SAN FRANCISCO -- After Thursday’s game against the Giants, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, with a grin, that he knew president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and his staff were “grinding” to find trades that would improve their current roster.
That, somehow, is turning out to be an understatement.
The Dodgers were on the verge of shocking the baseball world on Thursday, nearing a deal that would land right-hander Max Scherzer and shortstop Trea Turner in Los Angeles in exchange for top pitching prospect Josiah Gray, top catching prospect Keibert Ruiz, right-hander Gerardo Carrillo and outfielder Donovan Casey, according to sources.
The deal is not official and has not been confirmed by the teams.
If it is completed, it would be the first time in MLB history that three teammates who made the All-Star team were traded away midseason of that same year, according to STATS.
TRADE DETAILS
Dodgers would get: RHP Max Scherzer, SS Trea Turner
Nationals would get: C Keibert Ruiz (Dodgers' No. 1 prospect per MLB Pipeline); RHP Josiah Gray (No. 2); RHP Gerardo Carrillo (No. 17); OF Donovan Casey (unranked)
As long as the deal becomes official, Scherzer, who is 8-4 with a 2.76 ERA this season, will give the Dodgers the starter they’ve coveted. He also becomes the third former Cy Young Award winner on a staff that features Walker Buehler, Julio Urías and Clayton Kershaw, who is expected to be activated from the injured list in early August.
The Dodgers also have David Price, Tony Gonsolin and left-hander Danny Duffy, whom they acquired from the Royals earlier on Thursday. Once all are healthy, one of those three will have to move to the bullpen, giving the Dodgers even more depth than they had when they entered Spring Training with eight starting options.
There were some questions surrounding Scherzer’s health, but he put those to rest on Thursday, allowing one run over six innings against the Phillies. Scherzer also has plenty of postseason experience, going 7-5 with a 3.38 ERA in 22 appearances (18 starts). Most notably, he battled through neck spasms and allowed just two runs over five innings in the Game 7 win over the Astros in the 2019 World Series.
Not only did the Dodgers improve by adding Scherzer, they were also able to keep him from joining the Giants and Padres. Both NL West rivals expressed heavy interest, and the Padres came close to acquiring him earlier on Thursday. Scherzer had a no-trade clause via 10-and-5 rights, meaning he would have had to approve a deal to the Padres. A source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand that Scherzer agreed to waive his no-trade clause to join the Dodgers.
Scherzer is in the final season of a seven-year, $210 million deal with Washington. The entirety of his $35 million salary this year is deferred, interest free, as it was in each of the past two seasons. That said, Scherzer’s salary does count towards the Competitive Balance Tax, a threshold the Dodgers largely exceeded even before adding the right-hander.
While Scherzer was an obvious target considering the holes in their rotation, adding Turner was an unexpected move. But the Dodgers saw it as an opportunity to add yet another star player to the core group.
Turner has been one of the most valuable players in baseball this season with a 4.1 bWAR. He’s also one of the best-hitting shortstops in the Majors, batting .322 with 18 homers and 49 RBIs this season. To go along with that, Turner is one of baseball’s fastest players and has 192 career stolen bases. He, along with Mookie Betts, gives the Dodgers plenty of threats on the bases.
The big question with Turner is where he will play defensively. Shortstop Corey Seager is expected back from injury this weekend against the D-backs, and he will handle most of the responsibilities at the position. Turner does, however, have the ability to play second base and center field, which is where the Dodgers envision him once he’s eligible to come off the COVID-19 IL.
Regardless of where Turner plays, the Dodgers will have to find playing time for players such as Chris Taylor and Cody Bellinger as well. That’s a good problem to have.
Unlike Scherzer, who is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, the Dodgers have Turner, who has one year of arbitration remaining, under contract through the 2022 season. The extra year of control is part of the reason why the Dodgers had to part with the four prospects, especially Gray and Ruiz. Turner is making $13 million this season.
The Dodgers have long said that their focus is to repeat as World Series champions. They took another step in that direction on Thursday.
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