The Los Angeles Dodgers are always looking for ways to improve the roster. In recent years, that has been achieved by adding players outside of the organization.
The Dodgers don’t have a lot of homegrown talent on the roster, but they have plenty coming up through the ranks. One player who has been talked about a lot is pitcher River Ryan.
He was a two-way player in college, but the Dodgers had him focus on pitching. He pitched in four games for the team in 2024, but missed all of 2025 due to Tommy John surgery.
He’s still considering one of the team’s most intriguing young players, but that means he also has trade value. MLB.com’s Sonja Chen sees Ryan as a possible trade candidate this offseason.
“As someone with tantalizing potential, but a limited track record and the uncertainty that comes after Tommy John surgery, Ryan could be an interesting trade chip for the Dodgers,” Chen wrote. “Or they could bet on the exciting young arm they saw in 2024 becoming a valuable part of their rotation in the foreseeable future.”
It’s possible that Ryan becomes a superstar, but there are a lot of risks with him. It would make some sense for the Dodgers to try to sell high on Ryan while there’s still some hype around him.
Could Ryan Help Facilitate a Tarik Skubal Trade?
The most notable potential trade the Dodgers have been linked to is for Detroit Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal. The problem with that deal is that the Dodgers are going to have to give up a lot.
The Tigers are rumored to like Emmett Sheehan, but it’s going to take more than one pitcher to land the two-time Cy Young Award-winner. Ryan is one player who could help sweeten the pot. The Dodgers likely have to give up even more than Ryan and Sheehan, but that would be a baseline to start with.
Dodgers Still Excited About Ryan
The Dodgers also might not be super keen on moving Ryan unless they get something very good in return. According to manager Dave Roberts, the team is still high on the young pitcher.
“I’m excited for River. I’m excited for Gavin,” Roberts said at the Winter Meetings. “Because to see your teammates celebrate and go through what we went through and not be able to participate, those are things that we’re all betting on for that extra hunger to kind of make their impact in 2026.”
The Dodgers already have arguably the best rotation of starting pitchers in MLB. Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani could all be aces for a number of teams.
Adding a pitcher like Skubal to the rotation would make the Dodgers almost impossible to beat in a playoff series, but they don’t necessarily need it. Additionally, players like Ryan and Sheehan, who could be traded, have a chance to become ace pitchers, and they are significantly cheaper. If Skubal is attainable, the Dodgers have to consider it, but they have to make sure they don’t give up too much value in the process.
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