L ATIMES.COM/SPORTS THURSDAY, AUGUST 1, 2019D5
onship.”
The Dodgers were inter-
ested in high-end relievers
that might have been avail-
able. The list included Ed-
win Diaz of the New York
Mets, Will Smith of the San
Francisco Giants, Brad
Hand of the Cleveland Indi-
ans and Kirby Yates of the
San Diego Padres. Their top
target, however, was Pitts-
burgh Pirates closer Felipe
Vazquez. The 28-year-old
Vazquez, an All-Star this
year and in 2018, has an 1.87
earned-run average and 21
saves in 40 appearances this
season.
The price for the electric
left-hander started with
Gavin Lux, their top-ranked
prospect, and the Dodgers
refused to include him in any
trade. The shortstop was
batting .465 with eight home
runs and a 1.443 on-base-
plus-slugging percentage in
24 games since getting pro-
moted to triple-A Oklahoma
City. The Dodgers envision
Lux in their lineup for many
years, beginning next sea-
son.
The package might also
have had to include top
pitching prospect Dustin
May and catcher Keibert
Ruiz. Though Ruiz is at least
a year away from reaching
the major leagues, the 21-
year-old May is expected to
contribute this season. The
right-hander is slated to
start Friday against the San
Diego Padres in his major
league debut, according to
people with knowledge of
the situation, and could
pitch out of the bullpen in
the postseason.
Tony Gonsolin, the or-
ganization’s second-ranked
pitching prospect, also will
get a chance to pitch out of
the bullpen in October. Gon-
solin gave up one run in a
four-inning save against the
Rockies on Tuesday.
“I think throughout the
last three or four days, the
confidence on lining up on
something was kind of a
roller-coaster ride,” Fried-
man said. “But, ultimately,
the small list of guys we
really targeted and spent a
lot of time and energy on
were guys that ultimately
didn’t move.”
Los Angeles settled for
Kolarek and Gyorko. Ko-
larek, 30, was acquired for
minor league outfielder Niko
Hulsizer and will join the
team Thursday. He fills a
need for a reliever with suc-
cess against left-handed
batters. In parts of three sea-
sons with the Rays, Kolarek
is 6-3 with a 4.19 ERA and 59
strikeouts, while limiting
left-handed batters to a .209
batting average. This sea-
son, he’s held left-handers to
a .238 average and a .531 OPS
in 80 at-bats.
The 30-year-old Gyorko
was acquired with interna-tional cap space for left-
hander Tony Cingrani and
minor league right-hander
Jeffry Abreu. The Dodgers
see him as depth and insur-
ance on injuries to David
Freese, Chris Taylor and En-
rique Hernandez.
Gyorko, however, is hurt
himself. He was put on the
10-day injured list June 8
with a back injury but has
since suffered calf and wrist
injuries. The Cardinals
placed him on the 60-day in-
jured list Tuesday. Fried-
man said his return date is
unknown but he is nearing arehab assignment.
As the disappointment of
failing to bolster the bullpen
sunk in, a reminder of the
club’s potential unloaded in
Colorado as a low-scoring af-
fair suddenly gave way to a
ninth-inning barrage with
home runs by rookie Will
Smith and journeyman
Kristopher Negron. The
duo, not on the roster a week
ago, powered the Dodgers’
league-leading 71st win of
the season.
Coors Field in 2019 is not
where low-scoring affairs are
born. Especially on hotafternoons when the tem-
perature at first pitch is in
the mid-80s. Especially
when the two teams operate
the highest-scoring offenses
in the National League and a
livelier ball is bouncing
around the diamond. The
thin air breeds slugfests and
long days and nightmares
for pitchers in any weather.
But one of those, against the
odds, surfaced for eight in-
nings. Hyun-Jin Ryu and
German Marquez ex-
changed zeroes for six in-
nings until passing the
pitchers’ duel to theirbullpens.
