPS in 678 plate appearances last season.
Castellanos too also only has one more year of being arbitration eligible and is projected to make $11.9 million.
