Dodgers to acquire Ricky Nolasco from Marlins, per report

Two high-level execs involved with the talks between the Dodgers and Fish are telling MLB Network Radio that Nolasco may be changing uniforms as early as Thursday.

by Nate A

Jun 27, 2013, 5:16 PM UTC

Win McNamee

The Los Angeles Dodgers are on the verge of acquiring Miami Marlins right-hander Ricky Nolasco, and may come to an agreement sometime Thursday, reports Jim Duquette of MLB Network Radio. The details of the reportedly pending deal are unknown at the moment, but more information is sure to trickle in as the day goes on.

More Dodgers: Nolasco Trade Talk Heating Up

The Dodgers’ interest in the veteran right-hander has been building to a boiling point all week. The Fish were rumored to be “deep into trade talks” with the Dodgers about Nolasco on Wednesday, a day after it was reported that Los Angeles was “on blitzkrieg” to acquire the right-hander.

The Dodgers' starting pitching depth was the envy of the baseball world when the season began, but a series of major injuries and one ill-timed trade have left the club's rotation cupboard bare. The Dodgers have been forced to call on untested arms Stephen Fife and Matt Magill to make 12 starts so far this season, a scenario that no one could have surmised in April when the rotation was eight starters deep.

Nolasco, 30, has been on the trading block for several weeks. He has been linked to the Giants, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Orioles, Yankees, and Padres, along with the Dodgers. The Marlins recently stepped up their efforts to deal the veteran right-hander, who is now primed to become the first trade chip of the 2013 trade deadline.

Nolasco is off to one of his best starts ever in his eighth season with the Marlins. The right-hander owns a 3.68 earned-run average and 3.08 strikeout-to-walk ratio through his first 16 starts, which should allow Miami to net a decent return in a trade even though Nolasco will be a free agent at the season’s end and is still owed about half of his $11.5 million salary.