Smith supplied the first
blow, a three-run home run
off Rockies closer Wade
Davis to break the scoreless
tie five weeks after he
smacked a walk-off three-
run home run against the
Rockies at Dodger Stadium.
“The Fresh Prince deliv-
ered again,” manager Dave
Roberts said.
Alex Verdugo followed
with his fourth hit of the day
before Negron clubbed a
two-run home run. Negron
joined the Dodgers on Mon-
day with seven home runs in
140 career games. He has two
in two starts as a Dodger.
Davis was pulled and
booed after Negron’s blast.
Two years ago, Davis was an
All-Star closer. This season,
he owns a 6.82 ERA. It is an
example of relievers’ vola-
tility distilled to its purest
form. That is a reason why
the Dodgers were not willing
to part with Lux. They
deemed the premium too
high and will move on, look-
ing to improve their roster
from within.
“We made plenty of offers
that were definitely under-
water from a value stand-
point but felt good about
making because of the team
that we have,” Friedman
said. “But things have a
funny way of playing out. A
year or two from now, that
could end up being a really
good thing. We’re not sure.”Smith comes through, Dodgers’ deals not so much
[Dodgers,from D1]
THE DODGERS’ Will Smith follows the flight of his three-run home run off
Colorado reliever Wade Davis in the ninth that broke open a scoreless game.David ZalubowskiAssociated Press“I would love to see Yasiel
Puig in October,” Dodgers
manager Dave Roberts said
with a grin before Wednes-
day’s 5-1 win at Colorado.
“That would be great. If that
were to happen, I’m sure
Dodgers fans would wel-
come him with open arms.”
For that to happen, the
Indians will have to find a
way past the Houston
Astros, who may have posi-
tioned themselves as World
Series favorites with their
stunning acquisition of
Arizona Diamondbacks ace
Zack Greinke in a deal that
did not come to light until
about 15 minutes after
Wednesday’s 1 p.m. PDT
trade deadline.
Until the Greinke story
broke, deadline day was a
dud. Most of the big names
floated in trade rumors —
San Francisco Giants ace
Madison Bumgarner and
closer Will Smith, New York
Mets starters Noah Synder-
gaard and Zack Wheeler,
and Pittsburgh Pirates
closer Felipe Vazquez, the
prime target of the Dodgers
—stayed put.
Two of the best available
starting pitchers, Marcus
Stroman and Trevor Bauer,
were traded to fourth-place
clubs that have little chance
of reaching the playoffs,
Stroman going from To-
ronto to the Mets and Bauer
going from Cleveland to the
Cincinnati Reds in the deal
that brought Puig to the
Indians.
The National League
East-leading Atlanta
Braves renovated their
bullpen by acquiring right-
handers Shane Greene from
Detroit, Chris Martin from
Texas and Mark Melancon
from San Francisco, Oak-
land made some incremen-
tal upgrades with starter
Tanner Roark and reliever
Jake Diekman, and Wash-
ington added much-needed
bullpen help with Daniel
Hudson, Roenis Elias and
Hunter Strickland.
Most of the trades quali-
fied as minor, the kind of
deals for depth that were
reserved for August until
baseball cut back this sea-
son to one trade deadline.
The Dodgers, who have the
best record in the majors
but are in desperate need of
relief help, acquired little-
known left-hander Adam
Kolarek from Tampa Bay
and utility infielder Jedd
Gyorko from the St. Louis
Cardinals. The New York
Yankees, who lead the
American League East but
need one or two starters,
and the defending-champi-
on Boston Red Sox, who
could use an impact arm,
were essentially shut out.
Then along came
Greinke.
Astros general manager
Jeff Luhnow told reporters
that he first contacted the
Diamondbacks on Monday
and that the buzzer-beater
of a deal was completed in
the final two minutes before
Wednesday’s deadline.
