Bradford Doolittle hands out grades as the Los Angeles Dodgers work to finalize a deal to acquire RHP Max Scherzer and SS Trea Turner from the Washington Nationals for RHP Josiah Gray, C Keibert Ruiz, OF Donovan Casey and RHP Gerardo Carrillo.
Dodgers: A+
We like to talk about trade-deadline moves in terms of splashes. How big was the splash? Well, the Dodgers' bold move to acquire longtime ace Max Scherzer, just a couple of months before he hits free agency, plus star shortstop Trea Turner is a big fat cannonball. And the entire landscape of the looming October tournament may have just been painted a lustrous Dodger blue.
Think of it like this: As great as Scherzer is, as dominant and consistent and durable -- and as extensive as his record is during postseason play -- all of that might be less important than the fact that it is the Dodgers who are getting Scherzer -- and not the San Diego Padres or San Francisco Giants.
For the Padres, given their multiple injuries to the rotation (Mike Clevinger, Dinelson Lamet), landing Scherzer would have put San Diego where they began the season -- as the prime challenger to the Dodgers in the National League.
The Giants, on the other hand, were playing with house money. They entered the season with low expectations, and their rise to the top of the NL West has been one of the surprise stories of 2021. Landing Scherzer would have elevated them from a feel-good-story team in transition to a bona fide threat to run the table in October.
But it was the Dodgers who brought on not only Scherzer, but one of baseball's top all-around players in Turner. When you think about the career of Dodgers baseball honcho Andrew Friedman, you have to believe that a big reason he made the move from Tampa Bay to Los Angeles all those years ago was for days like Thursday.
This is it. This is what it means to run the Los Angeles Dodgers. You do all the things the smart teams do. You scout college, prep and international players alike and invest in developing those players to maintain a deep minor league system. You keep a steady churn at the end of the 40-man roster to give manager Dave Roberts the best possible roster for every game. You deploy the most advanced analytics. And when the chance arises to snare an expensive, elite star, you lower the hammer because, well, you can. It's almost not fair.
The Dodgers' rotation for October now should look like Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw, Walker Buehler and Julio Urias. David Price, Tony Gonsolin and new acquisition Danny Duffy can all augment the deepened bullpen. It's an embarrassment of riches. And the lingering uncertainty about Trevor Bauer's future with the team can play out off camera, with the team need not be concerned about the baseball ramifications of that unsettling situation.
As for Turner, it's fair to wonder where he will play, though we know it will be somewhere, every day. Regular shortstop Corey Seager is expected to be back this weekend. Third baseman Justin Turner and first baseman Max Muncy are enjoying outstanding seasons.
So, too, is Chris Taylor, who made his first All-Star team this season and has logged more starts at second base than anyone else. But he's shown the ability to excel on both sides of the ball wherever he plays. Chances are, either Turner or Seager will slide over to the keystone.
That has a ripple effect for the outfield, where Mookie Betts is a fixture in right field, and AJ Pollock has had a big season as the regular left fielder. But Cody Bellinger is hitting .165 during an injury-riddled season as the most-used centerfielder. You'd expect that Taylor will revert to the super-utility role he's played so well, and when we get to October, if Bellinger hasn't hit his stride, that may be Taylor's everyday landing spot.
We haven't even mentioned the catcher position. Turner isn't a factor there, obviously, but what other team could afford to trade a 22-year-old budding star backstop such as Ruiz, who is hitting .311/.381/.631 at Triple-A? The Dodgers could, because in Will Smith, they have perhaps the best young catcher in the game, one who is just entering his prime.
Of course, even the Dodgers have to manage the payroll part of all this. The Dodgers are already projected to be well over the luxury tax threshold and adding Scherzer and Turner supercharges the payroll that much more. The team can afford it in an economic sense, but there are baseball ramifications that go with persistent overstepping of the tax line. We'll find out how much the Dodgers care about that through their decision-making after the season.
Scherzer will be a free agent in a few months, while Turner has one more season of arbitration eligibility remaining. When trade rumors started to heat up, Scherzer was reported to have stated a preference for a West Coast destination, where he hoped to play for a team with a chance to win (as the Dodgers do every year) and for whom he'd like to stick with even after hitting the open market.
The Dodgers check all of those boxes. And if Scherzer were to sign on for a few more years, playing for the Dodgers powerhouse could help him push his career win total to the 230-240 range, burnishing a Hall of Fame resume that already seems more than strong enough. But can the Dodgers afford to keep Scherzer and still navigate around the penalties that come with being a persistent tax payer?
Those are questions for another day. For now, what's important is that baseball's best team and defending champion just added more established, star-level talent at the deadline than any other club. The Dodgers entered the season as the favorite to win it all again. They are still that, stronger than ever.
Aggression for a team that already has the talent to win it all always deserves to be appreciated. So no matter how this deal shakes out in terms of long-term ramifications for the Dodgers, there is no way to assess this for Los Angeles other than to give the highest grade possible.
NATIONALS: B+
This die was cast a couple of weeks ago, when the Nationals were unable to follow up their best stretch of the season with continued success. The distance between Washington and any available playoff slot, even in the tepid NL East, became just too great when considering the overall trajectory of the team and the number of games left in the season.
Knowing that Scherzer was going to become a free agent, it would have been irresponsible to not leverage his immense talent into an opportunity to add much-needed talent and depth to a farm system that entered the season ranked as the consensus worst system in baseball.
Still, we know the Nationals aren't likely to embark on a full-on rebuild, especially when star Juan Soto's best years lie in the immediate future. So GM Mike Rizzo had to target players who will be ready to help the big league roster sooner than later.
In Ruiz and Gray, he did just that. ESPN's Kiley McDaniel rated Gray and Ruiz Nos. 1 and 2 in the Dodger system during the preseason, and both have seen big league action during the 2021 campaign. Both will likely start their Washington careers at the big league level, now that they aren't blocked by the star players that dominate the L.A. roster.
Let's not overlook the financial aspect of this for Washington. With Turner off the books, the Nats can turn to Carter Kieboom at shortstop and build a younger lineup around star Juan Soto, Victor Robles, Kieboom and Ruiz. Gray can become the No. 3 in a rotation that, if the Nats have better health luck next season, would be headed by Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin.
What's more, the Nats would have plenty of payroll to play with in next winter's free-agent market. As much talent as Washington traded away on Thursday, there does not have to be a rebuild as much as a retooling.
In the end, the Scherzer era in Washington will be remembered fondly. He was a phenomenon for the Nationals. He won awards. He had historic performances. And he was the best player on the first championship team in franchise history. When Scherzer goes to the Hall of Fame, his plaque will likely feature a Nationals cap. Turner grew up with the Nationals, becoming one of the most scintillating players around.
That chapter of Nationals baseball is now over, but it has been a glorious one.