Detroit — More details have emerged about the nixed trade that would have sent Tigers’ lefty Eduardo Rodriguez to the Dodgers ahead of the trade deadline Tuesday.
There is added context but the narrative remains largely unchanged. The teams agreed to a deal Monday night and presented it to Rodriguez and his agent Gene Matos, hoping he would waive his no-trade clause and accept the trade to the Dodgers.
The Tigers would have gotten back a package of prospects, presumably the same package the Dodgers offered the Mets when they were pursuing Justin Verlander.
The Dodgers, after losing out on Verlander and in serious need of starting pitching for their stretch drive, would have gotten the best starter left on the market.
To waive his no-trade clause, Rodriguez asked for “financial and contractual enhancements,” as was reported by The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal on Thursday.
Rosenthal, citing industry sources, said Rodriguez wanted an additional year on the contract at $20 million to waive his opt-out provision. That doesn’t seem unreasonable.
The Dodgers presumably were willing to take on the 40-year-old Verlander who, even if the Mets paid his salary for the rest of this year, would be on the hook for $43 million next year plus a vesting option in 2025.
They would have had Rodriguez, 30, for four years at $69 million.
The Dodgers didn’t go for it. Rodriguez nixed the deal.
Matos released this statement Wednesday night.
“I negotiated a no-trade clause in his contract for a reason. With all of the money, glamour and fame that comes with being a professional athlete there is also a very difficult, personal side. Many players’ wives and their children suffer a lot of instability in their lives, especially when their spouses get traded. I do not take that lightly.
“Eduardo is one of the best left-handed starting pitchers in baseball but he is also a human being who wants stability for his family. They are comfortable living in the Detroit area and have adjusted well.
“As for the Dodgers in particular, once I was granted permission to speak with them regarding the trade, we did our best to come up with a way to make it happen where everyone was comfortable with the outcome. Unfortunately, we just ran out of time.”
Play the blame game if it soothes you. Vilify whoever you need to vilify. Just try to keep some perspective about it.
▶ Like: The market for Rodriguez, even though he was the best starting pitcher available, was small.
The opt-out is a deterrent to any deal. Tigers’ president Scott Harris was the general manager with the Giants last season when they couldn’t move Carlos Rodon at the deadline because of a $22 million contract for this year. There will be three years and $49 million left on Rodriguez’s deal.
The opt-out plus a no-trade, that’s a poison pill.
It wasn’t like the 19 teams that weren’t on Rodriguez’s no-trade list were lining up with their best offers. They were not. The other serious bidder for Rodriguez was Baltimore. When they pivoted to Jack Flaherty, the Dodgers were the last serious bidder standing.
▶ Like: It is very rare for any player to gain the control over his career that Rodriguez has. He has every right to use it for himself and his family. It doesn’t mean he hates Los Angeles or the Dodgers. It doesn’t mean he didn’t want to pitch in the postseason this season. It doesn’t mean he deceived anyone or held anybody hostage.
He exercised his hard-earned rights.
▶ Like: Harris wasn’t the one who structured Rodriguez’s contract. The Tigers were deep in the mire of a long rebuild in 2021. Just like they had to do with Pudge Rodriguez at a similar rebuild juncture in 2004, they had to over-sweeten the pot to attract a quality free agent.
▶ Like: The notion that Harris, in the end, should have taken whatever he could get for Rodriguez, even if it was just essentially saving the $4 million or so left on his contract for his year, is debatable.
Sometimes no deal is better than a bad deal. Especially when there is a real chance the Tigers could keep Rodriguez for multiple years.
Almost certainly Rodriguez will exercise his opt-out this winter. But if he was willing to restructure adding a fourth year at $20 million with the Dodgers, might he do the same with the Tigers?
At least that option is open now.
▶ Like: The notion that Harris didn’t have a Plan B is fuzzy, too. The Tigers were in a holding pattern because of Verlander. Certainly Harris was talking to other teams during that time about Rodriguez — Baltimore, Cincinnati, Tampa Bay, Arizona, probably others.
But the offers weren’t close to the package the Dodgers had on the table.
When Verlander went to Houston and the Orioles pivoted, all chips were in with the Tigers and Dodgers. That was late Monday night. At that point, whatever was Plan B was irrelevant.
Rosenthal reported that Harris and the Dodgers did try to get a third team involved and work a three-way deal that eventually would have landed Rodriguez with one of the teams not on his no-trade list, another starting pitcher in Los Angeles and the Dodgers’ prospects in Detroit.
Rosenthal said the Twins (Sonny Gray, Kenta Maeda) were one of the teams contacted. Tampa Bay was another. Those talks, he said, didn’t have time to gain traction.
The decision then became keep Rodriguez or essentially give him away. They chose the former.
And here we are, for better or for worse.
On deck: Tampa Bay Rays
▶ Series: Three games at Comerica Park, Detroit
▶ First pitch: Friday — 6:40 p.m.; Saturday — 1:10 p.m.; Sunday — 1:40 p.m.
▶ TV/radio: Friday — Apple TV, 97.1; Saturday-Sunday — Bally Sports Detroit/97.1 FM,1270 AM
▶ Probables: Friday — RHP Zack Littell (1-2, 4.85) vs. RHP Reese Olson (1-4, 4.71); Saturday — RHP Aaron Civale (5-2, 2.34) vs. LHP Tarik Skubal (1-1, 4.57); Sunday — RHP Tyler Glasnow (5-3, 3.15) vs. TBA.
▶ Littell, Rays: He’s been used primarily out of the bullpen or as an opener, but he was stretched out to 82 pitches and five innings in his last outing at Houston. He has a four-seam (94 mph), slider, splitter mix and has generally been hit hard (51% hard-hit rate). Opponents are hitting .370 and slugging .543 off his fastball.
▶ Olson, Tigers: He’s shown a lot of moxie over his last few starts. He didn’t have one of his best weapons in his last one, the slider, and still grinded through six innings and kept the Tigers in the game in Miami. The home run ball has stung him in his last two, still, overall his hard-hit rate is low (37%).
chris.mccosky@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @cmccosky