Breaking News: Just an hour earlier, The Los Angeles Dodgers previously confirmed the $174 Million deal with Andrew Vaughn to replace Blake Snell… According to several reports issued this afternoon…

The Los Angeles Dodgers find themselves in quite a pickle as the calendar flips to May and a long road lies ahead to get to the trade deadline. Reinforcements are already critical for a rotation ravaged by injuries, as the frustratingly injury-prone Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow both will miss an undetermined amount of time with ominous shoulder inflammation.

The timing is inopportune, given that there is so much of the season to navigate before the trade deadline, which limits the team’s options to bring in reinforcements. Fortunately, there are a few options on the table, even if they all leave something to be desired.

Los Angeles still has an elite farm system, ranked No. 4 by MLB Pipeline, and deep pockets, which both will be useful to acquire reinforcements at the deadline. However, no trades of consequence will be made until late July, as the baseball landscape settles and the contenders become separated from the pretenders.

With the free agent market at this point in the season being wholly unappealing, the Dodgers will have to rely on internal options to get them through the coming months. The good news is, there are various pathways they could take or use in conjunction with each other in order to survive until the deadline, when their options will be more robust.

These options can be broken down into four distinct categories: spot starters, bullpen conversions, returning veterans, and external fliers, each coming with its own pros and cons.

The Dodgers have some interesting spot starter options to fill in for Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow

The Dodgers have already gone to this well a couple of times on the young season, with both Justin Wrobleski and Landon Knack already getting opportunities. Unfortunately, things did not go well for either in the aftermath of Snell’s injury.

Wrobleski, 24, got hammered in his only big league start of the season, giving up eight earned runs and surrendering two homers in five innings of work. He also failed to impress in spot duty last season, posting a 5.70 ERA in 36.1 innings of work.

Things haven’t gone much better for the young lefty at Triple-A Oklahoma City this season, with a 5.71 ERA in four starts and 17.1 innings of work. Still, he’s had some minor league success previously, and may be called upon to make a few more spot starts until other options are ready to take the rubber in his stead.

Knack, 27, has made three appearances and two starts on the season, posting a putrid 7.23 ERA in the process. Last season, however, he was more successful in the role, making 12 starts (15 total appearances) and posting a 3.65 ERA in 69 innings. However, his FIP of 4.72 would indicate that he was actually much worse, and his propensity to give up the long ball (1.85 HR/9 last season) is worrisome.