The Los Angeles Dodgers have the best record in baseball going into Tuesday’s games, but will still be active buyers up until Wednesday’s MLB Trade Deadline at 4pm ET, 1pm PT.
Even though the Dodgers rank 4th in the National League in bullpen ERA, the team has been rumored to be in the market for a high end relief pitcher with their previous stalwart closer Kenley Jansen enveloped in the worst statistical season of his career.
The cratering Pirates, currently 14 games under .500 and 10.5 games out of the second Wild Card, will look to deal All-Star closer Felipe Vasquez, who currently posts a 1.87 ERA, including 68 strikeouts in just 43.1 innings.
However, in an MLB era where the Chicago Cubs once traded for rental closer Aroldis Chapman during their 2016 run to the World Series, while having to hand over to the Yankees arguably the game’s best young slugger Gleyber Torres, the Pirates are expecting much the same from their trade partner in the next 24 hours.
The Pirates have reportedly established a ‘Gavin Lux or Bust’ ideology, when it comes to the Dodgers top prospect, who was ranked the #40 best prospect in the game by Baseball America coming into 2019.
Lux has exploded onto the scene in the minors this past season, however, currently hitting a whopping .474 in 23 games in AAA, going 46 for 97 (.918 slugging) for the Oklahoma City Dodgers of the Pacific Coast League.