Dodgers President Reflects on Trade Deadline Decisions as Padres Steal Top Spot

While the San Diego Padres are riding high on a one-game lead in the National League West, the Los Angeles Dodgers are trying to recover from an embarrassing series sweep in Anaheim. The Padres have landed in LA for what’s anticipated to be yet another memorable notch in a rivalry that’s blossomed into the league’s best. However, the defending champs are not in their top form as of late. Largely because they didn’t make the most of their trade deadline.

They were offered a chance to strengthen their already struggling bullpen. Now, their sole proven addition, Brock Stewart, has already landed on the injured list with shoulder inflammation. He has made only four appearances since being acquired, and after his injury, the Dodgers have a total of 12 pitchers sidelined.

Out of those twelve, seven are expected to return sometime around this season. Recently, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman was asked if he regrets the Dodgers’ deadline haul.

“We don’t live like that,” he said. He continued, “There are 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 had. It’s always that balance. Lining up on a trade is hard.” Friedman also emphasized that the front office feels good about the work they have put in, and that they have a great club.

The blue crew had the idea that their relief pitching was a major weakness. The reliever market at the deadline this season appeared to be at an all-time high.

All the top elite prospects were dealt for high-leverage pitchers. Friedman is playing the optimistic card for now. Yet, it’s certainly concerning that their bullpen has thrown the most innings across the league this season — 509, a margin of 25 more than the next team.

They currently rank 21st with a 4.23 ERA as of August 12th. Sometime ago, the word was spread that the Dodgers could put together a pitching staff stronger than the one that threw 24 straight scoreless innings during last season’s World Series. However, their recent struggles make it a bit hard to believe so.

The Dodgers are struggling massively despite their star power.

It’s the most hailed and hyped club, which is now hounding for the division title. Their lineup, meanwhile, is well known to be the most expensive one in MLB history. The higher the contract, the higher the expectations — yet, the Dodgers haven’t lived up to the expectations. Injuries and inconsistency have left their biggest stars not looking their best.

Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández were the crucial pieces in last year’s championship. This year, they have been hitting notably below their standards. Betts has only 12 home runs to his name this season, whereas Hernández has held a .675 OPS since the beginning of June. On the other hand, Freddie Freeman has also cooled off given his injuries.

The ones who have been performing at or above the initial expectations are, of course, Shohei Ohtani, Andy Pages and Will Smith. Manager Dave Roberts and the team were very cautious with Ohtani’s debut in particular, but Ohtani notably hit a 40 homer mark this season, and threw 4⅓ innings in Anaheim recently — his longest outing of this season.  Additionally, with Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell’s return, the Dodgers are seeing some improvement.

However, it’s been challenging for the club to see their off-season signings. Only one in the Dodgers’ roster has thrown over 100 innings, and that’s Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Blake Treinen, Kirby Yates, and Tanner Scott keep underperforming, as well. Treinen, for example, has been on the injured list for a low-grade forearm sprain since April and has accumulated only 12.2 innings across 14 appearances. Scott, on the other hand, leads the league in blown 2025 saves; indicating underperformance in situations that are high-leverage. So no, not the greatest.

But it must be said that the Dodgers do have a “trust the process” mindset in place, which is what they seem to be utilizing as we near the home stretch. We’ll just have to wait, watch and hope. What do you think?