Dodgers Trade Rumors: LA Has 'Preliminary Interest' in Marlins' Brad Ziegler

As the Los Angeles Dodgers look to get back to the World Series, they are exploring the entire trade market leading up to the July 31 trade deadline.

Jon Heyman of Fancred reported Tuesday that Los Angeles has shown "preliminary interest" in Miami Marlins reliever Brad Ziegler.

This news comes less than a week after the Dodgers acquired reliever Dylan Floro and right-hander Zach Neal from the Cincinnati Reds.

It's been a tale of two seasons through the first three-plus months of the 2018 campaign for Ziegler. He had a 7.88 ERA through his first 25 appearances, but as Heyman notes, the right-hander has allowed just one run over 20 outings since June 1.

That's good for a 4.50 ERA in a National League-leading 44 appearances.

While he has a career 2.74 ERA in 11 seasons, the 38-year-old has already surrendered a career-high six home runs—and it's not even the All-Star Break. Four of those long balls have been served up to left-handers.

On the flip side, he has held right-handed hitters to a .221 average. More importantly, he ranks second in the NL in inducing double plays, having rolled up 10 already. The ability to get out of jams with a ground ball would make him a valuable asset for any contender.

Ziegler is in the final year of his contract and has a salary of $9 million, per Spotrac.

Los Angeles' bullpen currently ranks 14th in the majors with a 3.87 ERA. But with the amount of injuries the rotation (Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Kenta Maeda and Hyun-Jin Ryu, among others) has suffered, pressure has been put on the bullpen to step up. Dodgers relievers have thrown the fourth-most innings in all of baseball thus far.