In the weeks leading up to the July 31 trade deadline, the Los Angeles Dodgers found themselves in an envious position. The club sported the best record in all of baseball for most of the month and the largest division lead of any contender.
On top of their present-day success, the Dodgers are additionally set up for the long run. They boast a consensus top-five farm system and are reaping the benefits of homegrown players such as Cody Bellinger, Walker Buehler, Corey Seager and Alex Verdugo, to name a few.
The Dodgers are well on their way to a seventh consecutive National League West division title, and as currently stands, control their destiny in returning to the World Series for a third straight year.
They further helped their cause by adding some reinforcements prior to this season’s July 31 trade deadline by acquiring infielder Jedd Gyorko from the St. Louis Cardinals and left-handed specialist Adam Kolarek from the Tampa Bay Rays.
All of this considered, other playoff-hopeful NL teams are aware of the uphill climb they face in dethroning the Dodgers in a potential postseason matchup.
According to Joel Sherman of the New York Post, many of these clubs ultimately shied away from relinquishing too many future assets in trades with the fear of getting eliminated by L.A. in the first round:
Multiple executives for NL wild-card contenders offered a version of this: How much do we give up to try to get into a one-and-done game that if we win we have to face the juggernaut Dodgers in the Division Series? Obviously, every contender wants to get in and most plan to upgrade through trades, but the Dodgers give pause about how much to surrender, even knowing the postseason can be fickle and upset-filled.
“We are a good club, but the Dodgers are a great club,” said an official from an NL contender. “We have to figure out how to get better to compete with them. And that means not giving away too many future assets because they are not going away.”
In what was a relatively dull July 31 trade deadline, the biggest deal to go down was the Houston Astros acquiring Zack Greinke from the Arizona Diamondbacks. He joins an already stacked starting rotation that includes fellow aces Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole.
NL contenders were more modest with their trade additions. The Atlanta Braves, currently at the top of their division, landed All-Star closer Shane Greene from the Detroit Tigers while also picking up Mark Melancon from the San Francisco Giants.
The Washington Nationals, with noted bullpen struggles themselves, acquired a trio of arms in Roenis Elias, Daniel Hudson and Hunter Strickland.
The Chicago Cubs added Nicholas Castellanos for a cheap cost to their talented lineup while the Milwaukee Brewers landed Drew Pomeranz and Ray Black from the Giants.
In an ironic twist, the two biggest trades orchestrated in the NL were by teams that faced tough odds on advancing to the postseason. The New York Mets acquired Marcus Stroman from the Toronto Blue Jays and the Cincinnati Reds secured Trevor Bauer from the Cleveland Indians in a three-team deal that also included the San Diego Padres.
Of course, the Indians and Mets went on to suddenly enter the postseason picture in their respective divisions.
