Dodgers cut James Paxton, still seeking ‘impact’ starting pitching at the deadline

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles Dodgers anticipate being one of the luxury shoppers at the top of the starting pitching market before next week’s July 30 trade deadline. On Monday, they cut one of two pitchers who hadn’t missed a start for them all season.

That irony was not lost when Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes called James Paxton on Monday morning to inform the 36-year-old veteran he was being designated for assignment.

“I definitely lost sleep over it last night,” Gomes said, “but ultimately I just felt this was the right decision for the organization.”

The impetus of the move was acute; the Dodgers needed an active and 40-man roster spot to call up pitching prospect River Ryan to make his major-league debut, hoping the converted infielder who has never topped five innings or 75 pitches in a professional outing could inject some life into their rotation. The club is already expecting Tyler Glasnow and Clayton Kershaw to return to the rotation this week, furthering the roster shuffle to come.

Worth noting, James Paxton’s start yesterday gave him 18 starts on the season, making him $1 million maxing out all the start-related bonuses on his deal to $4 million in total.

“It’s one of those decisions that are very difficult,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Trying to understand the guys that we have coming back, the guys that we want to get looks at, particularly some starters. And so it was a difficult decision.”

The Dodgers hope to trade Paxton over the next eight days. The veteran had hit most of the performance bonuses on his contract (worth $6 million in total) and received his $3 million signing bonus, meaning an acquiring club would only have to pay a prorated amount of his $4 million base salary.

The Dodgers also hope to add more pitching.

“If we didn’t see James being part of the stretch run,” Gomes said Monday afternoon, “now would be the best time to see if there’s interest there.”

Paxton logged starts and remained healthy. He also had a 4.43 ERA, struggled to strike out hitters and was candid about how difficult it has been to find something that works consistently at this stage of his career. There should be a market for his services, but it was hard to see a scenario where he would make starts for the Dodgers in October.

Finding someone who could take the mound in the playoffs is a much different task.

“(We’re) certainly looking for impact-type players,” Gomes said. “We think our team right now is really good, especially once we get back to full strength. Targeting starting pitching, but it’s going to be an impact-type arm.”

The Dodgers have been connected to Detroit Tigers All-Star Tarik Skubal, though the odds that the left-hander is ultimately moved next week are quite slim. The Tigers remain on the periphery of the race, and with two and a half years of club control remaining, Skubal should be someone Detroit is seeking to retain.

They’ve also discussed acquiring Chicago White Sox All-Star Garrett Crochet, though the left-hander is in the midst of his first season as a full-time starting pitcher and has already thrown more innings this season (107 1/3) than he had in his entire big-league career prior (73). What version of Crochet a contending team would get, and whether he’s a starter or a reliever in the short term, remains a massive question mark.

The starting pitching market gets uncertain from there. Among the reasons: a cluster of teams stuck in the middle muddying up buyers and sellers, and a clear seller’s market with not enough supply to go around.

“There’s a scarcity of sellers,” Gomes said. “So it’s always going to be, what does it come down to? Probably day of and day before. I think any time we’re dealing at the deadline and on the buy side, it’s probably not something you’re going to feel great about. But it’s all about what’s going to put us in the best position to win the World Series.”

There is also uncertainty about how the Dodgers will supplement from within. Glasnow is expected to return without much issue from his minor back injury, but Kershaw is making a return from the first major arm surgery of his career (a procedure to repair the capsule and glenohumeral ligaments in his left shoulder).

Yoshinobu Yamamoto continues to stretch out and throw long-toss as he works his way back from a strained rotator cuff. And while Gomes said the Dodgers “feel really good (Yamamoto will) be back before the end of the year,” there isn’t a firm timetable other than him being eligible to return no sooner than Aug. 16.

Walker Buehler returned to Dodger Stadium on Monday afternoon after working off-site to address his mechanics and a nagging hip issue. There’s a chance he could return to the Dodgers’ rotation after a couple of rehab starts, and the organization remains bullish on his ability to contribute despite a 5.84 ERA in his first eight starts coming off his second Tommy John surgery.

The club also believes Bobby Miller, sent to the minors just before the All-Star break to work through a miserable start to the season, will return to their rotation before long.

“There are different confidence levels,” Gomes said. “Going from there, it’s like OK, where does that slot in on what’s available in the market? Everything that we’re doing, we’re in the fortunate position in the division that right now we can make more of those focused plays.”