Major League Baseball

Dodgers all in on title defense, landing Max Scherzer, Trea Turner in blockbuster

Published Jul. 30, 2021 5:27 p.m. ET

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The Los Angeles Dodgers don’t appear to be at all interested in surrendering their World Series crown.

An MLB trade deadline that was already filled with a series of stunning moves stepped it up a notch on Thursday night when news broke that the Dodgers were closing in on a blockbuster deal to acquire ace pitcher Max Scherzer and star shortstop Trea Turner from the Washington Nationals.

Scherzer had a no-trade clause, but he was willing to waive it to move to the West Coast, and the trade became official on Friday.

With the deal, the Dodgers add a future Hall of Famer in Scherzer, who is an eight-time All-Star and three-time Cy Young winner, boasting a career ERA of 3.19. In 14 seasons, he has led the league in wins four times, strikeouts three times and innings twice.

His addition bulks up a rotation that already includes rising ace Walker Buehler, Julio Urias, Tony Gonsolin and David Price. The Dodgers also have Clayton Kershaw set to return from the injured list sometime in the next week. Additionally, they acquired veteran lefty starter Danny Duffy from the Kansas City Royals earlier Thursday.

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On offense, the Dodgers bring in Turner, 28, a career .300 hitter who was an All-Star for the first time this summer. Turner, who is hitting .324 with 18 home runs, can play shortstop, though he might move to second base or even play some outfield with Corey Seager expected to soon come off the injured list.

Turner also provides the franchise some insurance at short if Seager heads elsewhere as a free agent after this season.

In addition to the obvious benefit of adding two All-Stars to their roster, the Dodgers also kept Scherzer away from their NL West rival San Diego Padres. The Padres were reportedly close to swinging a deal for the Nationals’ ace earlier in the day before the Dodgers stepped in and created a much larger deal.

For the Nationals, they have a chance to restock a farm system that has fallen on hard times, and they receive a significant haul from Los Angeles to help out in that regard.

Heading to Washington are catcher Keibert Ruiz and pitcher Josiah Gray, the Dodgers’ top two prospects according to MLB Pipeline. They’ll also get pitcher Gerardo Carrillo, the Dodgers’ No. 17 prospect, and outfielder Donovan Casey, who is hitting .296 with 11 home runs in 73 games at Double-A Tulsa.

In recent years under president Andrew Friedman, some have criticized the Dodgers as being too intent on building a minor league system, but unwilling to go the extra mile to win a championship. Now, after making a trade for Mookie Betts on the way to winning the 2020 World Series, followed by the Scherzer-Turner deal, Friedman has pretty much crushed that narrative.

Here are some reactions to the deal.

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Major League Baseball

Los Angeles Dodgers

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Trea Turner