MLB News: Brewers’ Francisco Rodriguez Traded To Baltimore Orioles

Scratch one Dodgers relief pitcher off the list as the Baltimore Orioles traded for Brewers closer Francisco Rodriguez this afternoon.

Rodriguez was scouted heavily by the Dodgers and Red Sox, so the news that the Orioles snuck in and acquired him is pretty shocking.

Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com was the first to report the trade between the two teams:

The Orioles have acquired Francisco Rodriguez for Nick Delmonico.

— Brittany Ghiroli (@Britt_Ghiroli) July 24, 2013

The Orioles entered today 2.5 games behind first place in the AL East and like the Dodgers, they’ve had issues at the back end of the bullpen.

General manager Ned Colletti has made it clear that adding an arm to the bullpen is a priority and K-Rod’s 1.14 ERA would’ve been nice.

Other relievers, Jesse Crain and Glen Perkins to name two have been of interest to the Dodgers and they could also pursue another Brewers reliever John Axford.

With a week to go before the trade deadline, look for the Dodgers and other NL West teams to start making moves for the stretch run.