PITTSBURGH — The drama featuring the Detroit Tigers, Eduardo Rodriguez and the Los Angeles Dodgers spins on.
Rodriguez’s agent, Gene Mato of Mato Sports Management, released a statement Wednesday night. The Tigers had an agreement in place to trade Rodriguez to the Dodgers before Tuesday’s 6 p.m. deadline, but in the final hour, Rodriguez invoked his 10-team no-trade clause to block the deal.
The primary takeaway from Rodriguez’s agent: Mato and the Dodgers “ran out of time” while negotiating contractual demands before the left-handed starting pitcher would officially waive his limited no-trade clause.
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“I negotiated a no-trade clause in his contract for a reason,” Mato said Wednesday night in a statement posted to Twitter. “With all of the money, glamour and fame that comes with being a professional athlete there is also a very difficult, personal side. Many players’ wives and their children suffer a lot of instability in their lives, especially when their spouses get traded. I do not take that lightly.
“Eduardo is one of the best left handed starting pitchers in baseball but he is also a human being who wants stability for his family. They are comfortable living in the Detroit area and have adjusted well.
“As for the Dodgers in particular, once I was granted permission to speak with them regarding the trade, we did our best to come up with a way to make it happen where everyone was comfortable with the outcome. Unfortunately, we just ran out of time.”
Rodriguez signed a five-year, $77 million contract with the Tigers in November 2021, which includes said no-trade clause. His contract also includes an opt-out clause after the 2023 season.
The 30-year-old has a 2.96 ERA with 22 walks and 96 strikeouts across 94⅓ innings in 16 starts. He owns a career-low 2.10 walks per nine innings this season to go with 9.16 strikeouts per nine innings.
Rodriguez shared why he blocked the trade to the Dodgers after Wednesday’s start against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.
“It’s nothing about the Dodgers or the West Coast or whatever,” Rodriguez said Wednesday afternoon. “It’s about the details (of the trade) to go there and where my family is. My future is where they’re happy and I’m happy, and that’s why I decided to stay here.”
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Tigers president of baseball operations Scott Harris and Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman spoke with reporters Tuesday night about the trade that didn’t happen.
“There were some contractual headwinds that influenced his market,” Harris said. “There were a couple of terms in his contract that disqualified a lot of markets from pursuing him. We were working with the market that we had with Eduardo. We were communicating with Eduardo in-person, via text and on the phone. At the end of the day, we reached an agreement on Eduardo that he was not comfortable with.”
“We never got a chance to talk to Eduardo, but we talked to his agent numerous times,” Friedman said. “We respect that he had his right and he exercised it. Obviously would’ve loved for him to join what we have going here, but it’s hard for us to argue with family reasons.”
In the 2022 season, Rodriguez spent June 13-Aug. 19 on the unpaid restricted list for a personal matter, relinquishing approximately $5 million of his $14 million salary while sitting out.
He has a $14 million salary in 2023. If he opts into the final three years of his contract, he will earn $18 million in 2024, $16 million in 2025 and $15 million in 2026 — an average annual value of $16.3 million.
Before the Tigers, Rodriguez pitched six seasons for the Boston Red Sox.
Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.