The Dodgers Stand Pat At The MLB Trade Deadline And Hope For The Best

One of these guys will get blamed if the Los Angeles Dodgers flame out in the post-season. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images)

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According to MLB.com, there were 50 trades made in the final 31 hours leading up to the MLB trade deadline on July 31st. Some teams – namely the San Diego Padres, New York Yankees, ands Seattle Mariners – spent huge, in both terms of salary as well as future prospects, to improve their clubs. Others – namely the Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, and Los Angeles Dodgers – did very little, relying on their current crop of players to get them to the finish line.

The Dodgers did a ton of work in the off-season so they would not be forced to make moves over the summer. And yet, not everything has gone as planned. As of August 2nd, Los Angeles had 13 players, and 11 pitchers, on the injured list. That list includes Max Muncy, Kirby Yates (off-season acquisition), Roki Sasaki (off-season acquisition), Brusdar Graterol, Tanner Scott (off-season acquisition), Tony Gonsolin, Hyeseong Kim (off-season acquisition), Kiké Hernández, and Michael Kopech.

So, many in Southern California expected the Dodgers to be at least somewhat active in trying to possibly acquire another starting pitcher and/or additional relief arms — especially in light of the fact that their bullpen helped carry them to a World Series title last season.

It is entirely possible that president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman looked at the available options, and looked in his clubhouse, and decided he liked his horses better than what was on offer. Tyler Glasnow is back on the mound after a lengthy absence due to a shoulder issue; Shohei Ohtani is being stretched out to more than three innings in the hope he can provide length in the post-season; and Blake Snell will return from the IL this week.

Further, off-season signing Michael Conforto has started to hit, and the always valuable Kiké Hernández is due back soon. Add to that the fact that Max Muncy’s knee contusion is healing quicker than expected. In all, the Dodgers feel like, with a little bit of health, they are built to win it all again.

So, while their rival to the south was wheeling and dealing, bringing in three pitchers, two outfielders, two infielders, and a catcher, the Dodgers claimed a total of two established major league players.

The club shipped on-again/off-again center fielder James Outman to the Minnesota Twins in return for former Dodger, pitcher Brock Stewart.

With Outman gone from the outfield, they acquired Alex Call from the Washington Nationals for minor league pitchers Eriq Swan and Sean Paul Liñan. Call can play all three outfield positions, and hits left-handed pitching better than Outman does.

The Dodgers also sent catcher Hunter Feduccia to the Tampa Bay Rays in return for 6’10” pitcher Paul Gervase, who has impressed in the minors, and made his major league debut this year. As part of the deal, Los Angeles also acquired catcher Ben Rortvedt, who fills the spot vacated by Feduccia. Left-handed pitching prospect Adam Serwinowski was throw by the Cincinnati Reds to complete the three-team transaction.

And just under the wire, the Los Angeles shipped off underwhelming starting pitcher Dustin May to the Boston Red Sox in return for James Tibbs III (the player the Red Sox recently acquired from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for Rafael Devers) and outfielder Zach Ehrhard.

None of this is to say that Padres suddenly become the favorite in the National League West (they still sit three games behind the Dodgers), or that the Dodgers don’t remain the betting favorite to win the World Series (they currently sit at +240, ahead of the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Phillies at +850). It just says that the Dodgers’ brass played a very specific hand this year. They felt confident that Mookie Betts would start hitting; that Freddie Freeman would re-start hitting (which by all accounts it looks likes he has); that Will Smith would just keep hitting; that the pitching will stabilize from their raft of injuries; and that a few tweaks and tinkers would be enough once the October playoff tournament begins.

The team has won the NL West eleven out of the past twelve seasons. They have won two World Series crowns in the past four years. They boast the best player in baseball. And they have arguably the best front office in the game. Add to that a capable manager — capable of delighting and infuriating the fan base inside of just a few innings. All of the ingredients are there. But, if anything goes wrong, if the wins don’t line up, if they make a quick exit in the playoffs, you can be damn sure that fans and critics alike will point to the last week in July as the reason for all of it. Oh, and no matter what, it will also be Dave Roberts’ fault.