Dodgers Rumors: LA made big push for Max Scherzer at trade deadline

Turns out, the Los Angeles Dodgers might've been on their last leg when they attempted to lure Eduardo Rodriguez over from the Detroit Tigers in what ended up being a wildly complicated trade situation.

LA's early interest in Justin Verlander was real, but the Dodgers had some of their own concerns, and per recent reports, the right-hander preferred Houston (but wasn't opposed to joining the NL West leaders).

But even before their interest in Verlander, Andrew Friedman was attempting to make a move for the New York Mets' other ace -- Max Scherzer -- who was eventually traded to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Luisangel Acuña (the brother of Ronald Acuña).

Many Dodgers fans probably wouldn't have preferred the addition of Scherzer because, well, he's having a pretty mediocre year for a pitcher of his caliber's standards. But on top of that, Scherzer claimed he couldn't pitch on short rest for the Dodgers in the 2021 NLCS because of dead arm, which eventually led to the Dodgers having Walker Buehler pitch on short rest.

Buehler needed to underdo Tommy John surgery the next season after battling through issues for most of his two months of pitching in 2022. Then, Scherzer called out the Dodgers in his introductory press conference with the Mets (after signing a $130 million contract), claiming he disagreed with how they used him.

Dodgers Rumors: LA made big push for Max Scherzer at trade deadline

But, just like how the Dodgers put the 2017 Astros cheating scandal behind them, they apparently didn't care about the stir Scherzer created on his way out, something fans still haven't forgiven him for.

The Dodgers, who did acquire veteran starter Lance Lynn (who did waive his no-trade), were in on not only Verlander and Eduardo Rodriguez but Scherzer, too. They made an offer of multiple prospects thought to be about the value of Acuna (but the Mets obviously preferred the one big-time prospect; can’t blame ’em).

In another twist, Heyman also noted the Dodgers and Tigers agreed to the Rodriguez trade on Monday as LA made various efforts to convince the left-hander to accept the deal.

We've been pretty harsh (in addition to many other fans) on the Dodgers for their underwhelming trade deadline that ended up netting just Kiké Hernandez, Amed Rosario, Joe Kelly and Lance Lynn, but it turns out Friedman and the front office were churning more than most of us realized behind the scenes.

Oh well, at the very least, the four players the Dodgers acquired are off to pretty awesome starts so far. Gotta focus on what's on the roster now that the deadline has passed. The "everything happens for a reason" mindset would come in handy right about now, too.