MLB Trades: Best Deadline Deals in Los Angeles Dodgers History

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Today's Los Angeles Dodgers team is a far cry from where the franchise was when it made some of these trade deadline deals. The moves included in this list are those that put the Dodgers over the top and into the playoffs.

The 2011 Dodgers are all but out of the playoffs before the July 31 trade deadline.

Between the lack of roster talent on this team and the overall state of the franchise, Los Angeles is at rock bottom this season.

Currently, the Dodgers are 46-56 and 13 games behind the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants.

However, this list takes us back to the times when Dodger baseball was hitting its stride and was a success. The front office was making smart moves, and all was right in Los Angeles.

Here are the top five trade deadline deals in Los Angeles Dodgers history.

5. 1987: Tim Belcher as the "Player to Be Named Later" from the Oakland A's

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Not many saw this coming.

It was just another trade around the deadline in baseball that year, but what a role it would play.

In 1987, Rick Honeycutt was traded from the Dodgers to the Oakland Athletics for a player to named later. That player turned out to be Tim Belcher.

Belcher would go on to have a very good rookie season in 1988, which included starting Games 1 and 4 of the World Series.

Los Angeles would go on to defeat the favored Athletics, who they had negotiated with in the Honeycutt/Belcher deal, in five games.

4. 2004: Steve Finley from the Arizona Diamondbacks

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On July 31, 2004, at the late hours of the trade deadline, the Dodgers traded Koyie Hill and Billy Murphy to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Steve Finley and catcher Brent Mayne.

Mayne would be a solid catcher for Los Angeles, but it was Finley who produced the most out of the trade.

Finley would end up being the final piece of the outfield puzzle for the Dodgers, hitting .263 with 13 home runs while starting in center field.

However, the most significant part of the Finley acquisition came later that year, in October, when he hit a walk-off grand slam to defeat the Giants and win the NL West.

3. 1985: Bill Madlock from the Pittsburgh Pirates

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In August of 1985, the Dodgers traded R.J. Reynolds, Cecil Espy and Sid Bream to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Bill Madlock, who was a little past his prime.

Madlock would end up hitting .360 over the final 30 days of the season and led the Dodgers to a division title that year.

He would also go on to hit .333 with seven RBI in the NL Championship Series before falling to the St. Louis Cardinals.

2. 2006: Greg Maddux from the Chicago Cubs

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Cesar Izturis was traded on the last day of the trade deadline in 2006 for Chicago Cubs starter Greg Maddux.

It turned out to be a trade where a shortstop who had lost his job was exchanged for a future Hall of Famer and cash.

Maddux would end up going 6-3 in the final couple months of the season, which included being the winning pitcher in the NL West-clinching game against the Giants.

1. 2008: Manny Ramirez from the Boston Red Sox

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Before his sad demise in Major League Baseball, Ramirez was one of the best trade deadline acquisitions by the Dodgers in their history.

On the day of the trade deadline, the Dodgers traded Andy LaRoche and Bryan Morris to the Pirates in a three-way trade with the Red Sox that sent Ramirez to Los Angeles.

After a relationship in Boston that seemed to have fizzled out, Ramirez broke out in the final 53 games with the Dodgers, as he hit .396 with 17 home runs and 53 RBI.

His offensive surge propelled the Dodgers to a division title.

Ramirez would continue by hitting .520 in October before the Dodgers fell to the Phillies in the NLCS.