Inside the Article:
While Scott Harris and the Detroit Tigers did have a deal in place to send pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez to the Los Angeles Dodgers earlier today, the left-hander invoked his no-trade clause and nixed the deal. Rodriguez remains a Tiger after the MLB Trade Deadline has come and gone, and according to Harris, the team is ‘excited' to have him continue to wear the Old English D.
Rodriguez rejected a trade to the contending Dodgers
Rodriguez, who boasts a 2.95 ERA and a 6-5 record in 15 starts this season with Detroit, vetoed the trade that would have sent him to the contending Dodgers. According to a source, the reason behind his decision was that he prefers to remain closer to his family.
Scott Harris explained the decision shortly after the Deadline
Harris explained that there were certain factors in Rodriguez's contract that made the market that they were prepared to trade him to a bad fit and that having him remain with the Tigers is an appropriate consolation prize.
“With all players, we are at the mercy of markets,” Harris said. “With Eduardo specifically, his performance is a fit for every team in baseball. Every team in baseball would want that kind of starter in their rotation. Howve3r, there were some contractual headwinds that influenced his market. There were a couple of terms in his contract that disqualified a lot of markets from pursuing him.”
We were working with the market that we had with Eduardo and were communicating with him in person, via text, and on the phone,” Harris continued. “At the end of the day, we reached an agreement with Eduardo that he was not comfortable with. He ultimately decided to stay in Detroit. If the consolation prize for not getting that deal is that we get the best left-handed starters on the mound every five nights, sign me up for that. We're excited to have Eduardo back, he's been a very powerful mentor for some of our young starters and he'll give us a chance to win every five days.”
What does Harris think about a potential contract extension for Rodriguez now that the trade fell through?
“It's not fair for me to comment on that,” he said. “We are having conversations with a lot of our players all of the time. The nature of those conversations, I think, should remain confidential.”
Key Points
- Today was the MLB Trade Deadline
- The Tigers had a trade worked out to send Eduardo Rodriguez to the Dodgers, but he vetoed it
- Scott Harris is “excited” to have Rodriguez remain in Detroit
Wrapping It Up: Scott Harris will be scrutinized for this
Just about all of us were expecting Rodriguez to be dealt by today's MLB Trade Deadline and the fact that only one trading partner for the left-handed ace was found by Harris (that we know of) so far hasn't gone over very well.
But for now, we're happy to have Rodriguez remain with the team as they continue to try and chance the division-leading Minnesota Twins.
