The Dodgers are still in the market for a starting pitcher, according to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports.

Source: #Dodgers not done. Looking for another starting pitcher. Nothing close.

Buster Olney at ESPN hears similar chatter, so there’s definitely something going on, which I suppose shouldn’t surprise Dodger fans anymore.

Since the Dodgers are actively looking for rotation help, it seems like a good time to take a look at what their potential trade options are at the moment.

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Placed On Waivers

Aaron Cook – He was placed on waivers almost two weeks ago, but no reports on whether he cleared or not. Making $1.5 million in 2012 and a free agent after the season, he has a 4.76 ERA/5.06 FIP/4.45 xFIP/4.32 SIERA. Needless to say, he’s not going to be an improvement over anybody in the rotation. Pointless to acquire.

Edinson Volquez – He was placed on waivers a week ago, but no reports on whether he cleared or not. Volquez is making $2.2 million in 2012 and has a year of team control left. He has a 4.10 ERA/4.12 FIP/4.21 xFIP/4.38 SIERA. While Volquez could help the team, he profiles as yet another #3/#4 type in a rotation full of them. However, there’s upside with him because he does have electric stuff. Not sure he’s worth the prospects it would take to get him, but wouldn’t mind having him in the right deal.

Jon Lester – Placed on waivers five days ago, but whether he cleared or not is unknown. Lester is making $7.6 million in 2012, is set to make $11.6 million in 2013, and has a $13 million club option in 2014 with a $250k buyout. He has a 4.98 ERA/3.99 FIP/3.61 xFIP/3.72 SIERA and that could make him a solid addition to the rotation. However, if he was going to be dealt, especially to the Dodgers, I don’t see why they wouldn’t have done so with the Adrian Gonzalez deal. I’d love to have him, but I doubt it happens because it wouldn’t make much sense.

Kevin Millwood – He was placed on waivers a couple days ago and there’s no word on whether he’s been claimed yet. Millwood is making $1 million in 2012 and will be a free agent after the season. He has a 4.28 ERA/3.76 FIP/4.26 xFIP/4.40 SIERA, so I put him in the same category as Cook and a notch below Volquez due to a lack of upside. Meh.

Jason Vargas – He was placed on waivers a couple days ago and there’s no word on whether he’s been claimed yet. Vargas makes $4.9 million this year and has another year of team control before hitting free agency. He has a 3.75 ERA/4.72 FIP/4.37 xFIP/4.44 SIERA, so it shouldn’t surprise you that he’s in there with Cook and Millwood. Not worth the effort.

Daisuke Matsuzaka – Placed on waivers yesterday, there’s been no word on whether he’s been claimed yet. He makes $10 million this year and next year before hitting free agency. In six starts, he has posted a 5.10 ERA/4.19 FIP/4.37 xFIP/4.07 SIERA. While this article says he’s worth a waiver claim, four years of mediocrity and astronomical injury risk lead me to a different conclusion.

Shaun Marcum – He was put on waivers yesterday and nobody knows if he has been claimed yet. Marcum is making $7.7 million in 2012 and will be a free agent after the season. He’s currently posting a 3.19 ERA/3.74 FIP/4.00 xFIP/3.74 SIERA season, which makes him one of the few available that would be worth pursuing hard, as he could be as effective as a #2 in this rotation. Would depend on the prospects involved, but I like the idea.

Cleared Waivers

Roy Oswalt – He cleared waivers three weeks ago and is free to be dealt. Oswalt is making $5 million this year and has put up a 5.94 ERA/4.07 FIP/3.49 xFIP/3.39 SIERA line. Those are quality peripherals, but he refused to pitch out of the bullpen for the Rangers earlier this year, and the Dodgers have a backlog of average starters, so it could be a potential headache. With that said, there’s potential upside here, as his numbers indicate that he still has a quality arm.

Ineligible

Cliff Lee – For all those asking, it’s close to impossible. The Phillies pulled him back when the Dodgers claimed him earlier, so even though they could put him on irrevocable waivers, they would get nothing in return for him, which makes it extremely unlikely.

