Getty Image / Jaime Crawford
Despite playing in the MLB’s worst division, the Detroit Tigers don’t really appear to have much playoff hope right now.
The team is 12 games under .500 at the trade deadline and currently trails the Minnesota Twins by 6.5 games in the race for the AL Central.
With a playoff spot seeming unlikely, the Detroit Tigers were expected to be sellers before their window to trade players closed.
Despite their unimpressive record, the team did have some pieces that other teams may be interested in acquiring.
The most interesting of those pieces was starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez.
Rodriguez is currently in the 2nd year of a 5-year contract with the Tigers, but has the ability to opt out of the deal following this season.
He also happens to be in the midst of the best season of his career.
In 15 appearances Rodriguez has put together a 2.95 ERA, making him an appealing target for teams in need of an improvement in their pitching rotation.
One such team is the Los Angeles Dodgers, who currently have baseball’s 9th worst ERA.
The Dodgers ended up working out a trade for Rodriguez, but his contract unfortunately includes a 10-team no-trade clause.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Rodriguez invoked that clause to to keep himself from being traded.
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Detroit Tigers had a trade in place for left-handed starter Eduardo Rodriguez, but Rodriguez invoked his 10-team no-trade clause that included the Dodgers and the deal is now dead, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 1, 2023
It isn’t clear yet why Rodriguez decided to turn down the Los Angeles Dodgers, but the move is a pretty big surprise.
Even if Rodriguez didn’t want to make LA his permanent home, he could have pitched for the Dodgers for a few months to give himself a chance to pitch in the playoffs this year and maybe earn himself a better contract after opting out at the end of the season.
Whatever his reasoning, Eduardo Rodriguez will now spend the rest of the season pitching for the struggling Detroit Tigers, who could end up losing him for nothing at the end of the year.