Oh boy, have the rumors been flowing tonight…where to even start? How ’bout I just dive right in.

The first initial rumors for a trade was as follows:

Jed Lowrie from the Astros coming to LA for Dodgers #1 prospect Zach Lee, and #6 prospect Garrett Gould. When I heard this, I just about died of a heart attack. I thought, ‘No way…not even for Ned. There is NO way that anyone would ever think this is a good idea. Right?’ As I was fumbling for answers, brainstorming for reasons as to why this would ever be even remotely considered…updates were made.

Apparently there was confusion among sources. When the name “Lee” was mentioned, it was assumed that it was the Dodgers’ prospect Zach Lee. That wasn’t the case. It was in fact, Carlos Lee, the Astros’ 1B, and Zach Lee was never mentioned in trade talks. This gave me a huge sigh of relief. Then the official update (which has stood all the way up until this point) was Carlos Lee to LA for Dodgers Prospect Garrett Gould. The confusion with people involved was also surrounding Lowrie. Lowrie is a shortstop for the Cubs as of right now. If he came to the Dodgers, he would have been used at third, a position that he isn’t comfortable with. Dodgers are not and will not give up on Dee Gordon for quite some time.

I’m ok with this Carlos Lee-Garrett Gould trade, and I’m also not. I’ll explain.

I’m ok with it, because Garrett Gould has been wildly mediocre in the minors for us. He does show a lot of promise, I’ll give him that, but his numbers are subpar. For the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes (Single A), Garrett has gone 1-6 with a 5.12 ERA. He is a much less risk to give away than Zach Lee is, who is a former first round pick, and just promoted to AA Chattanooga yesterday. With that being said, Garrett is still a very big asset for the Dodgers. The reason I’m not ok with this trade, is because of the impact (or lack there of) that Carlos Lee would have for us. I don’t believe in giving away potential assets for the Dodgers for old, mediocre, short-term talent that isn’t a large upgrade in the first place. We need power at first and third base. No one is disputing that. James Loney isn’t getting the job done. No one is disputing that either. Carlos Lee was a power hitter. Was. This year, he has only hit five homeruns (compared to Loney’s two) and all of those have been at home, in Minute Maid Park. Don’t even get me started on his defense. We all know what Loney can do at the bag, and to put it mildly, we’d be losing a ton on defense with Lee.

Another interesting note in all this…was that Garrett Gould was scratched from his start tonight with the Quakes an hour before game time. Could this trade happen sooner than everyone thinks? I am finding it hard to find another reason that would point to why he would get scratched at all. More updates on this as they come in.

Ryan Dempster is also a name that has been thrown around tonight as well. Dodgers sources have said that they are very interested in acquiring Ryan Dempster. While the sides haven’t talked since the week before Dempster went on the disabled list, a person familiar with the situation suggested the Dodgers have a very good chance to land the veteran right-hander and are the odds-on favorite to land him once he comes off the DL. The Dodgers’ pitching has been very strong and were getting wins when the offense was performing. However, you can’t win games without the support of your offense, no matter how good you are. Ryan Dempster would be a great fit in the Dodgers rotation, but I strongly believe they need to focus on offense first and foremost. With that being said, I wouldn’t mind seeing him in Dodger blue at all.

Edwin Encarnacion: I was asked on Facebook to hit on Encarnacion so I will, as much as I can. It’s hard to talk about players from other teams, because teams won’t give out (nor do they even know) who will be available come the trade deadline. When it comes to Dodgers sources, I have a bit more of an in and know who we’d be willing to trade, but as far as other teams go, it’s hard to say. All I have gotten from anybody is that if the Blue Jays are out of it near the deadline (currently 7.5 games out of 1st) they will be willing to deal. Now the tricky part is…who are they willing to deal out? I’ll bring you into a bit of the chaos that surrounds the Blue Jays situation. This is a summary of what I found among top CBS and Fox Sports writers. Buckle Up.

The Blue Jays are giving “little indication” that they intend to trade potential free agents Edwin Encarnacion and Kelly Johnson, Rosenthal and Morosi write. Scouts are saying they’ve been told Encarnacion IS available for the “right” pitcher, Stark reports. Yet one person told Stark Encarnacion is “not available, as far as I know.” Jon Heyman of CBS Sports.com wrote earlier today that the Blue Jays would have multiple suitors if they make Encarnacion available.

Confused? Yeah so am I. Long story short, we will know a lot more after the July 2nd International signing deadline, when GM’s and team’s can start focusing more on their big league teams. More on that in my Stan Kasten interview. Stan does a great job describing what goes through a team’s head around this time of year. As far as Encarnacion goes, I would LOVE to have him on the team and think that he would be the influential power bat that we so desperately need.

If there are any more players that you are curious about, or would like an update on, please feel free to contact Dodger’s Insider on Facebook or on Twitter and ask away. I am more than happy to do my best and give you the most up-to-date information there is available.

Due to the length of this post, I am going to write about Stan Kasten and what he has to say about the direction of the Dodgers in my next post (which I will finish tonight). It’s a great article, that will honestly get you excited about where things are going. Talking to Stan and hearing him talk gets me extremely pumped up and I’m 100% on board with what he’s doing. Hopefully, after this article, you will all feel the same as I do.

Before I end this, just some quick notes. In regards to the International signing, Dodgers made their first move today by signing Cuban prospect, Yasiel Puig. Puig, 21, was added to the Dodgers’ 40 man roster today and was signed for a 7 year, $42 Million deal. He was immediately optioned down to the Dodgers’ rookie level team in Arizona and placed on the temporary inactive list. Ned Colletti said the signing was only the ‘first piece’ to re-establish their presence in the international market and that “this signing is a snapshot of a much bigger vision and bigger plan.”

Dylan Hernandez of the LA Times also tweeted (while I was writing this post actually) that the Dodgers first round pick (18th overall) Corey Seager, also signed tonight  for $2.35 Million. More details on that later.