Dodgers trade candidate hoping deadline rumors prove to be fake news

“It’s all fake news.”That’s the hopeful — and maybe wishful — thinking Alex Call has had to do over the last week.A year after being acquired by the Dodgers at the trade deadline, the veteran outfielder has found his name in trade rumors once again this summer; only this time, as a potential departure from the two-time defending champions as they look to streamline their roster (and capitalize on inflated midseason trade prices) ahead of Monday’s deadline.Call’s name was first mentioned as a trade candidate last weekend, when Fox’s Ken Rosenthal noted on the network’s broadcast of a Dodgers-Mets game that the right-handed-hitting role player could be rendered expendable with Kiké Hernández (another right-handed-hitting role player) returning from injury.In the week since, multiple other reports have further fueled such speculation, leaving the 31-year-old in an uncomfortably uncertain position leading up to Monday’s deadline.California's top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.

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Never miss a story “I don’t know if it’s truth or speculation or whatever’s going on,” Call told the California Post on Saturday, one year and one day removed from his arrival in Los Angeles last season.“I don’t know.

I’ve been trying not to think about it too much.But love being here.”Indeed, Call described his tenure with the Dodgers — who acquired him from the Nationals at last year’s trade deadline to bolster their bench and round out their outfield depth — as simply “the best,” giving him the chance to play in the postseason for the first time in his career, contribute to a World Series championship last fall, and return this season as part of a bid for a historic three-peat.“I mean, it feels like it’s been more than a year,” he said.

“It’s bee...