Dodgers Send All-Star Starter to Cubs in This Trade Pitch

The Major League Baseball season is upon us, and fans are already envisioning what the season will look like for their favorite teams. But unlike most teams in baseball, the Los Angeles Dodgers have a unique problem.

Most teams in baseball are scuffling to find a solid fifth option to fill out their starting rotations. For the Dodgers, they’re trying to decide how to keep all of their talent without having to send guys away. That includes Tony Gonsolin, who appears to be on the outside looking in for their rotation. Even though he is starting the season on the injured list, it’s assumed that Gonsolin will be able to return relatively quickly.

But when he does make his return, Gonsolin will have to head to either the bullpen or Triple-A. He has one final option year remaining before the Dodgers would need to keep him on the big-league roster. But should the Dodgers decide to send him off elsewhere before his free agency following the 2026 season, there are suitors. One of those teams should be the Chicago Cubs, who have built a World Series-contending team this year. Chicago added Kyle Tucker in a trade with the Astros, and they added an established bat in Justin Turner. But their pitching almost certainly needs help, and the Dodgers could provide a resolution. Chicago just named Ben Brown as their fifth starter, despite him only starting eight games in his MLB career.

Beyond Shota Imanaga and Justin Steele, the Cubs have plenty of rotation concerns. Matthew Boyd is coming off Tommy John surgery in 2023 and hasn’t topped 100 innings since 2019. Jameson Taillon had a better year in 2024 but has also been prone to having incredibly average seasons. And with a bullpen that appears to be full of potential holes, the Cubs need good starting pitchers. That’s where the Dodgers come in with Tony Gonsolin. He comes a a cheaper price point at only $5.4 million in 2025.

He also comes with another year of team control. And as a plus side for the Cubs, he probably wouldn’t command much from the Dodgers. With his injury history factored in, it seems more than likely that Los Angeles would make the swap to make room for other injured veterans, maybe demanding a decent prospect. The Dodgers are not going to get a top 10 prospect out of this deal, but it could help them land a young arm. It also paves the way for the return of Clayton Kershaw and potentially others as the season progresses. It allows Gonsolin to pitch every fifth day, something he might not have with the Dodgers.

Apple’s documentary on Dodgers provides ‘all-access’ look at World Series run

In 2018, toward the end of a decade in which Mike Trout was the best player in baseball, Major League Baseball reckoned with its failure to transform him into a national icon. Commissioner Rob Manfred inelegantly but bluntly suggested why the league had struggled to market Trout.

“Player marketing requires one thing for sure: the player,” Manfred said then.

The Angels shot back at Manfred, with a statement — crafted in part by owner Arte Moreno — that vigorously defended Trout: “We applaud him for prioritizing his personal values over commercial self-promotion.”

Neither Trout nor any other player owes his team or the league anything more than his best effort on the field. However, the better fans get to know their favorite players as personalities, the easier for the league to broaden its appeal beyond the diehards.