The Astros agreed to
send three of their top five
prospects — first baseman
Seth Beer and right-handers J.B. Bukauskas
and Corbin Martin — and
infielder Josh Rojas to Ari-
zona. The Diamondbacks
are reportedly sending $24
million to the Astros to help
offset the remaining $70
million on Greinke’s six-
year, $206.5-million con-
tract, which runs through
2021.
The Astros, who won the
2017 World Series after ac-
quiring Justin Verlander
that August, have a 69-40
record and an eight-game
lead over Oakland in the AL
West.
And now they have the
most formidable playoff
rotation with Verlander
(14-4, 2.73 ERA, 196 strike-
outs, 31 walks in 151^2 ⁄ 3 in-
nings), Gerrit Cole (12-5,
2.94 ERA, 212 strikeouts, 37
walks in 143^2 ⁄ 3 innings) and
Greinke (10-4, 2.90 ERA, 135
strikeouts, 21 walks in 146
innings).
Left-hander Wade Miley
is 9-4 with a 3.06 ERA and
Houston added a solid No. 5
starter in Aaron Sanchez in
a trade with Toronto.
The acquisition of
Greinke also gives the
Astros rotation insurance if
Cole departs as a free agent
after this season.
“Incredible day for the
organization and our team,”
Houston manager A.J.
Hinch said. “The energy in
our room after a thing like
that happens is palpable.”
The buzz in rooms hous-
ing the Dodgers, Yankees,
Red Sox, Cardinals, Minne-
sota Twins, Chicago Cubs
and Milwaukee Brewers wasnonexistent. If there was
one consolation for the
Dodgers in their trade-
deadline whiff, it’s that the
Braves were the only other
NL contender to make
significant upgrades.
And although the Indi-
ans, who have only 54 home
runs from right-handed
hitters, added much-needed
pop in Puig and Reyes, who
have combined for 49 home
runs, they’re relying heavily
on the return of sidelined
starters Corey Kluber and
Carlos Carrasco to remain
in contention.
The combination of 17
teams either in playoff posi-
tion or within five games of a
wild-card spot and the
reluctance of potential
sellers to part with top
prospects suppressed the
market.
“I think the market this
year didn’t quite have the
supply that I think a lot of us
inside the industry and a lot
of people who cover the
industry felt it was going to
have,” Angels general man-
ager Billy Eppler said. “I
think some of that supply
dried up a little bit.”
Not for the Astros, who
tapped into what seemed
like a barren starting pitch-
ing market and came away
with their second Cy Young
Award winner in three
years.
“I think he’s a Hall of
Famer,” Cole said of
Greinke, 35. “Just a true
craftsman. His preparation
is off the charts. Durability.
Competitiveness. What a
pickup.”Astros steal the trade deadline
thunder by acquiring Greinke
[DiGiovanna,from D1]
They could have signifi-
cantly upgraded their wildly
inconsistent bullpen, but
didn’t. They could have
fixed their biggest need and
the one thing that has con-
sistently haunted them in
recent Octobers, but
wouldn’t.
They could have traded
for Pittsburgh’s superb
closer Felipe Vazquez, but
were unwilling to pay a price
that included triple-A
prospect Gavin Lux. They
could have bet the future for
the sake of increasing the
current chances of a first
title since 1988, but refused
to go all in.
Andrew Friedman, the
front-office mastermind
who has directed this team
to greatness by always going
for it, wouldn’t go for it.
The Dodgers, a franchise
that has spared no expense
in building baseball’s best
team, found something that
cost too much.
By risking nothing, they
risked everything, the sev-
enth inning of a division
series, the eighth inning of a
championship series, the
final nine outs of a World
Series.
They played it safe. The
guess here is that they
played it wrong. For the
next three months it will all
play out, Friedman and the
bullpen and their champi-
onship hopes working on a
tightrope constructed
strangely not by aggression
but apprehension.
“We feel we’ve got a team
and depth in place to win a
championship,” Friedman
said in a conference call, but
you know he gulped hard
when he said it.
