Dodgers Urged to Acquire All-Star Reliever in Trade
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have been ravaged by the injury bug early in the 2025 season.
After finishing the 2024 season with just three healthy starting pitchers — and still, somehow, winning the World Series — the Dodgers reloaded this offseason with the plan to not have to add at the trade deadline.
More news: Mets' Juan Soto Wanted to Re-Sign With Yankees in Free Agency, Says New York Insider
"My goal is to not buy in July," Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said over the offseason. "I am setting that out there right now. My goal is to do everything we can right now to not buy in July. It is terrible."
That is quickly becoming just a pipe dream.
The Dodgers currently lead Major League Baseball in bullpen innings with 210.2 innings pitched. The next closest team is the Milwaukee Brewers at 192.2 innings.
Moreover, the Dodgers currently have 14 pitchers on the injured list, including multiple key members of the bullpen.
Thus, it appears the Dodgers will be looking to fill some holes come the trade deadline — or potentially even sooner — and Jason Fray of Dodgers Nation has just the idea.
More news: Yankees Veteran Pitcher Elects to Leave Organization, Head to Free Agency
He linked the Dodgers to Baltimore Orioles two-time All-Star left-handed reliever Gregory Soto.
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - MAY 08: Gregory Soto #65 of the Baltimore Orioles throws to the Minnesota Twins in the eighth inning of a game at Target Field on May 8, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - MAY 08: Gregory Soto #65 of the Baltimore Orioles throws to the Minnesota Twins in the eighth inning of a game at Target Field on May 8, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota."The lefty from Baltimore could be someone the team looks into," Fray wrote. "He's a power pitcher from the left side with some intriguing underlying analytics. According to Baseball Savant, Soto ranks in the 96th percentile in barrel percentage. He also averages 96.6 mph on his fastball.
"When hitters do square him up, Soto has allowed some loud contact. He's ranks in the 10th percentile in average exit velocity by the opposition (91.5 mph). Remember, (Michael) Kopech had dreadful numbers on paper when acquired from the Chicago White Sox. Needless to say, he became a major x-factor for the team down the stretch."
Soto is on a Baltimore team that has been the biggest disappointment of the 2025 season. With Soto on an expiring deal, it's possible the team looks to move him if they're out of contention — or even if they're in contention considering how little they like to spend in free agency.
Soto has made 18 appearances this season, sporting a 4.02 ERA with eight holds over 15.2 innings of work.
Soto was an All-Star in 2021 and 2022 with the Detroit Tigers. He has a career 4.26 ERA across 339 appearances with the Tigers, Philadelphia Phillies and Orioles over seven seasons. He has a 4.91 ERA in six postseason appearances with the Phillies in 2023 and Orioles in 2024.
More news: Mets' Carlos Mendoza Calls Out Juan Soto, Who Openly Disagrees With Manager's Criticism
For more MLB news, head over to Newsweek Sports.
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Those who've worked closely with him will also talk about how he's one of only three players to have ever won triple gold at U17s, U18s and the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. They talk about how he finished plus-51 on the Wildcats, the best player on a winning team. MacDougall said 'he has some really elite gifts and genetic gifts,' but that it's everything else that makes Desnoyers a top pick in this class. 'He's so driven, he's so competitive, he's so passionate. The intangibles that he has are through the roof,' MacDougall said. 'You just don't see them that often.' At the combine, he's one of the prospects who has really impressed in his interviews with NHL clubs. Desnoyers said he's just being himself. 'I've always had good energy and just been an enthusiastic person,' he said. 'I'm not stressed going into these and I've just tried to be myself and be Caleb Desnoyers and good things will happen.' 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His brother Elliot is a former captain of the Halifax Mooseheads who was signed by the Philadelphia Flyers. At the Wildcats' QMJHL championship celebration, they named Desnoyers captain of next year's team as well. He said 'No decision has been taken yet' on whether he's going back to Moncton next season, however. 'My main goal is to play in the NHL as soon as possible, and if not, I'll be at the place where I'm able to be in the NHL the year after, and Moncton's a great choice for that,' he said. Growing up, Caleb was the youngest of three boys and always the smallest. According to Elliot, he always had to compete for everything, whether they were playing games or sports. These days, though, the playing field has leveled. Now Caleb's taller (6 feet 1.5 to Elliot's 5 feet 11), and they've been able to skate and work out in the same groups. Elliot has cherished that. 'We just push each other so hard,' Elliot said of Caleb catching up to him. 'It has been quite fun to be honest. Especially recently.' They used to talk about Elliot around the QMJHL the way they talk about Caleb now. Trusted. Reliable. Consistent. A leader. Loved by coaches. A two-way center. Elliot says he and his little brother both think the game the same way, but play at different speeds (Caleb plays faster, he admits). Advertisement Trepanier says 'everything that Elliot does is really professional' and that that has rubbed off on Caleb, from his mentality to his eating and sleeping habits. He describes them as best friends who do everything together. They train and skate together. They fish and golf together. They watch and talk hockey together. But Elliot looks up to his little brother, too. Said Elliot: 'We always discuss about hockey and I want to see his point of view on stuff as well. I look up to him in the sense of what he's doing with all of the pressure and how he's really disciplined and always wants to be better. I really admire that in him.' Elliot also describes his brother as 'quite the character.' 