Rumors

Mark Buehrle – He hasn’t been placed on waivers yet to anybody’s knowledge, but he was named as a prime candidate for the Dodgers by Buster Olney. He’s making $10 million in 2012, $11 million in 2013, $18 million in 2014, and $19 million in 2015. Buehrle is currently putting up a 3.62 ERA/4.13 FIP/4.22 xFIP/4.37 SIERA, which is solid enough, but certainly not a clear improvement over anybody already in the rotation. Plus, he’s already 33 and he starts making the most money as he enters the steep decline phase of the aging curve. Meh.

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If the team isn’t going to be acquiring Marcum, Lester, or, to a lesser extent, Volquez, then I don’t see what the point is because nobody else listed would provide a meaningful upgrade over the five or six starters the Dodgers already have.

Perhaps the team has yet another surprise in store, but given the available options, this may be as good as it’s going to get for the Dodgers until 2013.

I had my fears over Ted Lilly‘s MRI, but it showed no structural damage to his shoulder.

The Dodgers received good news regarding one of their core starters Friday, as the results of Ted Lilly’s MRI came back revealing no structural damage to his left shoulder.

“Teddy’s MRI went good,” manager Don Mattingly said. “That was good for us. With the medication [they gave him], they expect him to have a few days off here with that, and basically start moving forward.”

While great, it does make me seriously wonder why they made an offer to Roy Oswalt.

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Juan Rivera might be back with the club by next Monday, but I’m honestly not all that thrilled about it.

Juan Rivera was back with the club in Colorado on Friday for reevaluation following four rehab starts as he works back from a left hamstring strain that put him on the DL on May 9. He will not be activated in Colorado, but may well return to the 25-man roster when the team goes to Philadelphia for a four-game set starting Monday.

“He’s doing really well, and he feels good,” manager Don Mattingly said. “I’m hearing sometime in Philly. We’re going to do more testing today with him and see where’s he’s at — he’s been playing the last couple days. Then we’ll make a decision about whether to play him one more game [in the Minors] or if we feel like he’s ready to go. We’ll be patient.”

I would much rather see a combination of Bobby Abreu/Tony Gywnn Jr./Alex Castellanos/Jerry Sands/Scott Van Slyke in left field.

Both statistically and logically, I doubt his return is an upgrade in any way at this time.

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Juan Uribe will begin a rehab stint next week, and as much as I harass him, he will be a welcome addition.

Juan Uribe is poised to take the final step in working his way back from a left wrist injury that sidelined him since May 14. Uribe has been working out with the Dodgers, and can be expected to begin a brief Minor League rehab assignment next week.

“Juan’s been improving,” manager Don Mattingly said Friday. “He’ll be taking BP, and he’s been progressing. The thing with Juan that’s been good is he’ll take BP, and then the next day he’s been fine. So we’ve had two days of that. He’s going to progress, and we’ll probably within the next day or so be talking about him playing somewhere.”

Mattingly is impressed with how quickly Uribe has gotten his feel for the game back, and wants to ensure he gets some game action in the Minors to get the timing down on his swing.

Like most, I prefer just letting Jerry Hairston Jr. play everyday, but having Juan Uribe around to start over Adam Kennedy is basically improving by default.

Matt Kemp‘s MRI showed that he has suffered another strain in addition to the original one.

The results of the MRI on Matt Kemp’s hamstring showed he not only re-injured the original strain Wednesday but suffered a second one.

Dodgers trainer Sue Falsone said he’s expected to be out a minimum of four weeks.

That’s a best-case scenario, and even Falsone was uncertain if he would be able to return to a major league game by then.

Honestly, the team is probably looking at having to survive until the All-Star break (July 10th) without Kemp now.

They’ll be rightfully cautious with their $180 million dollar investment and it’ll probably affect his play (at least the speed game) for the rest of 2012.

It could get ugly if everybody regresses to their norms.

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Ted Lilly is indeed headed for an MRI after it was initially thought that he wouldn’t have one.

Dodgers left-hander Ted Lilly, who hit the disabled list on May 24 with shoulder inflammation, said he will have an MRI exam on Friday and see if he will travel with the team on its upcoming road trip.

“My belief is pretty optimistic that it’s not going to be something that is going to keep me out for a real long time,” Lilly said.

Lilly has been taking anti-inflammatory medication for an injury he said he first felt after winning a May 18 start against St. Louis, and again after his first loss of the year in Arizona on May 24.

No harm in this, but the Dodgers must have had some level of worry over the results of the MRI to go after Roy Oswalt.

