Los Angeles Dodgers: Final 2017 Trade Deadline Grades

The Los Angeles Dodgers are 43 games above .500, lead their division by 14 games and are a virtual lock to make the playoffs for the fifth straight season. If ever there was a team that could afford to stand pat at the trade deadline, it was them.

But what fun would that be?

Rather than go with what has gotten them this far, the Dodgers went all-out on Monday by adding three pitchers, including one of the best starters in the game in Texas Rangers righty Yu Darvish. In doing so, they made it clear that nothing short of making their first World Series since 1988—and winning it all for the first time in 29 years—will be acceptable.

"They are going for it," MLB Network's Jon Morosi tweeted Monday.

With the trade deadline now in the rearview mirror, let's break down what the Dodgers did (and didn't do) and what it means for the rest of the regular season and into the playoffs.

The Big Deal

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Acquired RHP Yu Darvish from Texas

A prime target for the Dodgers ever since ace Clayton Kershaw was placed on the disabled list with a lower back injury, Darvish looked like he wasn't going anywhere when he tweeted a selfie captioned "10min!!" just before the deadline. Little did he know his now-former team, the Texas Rangers, were about to deal him at the last minute.

Darvish was sent from Texas in exchange for a trio of minor league prospects: RHP A.J. Alexy, 2B/OF Willie Calhoun and SS Brendon Davis. Calhoun was the biggest name of that group, a 22-year-old slugger who was hitting .298 with 23 home runs and 67 RBI for Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Parting with Calhoun was significant but not as much as if the Dodgers had unloaded their top hitting prospect, OF Alex Verdugo. The former second-round pick from 2014 was batting .326 at Triple-A entering Monday.

The 30-year-old Darvish comes to the Dodgers on the heels of one of the worst starts of his career, allowing 10 runs in 3.2 innings against Miami Wednesday. Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan reported the Marlins "knew what was coming" that night because of the way Darvish held his hands.

Though only 6-9 this season with a 4.01 ERA, Darvish still has great stuff. He has 148 strikeouts in 137 innings, with that 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings being the lowest of his six-year career.

Other Moves

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The last-second Yu Darvish deal made the biggest headlines, but even before that the Dodgers had been fairly active on the trade market. Over the final 10 days of July they made three trades, all involving relief pitchers, with two coming on Monday:

Acquired LHP Tony Watson from Pittsburgh

Watson, 32, was 5-3 with a 3.66 ERA in 47 appearances for the Pirates, the team he'd played for since making his MLB debut in 2011. He saved 10 games but also blew seven leads, getting moved from closer to a setup role in mid-June.

To get Watson, the Dodgers traded two minor leaguers, IF Oneil Cruz and RHP Angel German. Cruz is listed by MLB.com as the Pirates' No. 16 prospect.

Acquired LHP Tony Cingrani from Cincinnati

The 28-year-old Cingrani appeared in 25 games this season for the Reds, with no decisions or saves along with a 5.40 ERA in 23.1 innings of work. He missed seven weeks with an oblique injury before returning to action in early June.

The Dodgers sent 1B/OF Scott Van Slyke and minor league catcher Hendrik Clementina to Cincinnati to complete the deal. Van Slyke hit .122 with two home runs and three RBI in 29 games with the Dodgers this season but had playing in Triple-A since early July after being sent down for the third time in 2017.

Traded RHP Sergio Romo to Tampa Bay

Romo was dealt to the Rays on July 22 for a player to be named later or cash, ending his short stint with the Dodgers after they signed the former San Francisco Giants closer to a one-year deal in February. The 34-year-old struggled to find his old form this season, going 1-1 with a 6.12 ERA in 25 innings before getting designated for assignment on July 20.

The Missed Opportunity

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Dodgers players swarm Kyle Farmer after his game-winning two-run double on Sunday.

The Dodgers solidified an already strong pitching staff but they failed to make any upgrades to their hitting. The starting lineup isn't lacking, but the bench is, as evidenced by having to turn to a player making his major league debut—Kyle Farmer—as a pinch hitter in the 11th inning on Sunday.

(Never mind the fact Farmer hit a two-run double, giving the Dodgers a 3-2 win over rival San Francisco for their ninth walk-off victory of the season).

The Dodgers bench is hitting .231 in 2017 and their pinch-hitters are batting .257 with a .747 OPS, lower than every position group on the team. Don't be surprised if they seek out a veteran hitter in August via a waiver deal.

Projecting Trade Impact

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Picking up Yu Darvish was big, but so too was getting some lefties in the bullpen as a bridge to closer Kenley Jansen.

The addition of Yu Darvish, first and foremost, limits the impact of the Dodgers' rash of starting pitcher injuries. The only starter they've used this season who has not spent time on the disabled list is Brock Stewart, who was in the bullpen until getting the nod last Wednesday against Minnesota after both Clayton Kershaw and Brandon McCarthy were put on the DL.

Assuming Kershaw is able to come back at full strength from a lower back strain, it sets up the Dodgers incredibly well for the playoffs, with Kershaw followed by Darvish and then any combination of Rich Hill, Kenta Maeda, Hyun-Jin Ryu or Alex Wood as the third and fourth starter. And with the additions to the bullpen, the Dodgers won't need their starters to overextend themselves down the stretch and could go to a six-man rotation if so desired.

Speaking of the bullpen, Tony Cingrani and Tony Watson give the Dodgers three lefty relievers (along with Luis Avilan) and better enable them to match up against potential left-handed hitters in the postseason like Washington's Bryce Harper, Arizona's Jake Lamb or the Chicago Cubs' Anthony Rizzo and Kyle Schwarber.

Neither Cingrani or Watson were particularly lights-out against lefties this season, however, with respective .293 and .308 batting averages against them in those situations. But they also didn't have the luxury of having a shutdown closer like Kenley Jansen working behind them, and that could make a world of difference to their mindsets when coming in for one or two batters.

Final Trade Deadline Grade

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Considering how good the Dodgers have been this season and how strong their roster already was, any additions at the trade deadline figured to only make for minimal improvement. And then Yu Darvish was acquired, leading Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports to tweet: "dodgers improved their team dramatically, if that's even possible."

Darvish is the kind of front-line starter who can make a major difference in the postseason, combining with Clayton Kershaw for a tremendous one-two punch. And while neither Tony Cingrani or Tony Watson are household names, they fill a big need for the Dodgers bullpen as potential lefty specialists.

The only thing that could have made the Dodgers' deadline performance better would have been to add another bat to the bench, but that's still something that can happen in August. All in all, the team with the best record in baseball did more than enough to keep themselves at the top for the foreseeable future while also vastly improving their postseason prospects.

Grade: A

Statistics are provided by Baseball Reference and MiLB.com, unless otherwise noted. Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.