Major League Baseball

Several teams improved at the MLB trade deadline, but the Dodgers were clear winners

Published Jul. 30, 2021 8:29 p.m. ET

By Pedro Moura
FOX Sports MLB Writer

The story of baseball’s frenzied trade deadline proved to be sellers packaging their desirable veterans to maximize their return.

The Rangers did it particularly skillfully with Kyle Gibson and Ian Kennedy, managing to extract top pitching prospect Spencer Howard from the Phillies. The Cubs did it with Javier Báez and Trevor Williams, bargaining for high-ceiling outfield prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong from the Mets. The Nationals attempted it twice, sending Yan Gomes and Josh Harrison to Oakland, and Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to Los Angeles.

For more up-to-date news on all things MLB, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

Of course, it’s the last move that’s most intriguing. It’s not as if the Dodgers fleeced Washington; they surrendered their top two prospects, catcher Keibert Ruiz and right-hander Josiah Gray, and two others with lesser pedigrees. But compared to the hauls other sellers obtained this week, the Nationals’ is lacking. The Dodgers traded for the two best players dealt and didn’t decimate their future in the process.

Consider that the Blue Jays surrendered a similarly ranked prospect duo to acquire right-hander José Berríos — just José Berríos. In that deal, they sent shortstop Austin Martin and right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson to the Minnesota Twins. Gray and Ruiz are both older and surer things than Woods Richardson and Martin, but Martin, some scouts say, has a higher ceiling than Ruiz.

Berríos is under control for next season. Scherzer is not. But Scherzer is the clearly superior pitcher, and the Dodgers are also getting Turner, who has been, in terms of Wins Above Replacement, the second-best position player in baseball over the last two seasons – and they're getting him for another year after this one. Scherzer is such a big name and such a standout that Turner is getting lost in the shuffle. Since the 2020 season began, a 155-game span, he is hitting .327 with 30 homers and a .924 OPS. By both Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs’ measures, he has been worth 6.9 WAR.

For more up-to-date news on all things Dodgers, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

For comparison’s sake: When the Dodgers acquired Mookie Betts before the 2020 season, he was coming off a 2019 in which he hit .295 with 30 homers and a .915 OPS. By an average of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs’ measures, he was worth 7.0 WAR. That’s how good Turner has been lately: Betts-ian.

The Dodgers were smart to act when they did, a day ahead of the deadline. The Blue Jays-Twins trade changed the calculus for buying teams in the final hours. The Rockies never relented on their sky-high asking prices for shortstop Trevor Story and right-hander Jon Gray, who could’ve formed a sort of poor man’s Turner-Scherzer package. In dismantling their core, the Cubs secured both certainty in White Sox second baseman Nick Madrigal, and upside in the form of Crow-Armstrong and Giants outfield prospect Alexander Canario.

NL West rivals Giants and Padres both improved at the deadline, San Francisco getting Kris Bryant and Tony Watson, San Diego getting Adam Frazier, Daniel Hudson, and Jake Marisnick. Neither haul can compare to the Dodgers', though. In what remains a tight divisional race, Scherzer and Turner could easily force the Giants and Padres to meet in the Wild Card Game.

Scherzer and Turner are great fits within the Dodgers’ roster. Scherzer already maintains close relationships with his new rotation-mates Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler. Over the 2018-2019 offseason, Kershaw visited Cressey Sports Performance on Scherzer’s recommendation. The Dodgers' No. 2 executive, Josh Byrnes, knows both Scherzer and Buehler, and he long ago compared them to each other.

Humorously enough, Byrnes traded Scherzer away from Arizona a dozen years ago. He also drafted Turner seven years ago in San Diego. The Dodgers’ scouting director, Billy Gasparino, led the Padres’ department then.

The Dodgers know these players. As president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman pointed out Friday, Turner brings a skill the Dodgers lack: speed. By Statcast measurements, he is the sport’s fastest player. And he wields his speed smartly: He has successfully stolen 88% of the time this season, and 84% for his career, among the best marks in baseball.

The question is where Turner will slot into the Dodgers’ lineup once he recovers from COVID-19. He hasn’t played anywhere but shortstop in the last half-decade, but he did make his first MLB start at second base. He also played 45 games in center field in 2016. As Corey Seager returned from injury Friday in Arizona, it’s unlikely Turner will often play shortstop for the Dodgers — this year. He does supply an easy replacement if Seager departs as a free agent this winter.

Turner’s arrival sets up a situation in which the Dodgers will generally have to sit one of A.J. Pollock, Chris Taylor, or Cody Bellinger. Pollock and Taylor have been two of their best hitters this season. Bellinger has been injured and/or awful, but the former NL MVP retains a career .882 OPS.

These are the sort of problems the Dodgers like to have. After traversing the first four months of this season without their customary depth, they will soon boast a stacked roster once again, in time to try to unseat the Giants atop the West.

Pedro Moura is the national baseball writer for FOX Sports. He most recently covered the Dodgers for three seasons for The Athletic. Previously, he spent five years covering the Angels and Dodgers for the Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times. More previously, he covered his alma mater, USC, for ESPNLosAngeles.com. The son of Brazilian immigrants, he grew up in the Southern California suburbs. Follow him on Twitter @pedromoura.