Detroit – It was a done deal, and then it wasn’t. And in the final hour before baseball’s trade deadline, Scott Harris got a brutal lesson in the art of deal-making.
The Tigers’ president of baseball operations, less than a year on the job, set out Tuesday to cash in a pair of valuable arms. He only got the job half done. Eduardo Rodriguez nixed a trade to the Dodgers shortly before the 6 p.m. deadline, invoking his 10-team, no-trade clause, and the Tigers lost a chance to grab some of L.A.’s highly regarded young talent.
Harris refused to call it a disappointment, and said he was pleased with his return for right-hander Michael Lorenzen, getting 20-year-old infield prospect Hao Yu Lee from the Phillies. Harris opted to paint a brighter picture, that an elite lefthander wanted to stay in Detroit rather join a pennant race in L.A. Of course, it’s not that simple.
Make no mistake, this was a disastrous turn in Harris’ first foray into baseball’s deadline marketplace. Some will blame Rodriguez, who apparently expressed enough interest in the deal that he waited until nearly the end to veto it. That was his contractual right. It also left the Tigers little time to scramble for another suitor.
That’s Harris’ fault, not having a viable contingency. He knew about the no-trade list and said he explored the full market, talking to teams not on the list. But he thought he had the best deal with the Dodgers and expected the two teams to work out the complications. Obviously, neither team would have invested so much negotiating time if they thought Rodriguez would kill it. It’s not known if Rodriguez changed his mind, or was seeking adjustments to his contract.
The contract was a daunting obstacle, a vestige from the previous regime. To lure Rodriguez, then-GM Al Avila gave him a five-year, $77-million deal that included the no-trade clause, as well an opt-out after the second year. That made Rodriguez a double-edged risk for suitors. A contender could have him the final two-plus months, but then he could leave and likely land a bigger payday in free-agency.
Just as concerning for teams was that Rodriguez could struggle, or get injured, and decide to opt-in, leaving his new team with a $49-million bill over three years. It was the type of bad deal that bad teams are forced to make sometimes. Avila wasn’t an overly effective negotiator, and in fact, the Tigers haven’t had a true dealmaker since Dave Dombrowski left.
Steep learning curve
Harris, 36, is supposed to be one of baseball’s new-age sharps, and he has every chance to become that. This isn’t a reputation-changer. It’s a reminder that rookie leaders are on a learning curve, and this was an especially tough spot with Rodriguez’s contract. (It’s also an indication that perhaps Harris needs to go out and finally hire a GM for the day-to-day work).
Ultimately, it was a miscalculation by Harris, who set high asking prices and didn’t end up dealing any other players, including his batch of relievers believed to be available. To be fair, Harris got the Dodgers and Phillies to meet his asking price, so perhaps that wasn’t the problem. By all accounts, the Rodriguez agreement was done, until it wasn’t.
“There were some contractual headwinds that influenced his market,” Harris said. “We were communicating with Eduardo in person, via text and on the phone. At the end of the day, we reached an agreement that he wasn’t comfortable with. He ultimately decided to stay in Detroit. It’s a consolation prize that we get one of the best left-handed starters in baseball on the mound every five nights. We’re excited to get Eduardo back, a very powerful mentor for some of our young starters.”
More: Tigers’ Eduardo Rodriguez nixes trade to Dodgers
If Harris was talking himself into feeling good about it, he has no choice. Does it give the Tigers a better chance of keeping Rodriguez beyond this year with a restructured contract? That would be an interesting turn, but who knows what Rodriguez is truly thinking. Harris expressed no ill feelings toward his star lefty, but there appears to be a fundamental conflict here.
Did Harris misread Rodriguez, or did Rodriguez mislead the Tigers and Dodgers? Harris declined to go into detail.
“We had a lot of conversations about different teams in the league, different situations,” he said. “Eduardo wasn’t comfortable with the deal presented to him. That’s his right. He shouldn’t be the villain in any of this. He exercised the right that he earned with his performance throughout his career and we respect that right.”
He can respect it and still be frustrated by it. Out in L.A., Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman seemed equally perplexed that it fell apart.
“We thought having a lot of his ex-teammates here, and our place in the standings, we thought we’d very desirable,” Friedman said. “But obviously for family reasons, we never got a chance to talk to Eduardo. We talked to his agent numerous times and we respect that he had this right and he exercised it.”
Rodriguez remains a riddle
Rodriguez remains a riddle. Who turns down the chance to jump from the bottom of the league to a World Series contender? According to reports, Rodriguez wanted to play somewhere East for family reasons. He missed two months last season and went on the restricted list, citing personal issues. The team stuck with him, and he’s crafting one of his best seasons, 6-5 with a 2.95 ERA.
It gets delicate when family situations are involved, and Harris wasn’t around last season. So he was flying a bit blind here. He said he’s had conversations with Rodriguez but wouldn’t say if they involved the contract.
“Listen, he sent a very strong message that he likes it here, and we want players to like it here and want to stay here,” Harris said. “And he demonstrated that.”
Technically, he did. More likely, he just didn’t want to move, and then possibly move again as a free-agent after the season. Perhaps Rodriguez wanted the Dodgers to adjust his contract to make it more financially conducive to a long-term stay.
Whatever the reasons, from a Tigers rebuild standpoint, it’s disappointing. Numerous starting pitchers – Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Lucas Giolito, Jordan Montgomery, Lance Lynn, and yes, Lorenzen − were dealt the past few days, but none had the dual obstacles of Rodriguez’s contract.
Harris was excited to land Hao Yu Lee, saying “he’s going to be one of our top prospects.” He was the Phillies’ fifth-ranked prospect and is the type of high-contact position player the Tigers crave.
But that was essentially it, far short of a deadline-day haul that could’ve boosted faith in the rebuild.
“We wanted to be active, but not in a position where we felt we had to move anybody,” Harris said. “We don’t ever want to be in a position where we have to move players for spare parts.”
Unfortunately, the Tigers are still in the spare-parts business. We don’t know if other trades were on the table, but Harris clearly wasn’t interested in dumping players for little return. Preferring “no deal” over “bad deal” is an admirable approach, but not a good look this time.
Twitter: @bobwojnowski