Dodgers Team News

2020 Trade Deadline Recap: Dodgers Moves, Winners, Losers, and More!

The Dodgers were not expected to be incredibly busy during this year’s trade deadline, but they still found a way to surprise everyone. A full hour after the 1 p.m. deadline, most people thought that the team had decided to stand pat and finish out the season with the current roster. It was then that the team announced a move that caught many by surprise.

It was hardly a blockbuster, but saying goodbye to our old friend Ross Stripling is definitely harder given that we have yet to hear who we will receive in return. He was a product of the farm system and had many incredible moments in a Dodgers uniform, but the rotation no longer had the space for him with all of the young talent waiting on the sideline.

While the Dodgers had a rather quiet deadline, others around the league were busy making moves to better position themselves for the stretch run. From San Diego having a summer sale on their farm system to the Rangers failing to move their biggest prize, we’ll break down the biggest deadline buzz below!

Dodgers Trade Deadline News

Trade Deadline Winners

San Diego Padres

It’s hard to ignore all of the moves that San Diego made in the past few days. While most teams attempt to upgrade a specific area during the trade deadline, the Padres had a complete roster overhaul.

It should be noted that although San Diego paid a hefty price with all of the prospects they sent out, they still managed to hold onto their top guys. For this reason alone, the Padres should be considered winners for this trade deadline. Cudos to the Padres for having the guts to go all-in, but there’s a reason that the Dodgers stayed quiet although they saw their division mates make move after move. LA still has the most complete roster in baseball and should feel confident as they look forward to October. The next series between LA and San Diego will be September 14-16 at PETCO Park.

Toronto Blue Jays

The Blue Jays are currently in the playoff hunt, thanks to the expanded format that MLB will be using this season. With a relatively young and talented roster, Toronto has been missing the veteran leadership to help them reach the next level. After today’s deadline, the Blue Jays have added Robbie Ray, Taijuan Walker, Jonathan Pillar, and Ross Stripling to help round out their team.

Considering that they didn’t have to give up much in the terms of player capital to get these moves done, Toronto should be very happy with their moves and how the team stacks up against the rest of the AL. If they happen to make the playoffs this year, they will definitely be a tough out in a 3-game series.

Trade Deadline Losers

Texas Rangers

In the biggest surprise of the deadline, the Rangers held on to their golden goose in Lance Lynn. This was the one player that everyone expected to be moved, in part because of the type of season that he was having, but also because Texas failed to make this move last year with Mike Minor.

The Dodgers were one of the teams rumored to try and make a move for Lynn but were turned off by the asking price. Not only will Texas not make the playoffs at this rate, but they also just wasted their best opportunity to bolster their farm system in recent years. There is no bigger loser this year than the Texas Rangers.

Atlanta Braves

The Braves were one of the rumored teams to be checking in on Lance Lynn to try and bolster their rotation, but they ended up standing pat at the deadline. While they are still in prime position to make the postseason, their roster is nowhere near as dominant as it has been in recent years, and any upgrades would’ve helped separate them in a highly competitive National League.

They should still win the NL East rather easily seeing as the Miami Marlins are their current competition for first place, but the Braves have higher aspirations than just a division crown. Unlike the Dodgers, Atlanta doesn’t have the depth to justify a quiet deadline.

A full list of deadline moves from across the league

2020 Dodgers Trade Deadline: A Day-of Journal As Moves Happen

The Dodgers have 24 games left this regular season and it seems like the majority of that time will be used for friendly positional competition around the diamond and on the mound. Perhaps the best move of all was no move and handing the keys to a rotation spot to Tony Gonsolin along with giving Gavin Lux and extended look at second base.

How would you rank LA’s move to mostly stand pat?

NEXT: David Price Has Not Expressed Desire to Opt Back Into the Season

Daniel Palma

Daniel is an avid sports fan who loves his hometown teams. If he's not watching baseball, you can find him playing or coaching. No matter what, he'll always root for the Boys in Blue!

5 Comments

  1. Glad the Dodgers moved Stripling. Ross is a consummate professional and the Blue Jays need starters. I am sure Dodger Fans wish Ross well. The Dodgers had a glut of young arms and they could not move Wood as he hasn’t played this year. Thankfully they only signed Wood for a year.
    They needed to get a space for Gonsolin. And they have pitchers that are potential starters like Gonzalez, White, Gray, Santana, and Ferguson.
    Glad the Angels made a couple of moves for the future.
    The Padres went for it. We shall see how this all shakes out as they traded for Starter, Relief and Offensive help. Clevinger is a dominant pitcher and will be hard to beat in a playoff.

  2. I concur as far as the pitching depth as it stands but even though Dodgers had a record setting month for HRs the strike outs by the hitters is and will be a huge concern come October.

    1. Paul … the Dodgers have the 5th fewest SOs in MLB this year. Only Houston, Washington, Philadelphia, and Arizona have struck out less. Now having said that, they do SO 20% of the time which as an old time baseball fan drives me crazy.

      1. I am in my eighties and have followed the Dodgers since 1957. I think trading Stripling was genius. I love him when he is sharp and he is best as a starter. Gonsolin is ready and has more potential and the pen is deep. While few would agree, my concerns are with the inconsistency of the closer and the fact that our big boomers are so streaky. Sometimes Bellinger and Muncy look like Mays or Snider then it slips for several games. And where did Kershaw add 2 or three mph on the FB? Roberts mgt. style scares me, especially the bullpen mgt. but it’s hard to second guess his success. obviously the best team. Hope they don’t hit that losing streak that has been so concerning the past two seasons. If Lux settles in to what is advertised, the infield could be as solid as the outfield. I do miss Ryu.

      2. But, yes I checked over those team’s strikeouts and it is somewhat surprising. I believe that what was concerning me was that although zDodgers won 2 of 3 from Rangers the struck out 14 times in that 3rd game and a couple previous games 11 times each game. My point is that when PS comes around the better pitching they may face will magnify this K issue, WSS. I can’t forget those 64 KS in 5 NLDS games in 2019.

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