The Los Angeles Dodgers were linked to several big names at this year’s MLB trade deadline, but only came away with modest additions that primarily centered around Brock Stewart and Alex Call.
The trade for Stewart addressed the team’s biggest need, which was bolstering a bullpen that has been heavily relied on this season.
He figured to be a major part of the Dodgers’ relief corps going forward, but those plans hit a snag when Stewart was placed on the 15-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation after experiencing soreness last week.
Even with their biggest acquisition from last month now on the shelf, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said the team does not regret being less active at the trade deadline, via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic:
“We don’t live like that,” Friedman said when pressed if he had any regrets about the Dodgers’ ultimate deadline haul. “There’s deals that we thought made sense for us we pursued hard. It’s not like we had the potential to do a deal where we were like, ‘No’ and now we wish we would have. It’s always that balance. Lining up on a trade is hard. We feel good about the work we put in and the group that we have.”
The Dodgers seemingly passed on the opportunity to add more established relievers at the trade deadline as Mason Miller, Jhoan Duran and Griffin Jax were all moved to other teams.
Each of those pitchers came with a high price tag, whereas the Dodgers traded James Outman to acquire Stewart. That was likely due to the 33-year-old’s recent injury history, which has limited him to only 81 innings since the 2021 season.
The Dodgers are optimistic that Stewart will be able to return before the end of the regular season. They also anticipate getting back Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates and Michael Kopech, while Brusdar Graterol, Kyle Hurt and Roki Sasaki could factor into the equation as well.
Andrew Friedman: Dodgers could have ‘best’ pitching staff
The expected returns of the aforementioned names is part of the reason why Friedman believes the Dodgers could have the most talented pitching staff for the playoffs during his tenure.
That certainly will be of benefit, but the Dodgers also their need slumping lineup to get on track as well.
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