The Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitching staff has been ravaged by injury yet again.
Every season, the Dodgers project to have the league’s deepest stable of arms, but hundreds of millions of dollars end up on the injured list instead. That’s proved to be truer than ever in 2025, with four key starters hurt since the start of the year and a half-dozen high-leverage relievers on the IL.
Perhaps most concerningly, the Dodgers don’t have a clear-cut closer. Tanner Scott has been given the bulk of the opportunities, but the lefty hasn’t always delivered in year one of a four-year contract.
Though Scott’s peripherals look good, there’s no reason the Dodgers can’t add a right-handed closer option to use with him in tandem. That’s prompted one baseball writer to suggest a move for a three-time All-Star.
On Tuesday, Jacob Mountz of Athlon named Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase as a top hypothetical trade target for the Dodgers. Clase is signed through the 2026 season, with club options for 2027 and 2028.
“Emmanuel Clase quickly became a face of the franchise after landing with the Guardians in 2021. Last season, he pitched 74.1 innings to the tune of an unfathomable 0.61 ERA,” Mountz wrote.
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“Adding him in his optimal form could make the Dodgers unstoppable.”
Of course, Clase isn’t in optimal form so far this season. He wiggled his way out of a bases-loaded jam on Tuesday night to earn his 15th save of the season, but his ERA sits at 3.82 and his WHIP is a shocking 1.50.
However, everyone knows that the 27-year-old, who possesses a cutter that can reach 101 miles per hour, is one of the game’s elites when he’s got his best stuff.
That the Guardians already worked out an extension with Clase makes it less likely he’ll be traded. But Cleveland also knows there’s only so much value in a shutdown closer when other parts of the roster are lacking.
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