Grading every Dodgers trade from the 2024 deadline

The 2024 MLB trade deadline is done and dusted, and now the Dodgers can walk away and really get to improving ahead of the postseason. In true trade deadline fashion, there were a couple of surprises, a couple of disappointments, and a couple of down-to-the-wire transactions made right before the buzzer.

The Dodgers added five players to supplement pretty much every part of the roster, so how do their moves stack up?

Grading every Dodgers trade from the 2024 deadline

Dodgers trade for Cardinals UTIL Tommy Edman, White Sox RHP Michael Kopech: A-

The Dodgers made their first splash of the trade deadline period with a joint effort between them, the Cardinals, and White Sox. In the process, they got two players they've long been "in" on, per reports. LA went as far as to scout Tommy Edman during his minor league rehab assignment from a wrist sprain, and were reportedly in talks with the White Sox for Garrett Crochet, Luis Robert Jr., and Michael Kopech.

Although Crochet and Robert stayed put by 3 p.m. PST, the Dodgers got 1/3 of that aforementioned blockbuster and managed to rope in Edman (and reliever Oliver Gonzalez), while the Cardinals got Erick Fedde and Tommy Pham, and the White Sox got Miguel Vargas and shortstop prospects Jeral Perez and Alexander Albertus.

This was a great trade, and three-way deals are always a little more impressive because of the level of cooperation they require. However, the Dodgers get an A- here because Edman is still only in Double-A during his rehab and will probably need to move up to OKC before the Dodgers bring him back to the majors for the first time this season. Meanwhile, Kopech still has a 4.74 ERA on the season to contend with outside of his immaculate inning on July 10.

Still, they were able to pull this off by losing only a single major leaguer and two prospects who now rank Nos. 14 and 15 in the White Sox pipeline. It'll just be a matter of seeing Edman through his rehab and getting more of that immaculate inning-level pitching out of Kopech.

Dodgers trade for Rays UTIL Amed Rosario (again): B

Do the Dodgers have some sort of handshake agreement with Amed Rosario that says they have to trade for him at the deadline if he's not on their team before it? Because it's sort of seeming that way. Last year, they got Noah Syndergaard out of LA by taking Rosario off the Guardians' hands, and he hit .256 while occupying shortstop and second base before hitting free agency. He went the Rays on a one-year, $1.5 million contract, and has actually been pretty great for them. This year, the Dodgers took him back in exchange while sending Triple-A reliever Michael Flynn to Tampa Bay.

Rosario has played in 76 games this season and is having a career-best offensive year so far, with a .307 average and .748 OPS (both well above his projected numbers), and his sprint speed is still elite. However, this grade gets dinged a little because his chase and walk rates do leave a lot to be desired.

Still, Rosario was able to fulfill a need for the Dodgers last year, when they were without a solid everyday shortstop and second baseman as they contended with offensive struggles for Miguel Vargas and Miguel Rojas. This year, the Dodgers are still missing Mookie Betts after a broken hand and Gavin Lux has been surging but still isn't dependable. Rosario will assume exactly the role he did last year for LA as a stopgap, and this time he's also flashed a much better bat ahead of the trade.

Dodgers trade for Blue Jays OF Kevin Kiermaier: C

The Dodgers were also linked to the Blue Jays multiple times in the run up to the deadline, but to Bo Bichette and Yusei Kikuchi, not Kevin Kiermaier. Kiermaier was placed on waivers by the Jays on July 12 but went unclaimed, as they'd seemingly run out of patience for his bad bat despite his defensive flash. When Toronto let him go that first time, he seemed like a guy Andrew Friedman would love to claim, a fixer-upper former star who had fallen on hard times, but the Dodgers let him go on that first pass.

Not so at the trade deadline, though. They traded Ryan Yarbrough, who'd been DFA'ed to make roster space for Kopech, to Toronto in exchange for Kiermaier just a few minutes before 3 p.m. ET. The fact that the Dodgers let go of Yarbrough was a little surprising; he has a 3.74 ERA this season and has been a workhorse out of LA's bullpen. It's reminiscent of them dumping James Paxton a few weeks ago.

This trade gets a solid C because the Dodgers don't need an elite defensive center fielder; they need one who can pick up the bottom of the lineup because the ones they've been working with, for the most part, haven't been able to do it. If the Dodgers are able to extract the .265 average, .741 OPS season Kiermaier had last year out of him again, then great. But his .195 average and .546 OPS don't exactly fill anyone with confidence.

Dodgers trade for Tigers RHP Jack Flaherty: A+

Jack Flaherty was the last and biggest get for the Dodgers on Tuesday, with Jeff Passan sharing the news five minutes before the clock expired. LA sent two prospects back to Detroit in return for him: shortstop Trey Sweeney and catcher/first baseman Thayron Liranzo, but somehow got away with not giving the Tigers a top-five prospect for their biggest trade chip of the deadline. Our mock trade included LA's No. 1 prospect Dalton Rushing, but the Dodgers didn't actually even need to offer that much.

While the Dodgers are probably bummed that Garrett Crochet came off the market in the final hour, Flaherty is a huge win for them. Not only will he be able to step into the Dodgers rotation immediately to fill in for Yoshinobu Yamamoto and/or Walker Buehler, they're not as cash-strapped as the Tigers make themselves seem, and they'll get first dibs at re-signing him once the offseason arrives.

Maybe this is a little petty, but the Dodgers also get massive bragging rights for being the team to get Flaherty with so much competition. The Orioles and Phillies might've helped out a bit by turning their attention elsewhere, but Flaherty's 2.95 ERA with the Tigers this season slots him right in with Shōta Imanaga for the fourth-best ERA in the National League.

The Dodgers get that, and they didn't even have to give up that much for it. That's how you pull off a steal.