NFL
By George Lopez
As the MLB trading deadline approached, fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers eagerly anticipated Andrew Friedman to make a big splash with the announcement of a trade. In past seasons, Friedman has traded for players such as Yu Darvish and Max Scherzer at the deadline to help the Dodgers make a deep postseason run. As the deadline approached, the big name as a possible trade target was Shohei Ohtani. The Dodgers were linked by MLB insiders as frontrunners to trade for Ohtani. When the Angels announced Ohtani would not be traded, the Dodgers began to look at other trade targets.
At the end of July, the Dodgers acquired shortstop Amed Rosario from Cleveland and brought back fan favorite KiKe Hernandez in a deal with Boston. In need of pitching help, Friedman traded for starting pitcher Lance Lynn and reliever Joe Kelly from the Whitesox. Ryan Yarbrough from Kansas City. Kelly and Yarbrough will help bring stability to a struggling Dodgers bullpen. With Julio Urias and Tony Gonsolin struggling with Inconsistency this season and Clayton Kershaw not expected to rejoin the rotation until later this month, the addition of Lynn adds a veteran arm to the rotation. Lynn has a history of pitching deep into games, which would help the Dodgers’ beleaguered bullpen.
The Dodgers were linked to big named trade targets such as Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander. The Dodgers did attempt to trade for Scherzer but were unsuccessful as Scherzer was traded to the Texas Rangers. An attempt to trade for Verlander was also made by Friedman. The Dodgers were not able to make that deal. The Dodgers did have a deal in place for Detroit Tigers pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez. The Tiger’s left-hander was one of the big-name starting pitchers on the trade market. Rodriguez had a no-trade clause in his contract where he would be able to veto a trade to 10 teams. The Dodgers were one of the teams on his no-trade list. While a deal between Friedman and the Tiger’s front office was made, Rodriguez blocked the trade to the Dodgers. Adding Lance Lynn to the starting rotation was a good move for the Dodgers. The Dodgers did miss out on the top of the list of starting pitchers.
One of the questions that will be asked by Dodger fans is who was Friedman willing or unwilling to trade during negotiations with other teams. Details of who the Dodgers may have offered for Scherzer or Verlander have not been made public, but it stands to reason that the Mets would have asked for a combination of the Dodgers’ young arms of Bobby Miller, Gavin Stone, Michael Grove, and Ryan Pepiot. The Dodgers, under Friedman, have been reluctant to trade their top prospects at the trading deadline. The Mets believed the trade package offered by both the Rangers and the Mets was a better deal than what Friedman was offering with the Dodgers.
As this season’s MLB trading deadline has come past, the Dodgers did not make the big trade most MLB insiders predicted. The Dodgers were in discussions to acquire top-of-the-rotation pitching but were unable to complete the trade, whether that was due to the player blocking the trade or the Dodgers’ offer not meeting the other team’s needs. The Dodgers will look to Urias and Gonsolin to improve their inconsistent pitching to go along with the pitchers added at the trade deadline. With the expected return of Clayton Kershaw this month and Walker Buehler expected to return in September, the Dodgers believe they have the pieces in place to make a deep postseason run.
