The Phillies pulling off a trade for Jhoan Duran was a huge blow to the Dodgers' trade deadline pursuits, but the reliever blitz isn't over yet. Duran was perhaps the most highly coveted arm for the crop of needy contenders looking to fortify rosters ahead of the postseason, but David Bednar and Ryan Helsley were still on the board as the other top-shelf relievers.
However, a trade for Helsley followed the Duran deal in a hurry. The Mets, who also bought Tyler Rogers from the Giants earlier on Wednesday for José Buttó and two top-15 prospects, got a deal done with the Cardinals in exchange for Helsley just after 4:00 PM PST.
They're sending prospects Jesus Baez and pitchers Nate Dohm and Frank Elissalt, per Jon Heyman. Both Baez and Dohm are, once again, in the Mets' top 15 this year.
That leaves Bednar. There are other decent bullpen arms, sure, including the Twins' Griffin Jax, the Rays' Pete Fairbanks, and the Angels' Reid Detmers, but none are in quite the same tier as Duran, Bednar, and Helsley.
Clearly, the cost for relievers at this year's trade deadline is sky-high, but the Dodgers have one of the best farm systems in baseball. Are they intentionally sitting out on these talks, or are they just losing out because Andrew Friedman is — uncharacteristically — hanging onto his prospects?
Dodgers getting left behind as Jhoan Duran, Ryan Helsley come off the board back-to-back
The Dodgers were spoiled of a prospective blockbuster with the Guardians that could've included Emmanuel Clase and Steven Kwan when Clase was put on non-disciplinary paid leave as part of MLB's ongoing gambling probe. They could still get Kwan, who would be an ideal replacement for Michael Conforto in the outfield, but LA's main priority is (or should be) relievers. So why has Friedman and the front office now lost out on two (arguably three) top arms?
It could be that they're riskily betting on the likes of Alexis Díaz to shape up and get back to All-Star form. Michael Kopech should be available to come back in late August, and Blake Treinen just returned after three months (but struggled).
Will Friedman's opposition to trading for relievers at the deadline really keep him from doing anything at all, while other contenders swipe their best options out from under their noses?
Bednar is still out there. The Pirates will now be able to have an absolute feast of the farm systems of any team that's calling about him. The Dodgers are hopefully among them, and Friedman should probably do what it takes to get him to LA.
