One of baseball’s best closers may be available at the trade deadline, and it may allow the rich to get even richer.
According to Jon Morosi of Fox Sports, multiple teams have asked the Baltimore Orioles about reliever Zach Britton, with the Los Angeles Dodgers among them.
Multiple teams talking with #Orioles about Zach Britton, sources say; #Dodgers are one of them, as @JonHeyman first reported. @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 14, 2017
It’s not clear how motivated the Orioles are to move Britton. At 42-46, they aren’t going anywhere and simply lack the pitching staff to do damage in the AL East. Britton, though, isn’t a free agent until the end of next season.
On the other hand, he’d fetch an enormous return in a trade. The lefty has a 1.43 ERA since transitioning to relief full-time in 2014, and will be highly coveted despite the injury issues that have plagued him this season. Pairing him with Kenley Jansen at the back of the Dodger bullpen would make a great team better and pretty much shorten the team’s games to seven innings.
