MLB rumors: Dodgers interested in Will Smith, if Giants will trade with LA

Share

Will Smith has had a career year (exhibition home run surrendered to Joey Gallo aside).

The Giants, however, despite their recent hot streak, have not had a great 2019, and likely will be sellers at the trade deadline as they look to replenish a farm system that still is relatively barren.

Smith represents what could be the Giants' best trade chip, along with Madison Bumgarner, and a team to the south appears to have interest in some of the Giants' pieces

The Dodgers, who sit atop the NL West at 60-32, reportedly are in the market for relief pitching and have "varying levels of interest in" Smith, Reyes Moronta, Tony Watson and Sam Dyson, MLB.com's Jon Morosi reported Wednesday, citing league sources.

A potential Giants-Dodgers midsummer swap has been looking like a possibility for the last month. If a deal goes down, however, the Giants reportedly won't be bringing back one of LA's prized farmhands. 

"For now, at least, the Dodgers are highly unlikely to part with one of their top four prospects according to MLBPipeline.com -- Keibert Ruiz, Gavin Lux, Dustin May, and, yes, Will Smith -- for a rental reliever, even one as exceptional as Smith," Morosi writes.

A Smith-for-Smith swap certainly is something Giants might like to see. The young catcher has been tearing up the Pacific Coast League so far this season, hitting .291with 14 home runs and 40 RBI. The Louisville product also made his major league debut this season and hit .269 with three home runs and six RBI in nine games for the Dodgers.

[RELATED: How Giants closer Smith went from Tommy John to All-Star]

The bigger question in all of this, of course, is: Would the Giants and Dodgers actually do business with each other?

The two teams haven't made a trade since 2007 when the Giants sent Mark Sweeney to the Dodgers for Travis Denker (forever Giant?).

Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi obviously knows the Dodgers farm system well from his time in LA and has a good relationship with Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, so it wouldn't be crazy to see Smith or another Giants reliever suiting up for the Dodgers later this summer.

Contact Us