Having already reached an agreement to acquire Danny Duffy from the Kansas City Royals, the Los Angeles Dodgers further bolstered their starting rotation at the MLB trade deadline by landing Max Scherzer in a blockbuster deal with the Washington Nationals.
The three-time Cy Young Award was highly sought after and drew interest from several clubs. However, he essentially controlled his fate due to holding a full no-trade clause as a player with 10-and-5 rights.
Prior to talks between the Dodgers and Nationals heating up, Scherzer appeared on the verge of being traded to the San Diego Padres. Though, nothing came of it as L.A. continued to have conversations with Washington.
“Not really,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman answered when asked if he was concerned about the possibility Scherzer was bound for San Diego.
“We were pretty engaged at that point. It definitely spooked me for a second, but I feel like things would’ve been playing out differently if that were the case. It definitely got my attention and my heart may have skipped a beat or two, but kind of quickly came back to where the conversations were, where it was trending and what was going on. That helped.”
For the Dodgers, adding Scherzer was a no-brainer given his game-changing talent and the many uncertainties surrounding their starting rotation. That they prevented the Padres and San Francisco Giants from getting him was icing on the cake.
“For us it was about adding impact talent. It’s definitely an added bonus, but not the driver,” Friedman said of keeping Scherzer away from the Dodgers’ biggest rivals.
“The driver was adding two guys we feel are this impactful and what it does for us this year and at the very least — in Trea’s case — for next year. The added bonus is reportedly the other teams were looking at them as well.
“There were definitely a lot of ups and downs, but I think once we got into Thursday, we felt pretty confident we were going to be able to figure something out. Obviously there were challenges along the way, but couldn’t be happier with where we are right now.”
Friedman: NL West standings ‘a factor’ for Scherzer, Turner trade
With the Dodgers still chasing the Giants in the National League West standings, Friedman conceded it played a role in completing the blockbuster trade for Scherzer and Trea Turner. “It’s definitely a factor,” Friedman began.
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t. It reminds me a little bit of 2018, kind of similar place and approach. Obviously if we can get to July and have a comfortable lead in the West and focus on levers to pull with our playoff team, that’s ideal.
“Certain times we’re not in that position. Right now we’ve got to really think long and hard about August and September, so that definitely played a role in this.”
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