Dodgers Quick Hits: How Close Was Bryce Harper to Being a Dodger?

News came out yesterday that the Dodgers claimed Bryce Harper off revocable waivers but no deal was reached.

There was a brief moment of about fifteen minutes yesterday when Dodger fans thought Bryce Harper could become a Dodger this season.  Around noon news broke that the Dodgers were the mystery team that claimed Bryce Harper on waivers and it seemed a deal could be in the works as the Nationals started their sell-off by trading Daniel Murphy to the Cubs.

About a half hour, after the news broke, it was announced that the period to work out a trade had already come and gone. With waiver trades, clubs have two days to work out a deal and if no deal is reached then the player is pulled off of waivers.  Since Harper was pulled back it means that he could no longer be traded this season.

Whether the Dodgers had any intent to actually complete a deal remains in question because they could have just claimed Harper to block another NL contender from possibly acquiring him.  The deal was not close at any point so the Dodgers will have to wait until free agency to take another swing at landing Harper.

Other news…

More from LA Dodgers News

• Dodgers’ 2023 lineup without Trea Turner isn’t as impressive as it should be
• Recapping who Dodgers gained and lost in Rule 5 Draft
• Dodgers ironically sign former all-star to potentially replace Cody Bellinger
• Padres-Xander Bogaerts contract feels like Manny Machado desperation
• Aaron Judge leaving Giants directionless is another massive win for Dodgers

• Julio Urias made another rehab start last night for the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.  Urias pitched 2 1/3 innings allowing one hit that was a solo home run and struck out five.  It remains to be seen what the next step is for Urias but a return to the big leagues is in the near future.
• Josh Fields and Yimi Garcia also continued their rehab stints last night with the OKC Dodgers.  Both Fields and Garcia threw scoreless innings allowing one hit and no walks.  Fields return will help bolster the Dodger bullpen.
• The Dodgers fell to 3.5 games back in the NL West last night and with five weeks left in the season there is still plenty of time but the Dodger offense will need to get going very soon.  The offense once again failed to score multiple times when they had at least one runner on third and less than two outs.

• The Dodgers placed JT Chargois on the disabled list yesterday with a nerve irritation in his neck.  The news is better than expected as it originally looked like Chargois left the game with some kind of arm issue.  Pat Venditte was recalled for the eighth time this season.