Los Angeles Dodgers: Is the Rich Hill and Josh Reddick trade a bust?

The Los Angeles Dodgers are playing well since the trade deadline, but two of the players they acquired haven’t lived up to expectations. Was the trade for Rich Hill and Josh Reddick a mistake?

The Los Angeles Dodgers can’t really complain about life at the moment. It’s an even year (i.e. 2010,2012,2014) and the San Francisco Giants aren’t leading the division. In fact, the Dodgers maintain a two game lead on the Giants. They took two of three from them last week, and are watching them have one of the worst second-half performances by a first-place first-half team in MLB history.

So, no the Dodgers can’t be upset. But a trade they made might be triggering regret in the front office.

The Josh Reddick and Rich Hill trade that LA made with the Oakland Athletics hasn’t exactly panned out. We’ll start with Hill. When the trade was made, Hill was on the disabled list for a nasty blister affecting his pitching hand. Hill was traded for on August 1st and didn’t make his Dodger debut until the 24th. That’s over three weeks of non-production from a guy who was supposed to be a top of the line starter for a team in desperate need of pitching.

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When Hill finally did make his first start, it was great. He took on the rival Giants in a pennant race and absolutely dominated. He ended up pitching six innings, giving up just five hits with no runs or walks allowed. Helping defeat the Giants in September in your first start is favorable for your reputation in Los Angeles.

So maybe that end of the trade pays off, maybe they’ll get that side of Rich Hill for the rest of the season and into the playoffs. Oh wait…

Hill was scheduled to start last Tuesday against the Rockies. He threw 40 pitches in a bullpen before rain started to come down, and when he got back to the clubhouse the blister had returned. His start was pushed back and now they just have to play the waiting game.

The Dodgers have been crippled by the DL this year, and with no Clayton Kershaw, they need Rich Hill. The absence of his pitching could be detrimental to the team in the final stretch.

Now we can move onto the second-half of that trade. Josh Reddick had a really good season with Athletics. It was actually one of his best in his entire career. He was hitting .296 with eight home runs and 28 RBI’s. No, the numbers aren’t jumping off the page or screaming “MVP”, but still good numbers.

However, as soon as he moved south, his numbers and productivity did the same thing. Reddick started his Dodger career by going hitless in his first 15 at-bats…not the way to make a favorable reputation for yourself in Los Angeles.

In the last 30 days, Reddick ranks last in the MLB in slugging percentage (.181) and OPS (.414) and second to last in batting average (.169) and OBP (.233). So to put it in a layman’s terms, Josh Reddick has been one of the top two worst hitters in all of baseball over the last month.

It’s hard to make any offensive case for Reddick, especially considering that he’s yet to drive in more than a single run for the club in 25 games. A.J. Ellis, who the Dodgers just traded to the Phillies, has already driven in two runs in his two games in Philadelphia.

Remember, the Dodgers traded away prospects for him, but also made the big move of sending down Yasiel Puig in exchange for Reddick’s efforts in right field. Now, Puig has been recalled and it looks like there will be a major traffic jam in right field.

So to break it all down, the Dodgers traded for Rich Hill (one start in one month) and Josh Reddick (one of the two worst hitters in the last month) for three prospects who now rank numbers three, 10, and 15 in the Athletics farm system. In addition, they agitated a player who at one point had the look of a perennial All-Star.

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Anything could happen, and the Dodgers could get great production out of both players for the rest of the season. But, as of now, this trade has been a massive bust, and has made things a little more complicated for a team trying to win their first World Series title since 1988.