The Tigers and Dodgers had a trade in place that would have sent Eduardo Rodriguez, a 30-year-old starting pitcher in the midst of a career season, to Los Angeles. But just ahead of Tuesday’s Trade Deadline, Rodriguez invoked his 10-team no-trade clause that included the Dodgers, effectively nixing the deal.
“There were some contractual headwinds that influenced his market,” Tigers GM Scott Harris said. “There were a couple of terms in his contract that disqualified a lot of markets from pursuing him. So 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 with Eduardo that he was not comfortable with, and he ultimately decided to stay in Detroit.”
The opt-out from Rodriguez is certainly disappointing news to the Dodgers, as Rodriguez has excelled this year by several metrics despite the Tigers’ 47-59 record. His ERA (2.95), FIP (3.17) and WHIP (1.03) are all comfortably the lowest of his career, as are both his hits per nine innings (7.1) and walks per nine (2.1). His .598 OPS allowed ranks second among pitchers with at least 85 innings this year, behind only Corbin Burnes (.587). And on the Statcast side, Rodriguez has thrown a career-high 49.3% of pitches in the strike zone this season.
Reports speculate Rodriguez wanted to stay closer to his family on the East Coast. The left-hander has three years and $49 million left after this season on his original five-year deal with Detroit signed in November 2021, but he also has an opt-out clause that he could put to use if his strong 2023 season puts him in position to earn a more lucrative contract.