'He just loves to chat, loves to mess around with people and always makes people feel really good,' Elliot said. 'He's a really easy-going guy, and he has been like that forever. And he's just always so competitive in every aspect of his life.' Caleb has always had an 'aura about him where he shows up at the rink and there's just something about him that lights up the room and gets people involved,' according to Trepanier. 'There's just something, even as a young kid, that's a little bit different,' Trepanier said. 'He makes everybody around him better, and I think that's a pretty decent quality. And there's a lot of stuff for the next level that he and we need to work on but he gets on the ice and he wants to win. If it's during a drill, he wants to be the best guy. If it's during the game, he wants to be the best. And if it's a championship, then he wants to win. He's really mature. He's got one goal and it's to play in the NHL and be the best. Pretty much everything in his life is driven by wanting to be the best.' Both Caleb and Elliot acknowledge they've talked about the Flyers picking at No. 6 and the potential that they could end up in the same organization, but Elliot thinks his brother will be gone by then. Yann Joseph and Maxim Noreau are new to working with Desnoyers. Noreau only retired from his 17-year pro career last March. He started working in player development in the Montreal area right away through his agency, Quartexx, running skates twice a week for them. He first met Desnoyers at one of those skates. They clicked right away, and Desnoyers started coming to Noreau's personal skates on the south shore of the city as well. Advertisement Joseph is a Montreal-area strength and conditioning coach who trains pros such as Anthony Beauvillier and Xavier Bourgault. Last May, the Desnoyers boys and Elliot's Lehigh Valley teammate Zayde Wisdom joined him at his gym for the offseason, switching personal trainers. Joseph worked with Desnoyers to fix some postural issues that he was compensating for on the ice. After a full offseason with him, he played pain-free in his draft year because of their work together (though he did play banged up in the playoffs and into the Memorial Cup). Even though Desnoyers turned 17 just a month before starting with him, Joseph decided to train Desnoyers with his older pro group because he wanted to see if he could follow them. Immediately, he brought an enthusiasm to the gym that transferred to all of the guys. But he performed better than they did in some exercises, too. 'Those guys were like 'Whoa, OK, kid,'' Joseph said. 'So that was fun. Even if they were older, they could watch him and learn. And at the same time, he was doing the same things as those guys and he saw that they're professionals for years and could see the way they managed the workout and the recovery and that was good for him also.' Though Desnoyers says he's 6-2 and 180 pounds, Joseph would poke fun at him and call him 'chicken legs.' But 'he's way stronger than he looks,' Joseph insisted. Ahead of the draft, a few NHL strength and conditioning coaches have asked Joseph to send them Desnoyers' data from the gym. According to Joseph, they've been impressed by his numbers. 'For his size, the way he pushes the bar and the speed with which he pushes the bar is really, really impressive, even with big weights,' Joseph said. 'And when you look at him, he's got like small legs on him right now at 17 years old, and you can see he's got room for growth. But his numbers don't tell the same thing because he's really strong and fast for the size of his legs. I'd ask him sometimes, 'How can you push all that weight with those legs?' and he would laugh.' When Noreau first skated Desnoyers, he wasn't up to date on any of the up-and-coming players. That first skate was focused on shooting (Noreau was known for his shot during his playing career). Desnoyers was a natural, listening intently and picking up on his tips quickly. Right away, Noreau was struck by how hardworking he was. Advertisement 'The big thing with Caleb that I think is even a little overlooked still is attitude-wise, you talk about being a complete player, about being a dog, about being an impact in the game, and some guys want to be that guy but when the big moments come and it's a stressful situation or you've got a lot of pressure to perform, I feel like Caleb is more the type of guy that wants to be there,' Noreau said. 'If a team goes to a shootout, he wants the shot. He knows that there's a big risk and reward to it but I think he knows that 'Hey, I want that. It's on me. And if anybody's going to fail, let it be me.' And that attitude is going to bring him a long way. And sometimes he's going to fail and he won't be perfect all the time, but just to have that attitude, and even in practice he's asking me a lot of questions and why guys do certain things, and just having that, regardless of all of the other attributes that he also has, I think that's huge.' A year after beginning their work together, Noreau now believes the sum of those things will make Desnoyers a player who is used in key situations and put in leadership roles in the NHL. 'You put him out late in a game or on the PK for a faceoff or whatever it is, he's smart enough to know what his job is at that time. It's not about 'I need to be Caleb leading in points,' it's 'Hey, I've got a job to do,'' Noreau said. 'I have a discussion about that with a lot of my top guys, and I always say, 'Do you think that people don't notice in the stands if you're not out there every game late in the game?' That goes a long way, being that guy. And he wants to be that guy.' — With reporting in London, Ont. (Top photo courtesy of Daniel St. Louis / CHL)
