Dodgers Have Discussed Tyler Glasnow In Trade Talks

Right-hander Tyler Glasnow “has come up in conversations” between the Dodgers and other teams, ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez writes.  There isn’t any indication that any sort of trade is close or that Glasnow will be dealt at all, as Gonzalez notes that a trade scenario seems like “a long shot.”  However, “the Dodgers would not be opposed to moving” Glasnow, so it would appear the starter isn’t exactly untouchable.

It was almost exactly two years ago that Los Angeles first acquired Glasnow in a major trade with the Rays, while also hammering out a long-term contract extension with the righty.  Glasnow had been heading into the final year of his contract with Tampa and was owed a $25MM salary in 2024, and the new extension restructured that money while adding a little over $111.5MM in new money over the 2025-28 seasons.  The former All-Star is owed $30MM in each of the 2026 and 2027 seasons, and the Dodgers hold a $30M club option for 2028 that (if declined) becomes a $21,562,500 player option for Glasnow.

The big question at the time of the extension was whether or not Glasnow would manage to stay healthy, as a Tommy John surgery and multiple other injuries had significantly cut into his playing time over his eight previous MLB seasons.  Glasnow did deliver a career-best 134 innings for L.A. in 2024, yet he didn’t pitch after August 11 due to tendinitis in his throwing elbow.  This year, Glasnow was limited to 90 1/3 regular-season innings, as a bout of shoulder inflammation led to another stint on the 60-day injured list.

When he has been able to pitch, Glasnow (who is entering his age-32 season) has lived up to expectations.  He has a 3.37 ERA, 30.9% strikeout rate, and 8.8% walk rate across his 224 1/3 frames of work in 2024-25, and his 1.69 ERA over 21 1/3 postseason innings this fall played a big role in the Dodgers’ second consecutive World Series title.

There isn’t any immediate reason why the Dodgers would feel pressured to move Glasnow, as he is still clearly capable of being an important member of a championship-level rotation.  But, L.A. is so loaded with starting pitching that it makes Glasnow just one piece of a star-studded puzzle, and perhaps makes him slightly expendable if the Dodgers want to find room in the rotation for their many young arms.  Obviously all this pitching depth has been a prime reason why Los Angeles has still been able to win despite an avalanche of rotation injuries, but the Dodgers might be looking to address the injury problem by dealing away a pitcher that (despite his talent) can’t seem to be relied upon to last a full season.

Moving Glasnow sooner rather than later, therefore, would allow the Dodgers to sell high on the right-hander, even if his contract will naturally limit the list of plausible trade suitors.  Not that payroll or the luxury tax are any real concerns for the Dodgers, but getting Glasnow’s contract off the books would provide some savings to the club.  Glasnow’s deal is one of the few L.A. mega-contracts that doesn’t include any deferred money, so all of his remaining salary is owed up front.

Rather than just deal Glasnow to reduce their tax bill, Los Angeles is probably more likely to re-allocate any savings from a Glasnow trade towards other needs.  The Dodgers could bring in another high-salaried player as part of the trade return, and Gonzalez even speculates that Glasnow could hypothetically be part of a Tarik Skubal trade package.  Any number of clubs in need of frontline pitching could be intrigued by Glasnow, if the higher price tags or draft compensation attached to this winter’s top free agent starters have left teams wary.