So Nate Eovaldi is indeed headed to the Dodgers to take the place of Ted Lilly in the rotation.

Either the left shoulder injury that put Dodgers starter Ted Lilly on the disabled list Monday isn’t serious or Lilly doesn’t want to know it’s serious, because no MRI has been taken.

Lilly had a cortisone injection and is taking anti-inflammatory medication for an injury he said he first felt after a winning May 18 start against St. Louis, and again after his first loss of the year last Wednesday in Arizona. The Dodgers have issued the non-specific diagnosis of shoulder inflammation.

Lilly said he hopes to be throwing again by the end of the week.

“If that’s the case, we’re feeling it’s short-term,” said manager Don Mattingly. “He’s had stuff before, and it sounds like something he caught early. In the past he would have thrown another game with it. Hopefully, that’s a good sign for us.”

Shoulder woes are the root cause of Lilly’s trip to the disabled list, and it’s enough of a concern that Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports says the Dodgers have made an offer to Roy Oswalt.

The Dodgers have made an offer to Roy Oswalt. Rangers, Oswalt’s likely preference, still in mix, among other clubs.

— Tim Brown (@TBrownYahoo) May 29, 2012

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Oh yeah, Michael Antonini was with the Dodgers today … for just today.

Speaking of short term, the Dodgers called up left-hander Michael Antonini from Triple-A Albuquerque for a day, then will replace him for Tuesday night’s start with Nathan Eovaldi. Mattingly said Antonini was called up because he’s a true long reliever, a curious observation as the Dodgers haven’t needed one while compiling the best record in baseball.

Sucks.

Nate Eovaldi was pulled from yesterday’s start in AA, leading to speculation that he could be on his way to the Dodgers, but the surprising news is that the Dodgers were apparently in on Roy Oswalt.

Ted Lilly is still listed as the Dodgers’ Tuesday night starter, but there are increasing indications that will change.

In addition to the sudden audible of Double-A pitcher Nathan Eovaldi from a Saturday night start to a one-inning relief tuneup, the Dodgers reportedly were aggressively in talks with free-agent starting pitcher Roy Oswalt before apparently bowing out over his financial demands.

The Oswalt news is out of left field, as there were no indications previous to this that the Dodgers were involved in talks with him.

It’s odd news because such a pursuit would seem to indicate a long-term solution to a problem that doesn’t exist.

The timing of Eovaldi’s juggling seems to indicate he’s on standby to make a Tuesday start for the Dodgers. Manager Don Mattingly remained noncommittal when asked if Eovaldi’s Saturday appearance (he struck out all three batters he faced) could be a sign of an imminent roster move.

“I guess it could be,” he said.

Don Mattingly just gave a standard comment that he would say regardless of what the team is actually doing, but I think it’s pretty transparent that Eovaldi is on his way.

The question is: why?

My concern stems from the fact that nobody in the rotation actually deserves to be pulled. Clayton Kershaw (1.97), Chris Capuano (2.14), Chad Billingsley (3.88), Aaron Harang (4.36), and Ted Lilly (3.14) are all doing their jobs at the moment.

Now I wouldn’t be concerned about Eovaldi being called up to make a start or two if Lilly’s neck is hurting again or something of that nature, but the pursuit of Oswalt does bother me, because it infers a longer term issue and makes me wonder how serious a pitcher in the rotation may be hurt.

Another scenario is that perhaps there was/is a trade in the works, but basically everybody has been in the dark about that as well, which is relatively rare.

Should be interesting to see who’s on the mound on Tuesday.

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As a bonus, Mattingly shot down the suggestion that Billingsley would be replaced.

Mattingly did shoot down the suggestion that Eovaldi would move into Chad Billingsley’s spot in the rotation. Billingsley battled through five innings Saturday night, allowing two runs with three walks but also striking out eight. He was in position for his third win until the bullpen let an eighth-inning lead get away.

“Nate’s one inning has nothing to do with Bills,” Mattingly said. “We’ve got five guys in the rotation. I don’t know why we single out Bills so much.”

Mattingly went on to defend Billingsley for “continuing to work on things to be more consistent. Sometimes it’s easier said than done.

“I saw in the stats he’s one of three pitchers to win 10 games for so many years. Not a lot of guys can say that. It depends where you put the mark. Is he supposed to win 20 games every year? Is it 14, 12?”

Wins? Meh, but everything else is right.