He knows they desper-
ately needed bullpen help.
He knows relievers were
directly involved in five
World Series losses over the
last two years. He knows the
difference that one impact
player can make.
This is the man who had
owned the trade deadline by
bringing in those kinds of
players. In the last three
years, with the clock ticking,
Friedman traded two hand-
fuls of mostly forgettable
prospects for the likes of
Rich Hill, Josh Reddick, Yu
Darvish and Manny
Machado.
Friedman gets it. But he
didn’t get Vazquez, the only
true impact closer available,
because he couldn’t bring
himself to trade Lux, a
middle infielder batting .465
at triple-A Oklahoma City
who is projected as next
year’s starting second base-
man.
It appears Friedman
couldn’t stomach trading a
prospect so valuable who
was so close to the major
leagues at such a position of
need. In the end, he didn’t
think another potential
Cody Bellinger or Corey
Seager was worth giving up
for one reliever, even a prov-
en one such as Vazquez,
with his 1.87 ERA and 68
strikeouts and 11 walks in
431 ⁄ 3 innings.
Friedman knows this is
not the NBA, where oneplayer can change every-
thing, and he apparently
decided it wasn’t worth it to
bet so much on one bullpen
arm. Fair enough.
But it was a legacy-
defining gamble. It will be
tough to face Dodgers fans
in October if their team falls
short again for the sake of
some 21-year-old who isn’t
even in uniform. Lux could
be the greatest young player
ever, but Friedman could be
asking fans to endure an
increase in the 31-year
drought for the sake of
someone who has not spent
one moment as a Dodger.
If the Dodgers win the
World Series with a make-
shift bullpen, this decision
will be canonized. But if the
bullpen blows it again, it’s
coming back on Friedman,
and he knows it.
The phrase “trade dead-
line” could lead every Dod-
gers tribute ... or every Dod-
gers obit.
“I feel confident we will
get to a point where a ‘’pen is
an additive to our pursuit of
winning a championship,”
Friedman said.
And just how is that
going to happen? Well,
expect two minor leaguers,
top prospect Dustin May
and Tony Gonsolin, to get a
shot there. Expect Fried-
man’s only bullpen trade
deadline acquisition, left-
hander Adam Kolarek from
Tampa Bay, to fit in some-
where. And of course, also
receiving bullpen work will
be Julio Urias, Kenta Maeda
and Ross Stripling. Throw
in Pedro Baez, Joe Kelly and
Kenley Jansen and cross
your fingers.
“As we spend time kind
of laying out what the pro-
spective bullpen looks like
in October, we feel good
about the talent we have
in-house. Now it’s all about
synching it up and putting
together the unit in a way
that is a real asset for
us,” Friedman said. “Now
we’ve got to figure out the
right combination of guys
and we’ve got two months
and lot of really talented
arms.”
Are you buying it? It feels
a little desperate. Are the
Dodgers veterans buying it?
They have been openly
overjoyed in past Julys when
Friedman handed them
those great additions. One
can only wonder how they
will feel now when Friedman
shows up with only Kolarek
and injured utility man Jedd
Gyorko as deadline addi-
tions.
You know what Wednes-
day also felt like? It felt like
Nov. 1, 2017, Game 7, George
Springer’s gut punch of a
home run.
In the final moments
before the trade deadline,
with the baseball world
waiting for Friedman’s
trademark last-second
magic, the Houston Astros
barged in by acquiring
pitcher Zack Greinke from
Arizona for four kids, in-
cluding three of their top
five prospects.
The deadline passed,
and, once again, the Dod-
gers had lost.Playing it safe might leave them out again
[Plaschke, from D1]THE DODGERSacquired 30-year-old left-handed
reliever Adam Kolarek from Tampa Bay.
Steve NesiusAssociated Press
UTILITY MAN Jedd Gyorko was also acquired by
the Dodgers, but he hasn’t played since early June.Jeff RobersonAssociated Press