At 41-51, and 11 games out in the National League West, the Dodgers are in prime position to be sellers at the upcoming trade deadline. The one big trade chit the Dodgers have, the one that might fetch the most return is starting Hiroki Kuroda. The Tigers are interested, and have had scouts at several of Kuroda's recent starts, reported Jon Morosi of Fox Sports:
↵↵↵The Tigers are keener on Kuroda than the likes of Wandy Rodriguez, Brett Myers, Jeff Francis and Ryan Dempster, sources say. Also, Detroit is unlikely to trade for Seattle’s Erik Bedard – who is currently on the disabled list – in part because the Tigers’ deal for another Mariners lefty (Jarrod Washburn) didn’t pan out because of health reasons two years ago.
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Kuroda signed a one-year, $12 million contract this season, which included a $4 million bonus spread over the next two seasons. Any team trading for Kuroda would have to consider his $8 million salary, or rather the roughly $3.3 million left as of now. The question remains, would the Dodgers, currently in bankruptcy, dump Kuroda just to save just over $3 million, or would they pay part of his remaining salary for a better prospect return?
↵General manager Ned Colletti has steadfastly noted on numerous occasions that it is not in his DNA to be a seller, but that's precisely what he should say. No team that is a buyer is going to come out and publicly say, "You know what? This team sucks. We'll get rid of anything with two legs for a bucket of baseballs." I don't expect the Dodgers to all of a sudden replenish their farm system with a series of trades, but getting something useful for Kuroda, who is a free agent at the end of the season, could be useful.
↵For more news and information on Hiroki Kuroda and the Dodgers, be sure to read the SB Nation blog True Blue LA.