The rivalry between the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres is continuing to grow and it is now taking place between the front offices as the two teams bid against each other to acquire Washington Nationals ace Max Scherzer.
The Padres reportedly were closing in on a trade to acquire Scherzer the day before the deadline, but then came silence. The Dodgers wound up remaining in the picture and reached an agreement to not only acquire the future Hall of Famer but Trea Turner as well a few hours later.
San Diego did not end up adding a frontline starter, instead trading for Adam Frazier and Daniel Hudson.
And although the Dodgers ahead in the standings and just acquired the best position player and pitcher who were traded at the deadline, Joe Musgrove still feels the Padres are the team to beat in the National League West, per
AJ Cassavell of MLB.com:
“It doesn’t change things, man. We feel like we’re better than that team, regardless. We feel like we want it more, we’ve got the pieces that we need. We’ve still got another day, so who knows what [general manager A.J.] Preller’s got up his sleeve.”
The Padres have been one of the best teams in baseball this season, but it has to be demoralizing to their clubhouse to think they were about to acquire Scherzer, only to lose him to one of the rivals they are chasing in the standings.
This season, the Dodgers are 64-44 with a +162 run differential while the Padres are 62-47 with a +100 run differential.
Dodgers acquire Duffy
Along with Scherzer and Turner, the Dodgers acquired left-handed pitcher Danny Duffy from the Kansas City Royals in exchange for a player to be named later.
The 32-year-old is currently on the 10-day injured list with a left flexor strain, which previously caused him to miss six weeks this season.
Duffy also waived his no-trade clause acquired by way of being a player with 10-and-5 rights. He could be an option to start or pitch out of the bullpen once healthy.
Overall this season Duffy is 4-3 with a 2.51 ERA, 4.17 FIP and 1.32 WHIP in 13 games (12 starts). He is in the final season of a five-year, $65 million contract signed with the Royals before the 2017 campaign.
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