Dodgers Look Like Geniuses A Few Months After Quiet Trade Deadline

When Dodgers stayed put as the MLB trade deadline came and went this season, fans and reporters alike had their concerns.

With a glaring need for a reliable closer, the Dodgers mainly stayed put, only adding right-hander Brock Stewart. With questions in left field, the Dodgers kept their chips and folded from any major trade conversations, only adding Alex Call.

Regardless, the Dodgers are knocking on the door of their second consecutive World Series title after sweeping the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Championship Series.

Because of president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman's patience at the trade deadline, the Dodgers are doing this with the players that suited up for spring training nearly eight months ago instead of going all-in and making desperate moves at the deadline.

“The thing I can’t do is make moves based on what people think we should do,” Friedman said after the NLCS. “We’re going to make mistakes. We’re going to be aggressive taking shots.

“Our goal is to be essentially the casino: be right more than we’re wrong, and have it yield a really good product that has a chance to win the World Series.”

With pitching in specific, Friedman was confident in the pitchers already on the roster. While fans clamored about the Dodgers not making any plays for a big time closer, the Dodgers were revitalizing the throwing motion of Roki Sasaki, who has become a key reliever for the Dodgers this postseason — although Friedman admitted that he did not know Sasaki would be the Dodgers' go-to guy come playoff time.

“Our thing on not acquiring some pitching was, we thought we were going to be leaving talented pitchers off our playoff roster as is,” Friedman said. “It wasn’t as front of mind as it was for others.”

Especially with pitching, Friedman noted the volatility that players can show after being acquired by a new team. Just because a player has a dominant first half of the season doesn't guarantee that same success for the remainder of the year.

“Those trades in July for relievers? That’s why we tried to do what we did in the offseason: be aggressive,” Friedman said.

“Not only are the prices out of whack, the same reliever volatility that we were suffering from in that moment can still happen after you make a trade.”

With a roster primarily constructed of players acquired over the offseason, the Dodgers are proving why staying put during the trade deadline wasn't such a bad idea afterall.

Latest Dodgers News