In one of the craziest trade deadlines ever, players began to move left and right in the final hours of the last day. Making one of the biggest splashes again was Dodgers’ President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman. In the biggest blockbuster of the year, the club acquired veteran and multiple Cy Young Award Winner Max Scherzer along with All-Star shortstop Trea Turner.
The team made the announcement official not long before the deadline.
In return, the Dodgers sent prospects Keibert Ruiz, Josiah Gray, Gerardo Carrillo, and Donovan Casey. Previously, I mentioned I had Ruiz on my untouchables list, but with two players of that caliber coming to the Dodgers, the choice was relatively easy.
In another deal, the Dodgers also acquired left-handed pitcher Danny Duffy from the Kansas City Royals on Thursday. The veteran is currently sitting on the disabled list and isn’t expected to return for three to four weeks.
However, the Dodgers stood pat with regards to upgrading their bullpen. Los Angeles was linked to several names such as closer Craig Kimbrel, but he ultimately ended up with the White Sox.
In other long-awaited news, the Dodgers activated shortstop Corey Seager from the 60-day injured list hours before the opener against the Diamondbacks.
Seager had been out since May 15 with a broken hand. It is expected that Turner will play second base when he joins the team.
Slowly but surely, the Dodgers are getting healthier and getting their team back, which is quite a scary sight for opposing pitching. Over the next week or so, they will have Seager, Mookie Betts, and Clayton Kershaw return from the injured list. While also adding Turner and Scherzer.
Scherzer is lined up to make his first start against the Houston Astros next week since he started yesterday for the Nationals, but we will have to wait and see when exactly he’s penciled in.
In a short playoff series in October, the Dodgers can possibly start Walker Buehler, Kershaw, and Scherzer along with the likes of Julio Urias, Tony Gonsolin, and David Price in the bullpen. The Dodgers still remain three games back of the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants.
The Giants also made a move right before the final buzzer of the trade deadline when they traded for 2016 NL MVP Kris Bryant, who the Dodgers were also relatively linked to for a period of time.
The Padres also made several significant upgrades, including All-Star Adam Frazier early in the week.
It will definitely be a fun race in the NL West with 60 games to go after one of the most exciting deadlines.
After all the trade deadline craziness, there is still a baseball game left to be played. The Dodgers will play the league-worst Arizona Diamondbacks who are 32-71.
Gonsolin is due to start the opener for Los Angeles. He’s 2-1, with a 2.38 ERA. Starting for Arizona will be right-hander Zac Gallen, who is 1-5 with a 4.80 ERA.
First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. Pacific.
I thought getting Scherzer was hyperbole by sportswriters looking for clicks. I was wrong.
I thought with the tsunami of injuries and the Bauer situation the Dodgers would hold pat as they could not be blamed for missing the playoffs. And I was wrong.
I did not want them to trade Ruiz but as they are getting Turner and he is under contract for another year that is a good deal as Turner if he is slated for SS next year is a better defender than Seager.
This 4 person deal for renting Scherzer and getting Turner for two years may turn out to be a bad deal. But they are just that prospects and the young pitchers & Ruiz are blocked and the Dodgers have Cartaya and Galiz behind him as young dynamic catchers.
I am very excited to get Turner in the line-up but I think he is out on a Covid protocol. I wonder if he is one of the idiots that did not get vaccinated. Well, baseball players are mostly not very educated so there is a lot of stupid out there…
Congrats to AF for getting Scherzer and Turner, and by September we might be very happy we also got Duffy.
We needed another strong starter and got Max.
We needed another strong right handed hitter and got Turner, who also serves as insurance (and probably also as a prediction) that Seager won’t be returning next year.
I would have liked to have seen another bullpen piece added but apparently Andrew feels comfortable with what he has. I don’t see us winning a World Series depending on Kenley to go through all those playoff games without going into one of his “bad periods”. It’s possible that he just thought the price was too high to go get Kimbrel and I will defer to his judgement. And maybe he thought that every other trade possibility wasn’t any better than what we have. Maybe AF figures Knebel will be able to step in if Kenley falters. So be it.
Injuries have played a huge part in the season so far, both for us and other teams. I don’t expect that to change during the remainder of the season and the playoffs. I definitely think we have the strongest roster in MLB, but that doesn’t guarantee we’re going to win it all.
Not quite the best in baseball but certainly in the top 4/6. This trade could put us over the top if mookie gets back to full strength, seager can hit 250, kersh can come back injury free and the bullpen can get it together. A few relievers coming off the dl but nothing to make me believe they’re the answer but I’m sure someone will float to the top. Or not.
I just have to congratulate Friendman as much as I hate to.
The best team does not always win that is for sure. I like that we now have insurance if Seager and Boras ask for a ridiculous deal which I think is what will happen. We also have insurance for however, the Bauer situation pans out.
I really like Graterol this year, in a short sample we have seen him throwing and controlling secondary pitches, and that he throws a sinking ball at 101 is very impressive. As AF has demonstrated they are going all-in on this team for the pennant Friedman must believe Knebel is coming back and he feels good about Graterol and the rest of the bullpen. I do not trust Jansen at all nor do I trust Roberts’s ability to manage in-game critical pitching decisions.
Very excited about Trea Turner and Scherzer.
Very glad they activated Seager today…
I really hope that when TT (as opposed to JT) gets here that Doc hits Mookie and Trea one/two in the order. We need to start taking advantage of their speed. Trea’s career stolen base percentage is very high and although they prefer not to run our guys, it seems like the teams who have run against us have been quite successful with that strategy.
Not sure Mookie’s hip will allow him to do much stealing this year, but assuming he’s 100% next year, those two at the top of the lineup could be very effective and very exciting.
These moves were huge but I can’t see us going very far with this bullpen. When you are 1 and 10/12 in extra innings and among the leaders in blown saves that spells disaster in the post season as we’ve seen many many times over the past 8 seasons. Gaterol, Gonzalez, Jansen of course and the no names just can’t be relied on on a regular basis. Look what Chicago just did to improve one of the best pens in the league. In the post-season you play better teams with better pitching and that becomes very difficult if you can’t lock down a lead.
Dodgers must figure on Knebel being back and Graterol continuing to mature. Jansen demonstrated again last night he is not part of the answer. He barely got out of the inning last night.
The Dodgers usually play teams that are not as talented as they are so they dominate them. Playoff games are against teams that you are more at parity with. When you are against teams that also have elite pitching and a good defense you must be able to generate runs. That is when speed and aggression on the basepaths can make a difference and good defense. TT can help the team generate a run or two as can Mookie depending on his hip.
Gonsolin had a disappointing and very brief start. If he can’t throw strikes they will not be able to play him it’s that simple. No wonder they picked up Duffy. Meanwhile, the entire bullpen is gassed as most were used last night.
Jansen was back to being ineffective and was lucky to get out of his inning. Again poor control and inability to finish.
Hopefully, once the Dodgers get TT they can sit Bellinger. In Bellinger’s last 28 games his average is .100 and his OBP .180!!! When your OBP is below the Mendoza line they are struggling. Bellinger was 0 for 5 last night with the usual strikeout and flyballs. You would think he would figure out with his batting stance he cannot pull an inside pitch but he apparently is too stubborn to change his approach. He has become an easy out simply throw inside and jam him.
They have played 105 games. So 57 to go. Still, time left if they can win. The team showed some offense last night which was heartening. Seager was 2 for 5 so a good start back from injury.