Baseball's trade deadline isn't for another 2½ months, but as we complete the first quarter of the season, enough has happened that teams have to start facing some tough decisions. It's hard to win a division in April, but you can lose it, and many of the teams projected to be solid playoff contenders are in markedly worse positions than they were six weeks ago. Teams facing up to newfound disappointments have to start deciding if they're realistic contenders or if they need to shift thinking to retooling for 2019 (or worse). The sooner the better; you can't get out of a hole until you stop digging.
Los Angeles Dodgers
Preseason playoff odds: 92.2 percent
Playoff odds now: 24.6 percent
We're long past the time the Dodgers could simply dismiss the poor start as "just a poor start." Even playing well, the loss of Corey Seager for the season is enormous, a four-to-five win drop-off even with an adequate replacement. Not playing well, it's the kind of thing that can be the coup de grâce to their 2018 fortunes.
