Dodgers Trade Idea Sends Two Prospects For Pirates' Oneil Cruz to Replace Michael Conforto

Dodgers Trade Idea Sends Two Prospects For Pirates’ Oneil Cruz to Replace Michael Conforto originally appeared on Athlon Sports.

After the first half of the 2025 season, the Los Angeles Dodgers sit atop the baseball world again. Despite some shaky moments, the Dodgers have found their stride and are in the middle of a great month of June.

But, there are still some areas of the roster the team needs to address. One of those areas is in the outfield, specifically with Michael Conforto. To address that need, Jim Riley of Ballcap Sports presented a trade idea.

Riley’s idea would have the Dodgers calling up the Pittsburgh Pirates for outfielder Oneil Cruz. In exchange, Riley has the Dodgers sending prospects Alex Freeland (third) and Noah Miller (22nd).

The Pirates are reportedly open to trading most of their players, other than Paul Skenes, so Cruz being available is a real possibility. For the Dodgers, Cruz would be a very fun addition to an already dangerous offense.

His power and speed would be a great asset for the Dodgers, even if his 2025 season hasn’t gone great. In 73 games, Cruz is hitting .205/.319/.396. His .714 OPS is the lowest of his career, but compared to Conforto’s 2025 OPS of .602, it’s a significant improvement.

Cruz leads all of baseball in strikeouts with 106, and also leads the National League in stolen bases with 27. He has 14 home runs on the year and has 43 runs scored, thanks to his blazing speed.

Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Michael Conforto (23) makes a running catch off New York Mets third baseman Brett Baty (7) in the fifth inning at Dodger Stadium.Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

If the Dodgers landed Cruz, they’d have him for the next three and a half years, as he becomes a free agent after the 2028 season. His contract is also reasonable, as he has yet to hit arbitration.

Between his control, speed, power, and youth (26 years old), Cruz would be a huge improvement over Conforto on the bases and offensively. But, despite Cruz having some terrible fielding blunders in the last month, he’s a significantly better fielder than Conforto as well.

No part of Conforto’s game in 2025 is better than Cruz’s, except for his plate discipline. But the rest of his game is hurting the Dodgers, and acquiring someone like Cruz to replace him would be a huge move.

While losing Freeland and Miller would sting, the Dodgers are in win-now mode and don’t have spots on the roster for either prospect. Using them to land Cruz for a drastic improvement in the outfield is a no-brainer.

This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 29, 2025, where it first appeared.

Dodgers Trade Idea Sends Two Prospects For Pirates’ Oneil Cruz to Replace Michael Conforto

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