Biggest questions for Dodgers ahead of Deadline

This story was excerpted from Juan Toribio’s Dodgers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

LOS ANGELES -- Over the next week and a half, most of the talk will be about what the Dodgers will do before the Aug. 1 Trade Deadline.

Despite entering Friday in first place in an improved National League West, the Dodgers have a few glaring holes they could try to address. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman hasn’t been shy about pulling big trades at the Deadline, but it remains to be seen what the club ultimately does.

Until all that goes down, I figured this was a good time to answer some of your questions. Let’s dive into it.

1. What does Vargas need to do in Triple-A to show he’s ready to come back? 2. Love Barnesy, but his production has been tough this year. Any chance he gets left off a 26-man postseason roster?
-- @ItsBrewsday via Twitter

Let’s start with the first question. Miguel Vargas got sent down to Triple-A Oklahoma City before the All-Star break, not because the Dodgers no longer value the Cuban infielder, but because they wanted to give him a mental blow. When Vargas is at his best, he’s punishing the ball the other way for extra-base hits. That then opens up the pull-side power. Somewhere along the way, Vargas lost sight of that and wasn’t squaring balls up consistently. It’ll be interesting to see if the Dodgers add infield depth at the Deadline, but expect Vargas back at some point this season.

As for the second one on Austin Barnes: His offense has been a real liability and his catcher ERA hasn’t been nearly as good as it’s been over the course of his career. He has also struggled to control the running game. But even with all that, the Dodgers just don’t have a better option than him right now. Unless the Dodgers trade for a backup or sign one over the last few months, which is a possibility, Barnes would be on every postseason roster.

Please kindly explain to Dodgers fans that we neither need, nor are we getting, Nolan Arenado.
-- @FarhandrewZ via Twitter

Well, the Dodgers, and everyone, could use Nolan Arenado. He’s one of the best third basemen in the league. Now, do the Cardinals want to trade him? Probably not. Do the Dodgers want to put together a somewhat expensive package when they already have Max Muncy on the team? Also, probably not.

Since we know the Cardinals are sellers, do you see the Dodgers interested in either starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery or Jordan Hicks?
-- @LA_Dodgers_Fans via Twitter

The Dodgers, like they always do, will check in with every selling team and dig into their pitchers. Montgomery and Hicks won’t be any different. St. Louis is an interesting trade partner because the team is looking for controllable young pitching that could help in 2024. What do the Dodgers have? Controllable young pitching that could help in 2024. But does Los Angeles want to trade a pitcher with five-plus years of control for a rental or two? That’ll be the million-dollar question for Friedman.

Do you think starting pitching depth is a long-term problem that should be addressed? Or is it more of a “here and now” issue?
-- @Mattkempsghost via Twitter

This is actually an interesting question. As much as the Dodgers need starting pitching for the remainder of the 2023 season, there are also some concerns and questions for next season as well. Tony Gonsolin, Bobby Miller, Emmet Sheehan, Michael Grove, Ryan Pepiot and Gavin Stone are all under team control for a while. That’s a pretty good start. Los Angeles, however, could be losing Clayton Kershaw and Julio Urías, depending on what they want to do. Dustin May won’t be back until late in the season, and that’s if everything goes right. So yeah, the Dodgers could have questions going into the winter, but they’ll worry about the Deadline first. It’ll also help if they land the two-way player that we’re about to talk about.

Wouldn’t it be smarter to just go after Ohtani in free agency instead of losing a metric ton of prospects and then two tons of cash to re-sign him?
-- @uhohrexy via Twitter

Well, the Angels probably won’t trade Shohei Ohtani. And if they did, they wouldn’t trade him to the Dodgers. So the smart move is definitely to try to get him in free agency. Now, landing Ohtani this winter is not a lock by any means. You’ll read a lot of things about his preferences, but the reality is nobody knows much about him. With that, the Dodgers will definitely be one of the most aggressive suitors for Ohtani this winter.

Does Walker Buehler see the mound in a Dodgers uniform this season?
-- @mistermojodoza via Twitter

I think we’ll get a better idea on Walker Buehler once he starts facing some hitters. Right now, he’s just throwing some short bullpen sessions, so it might be too early to tell. Buehler is aiming for Sept. 1, which sounds optimistic, but I wouldn’t necessarily bet against him. If -- or when -- he returns, it would probably be in a multi-inning role, likely as an opener. Then Buehler would have to show the Dodgers that there is no post-surgery rust and that he can be a key contributor in a postseason setting.