For a forward-thinker, Scott Harris, it appears, didn't think all that far ahead. Despite having "steady communication" with Eduardo Rodriguez about his trade market leading up to Tuesday's deadline, Harris and the Tigers tried trading Rodriguez to a market that was off-limits. Presented with a deal to the Dodgers shortly before the 6 p.m. deadline, Rodriguez exercised his right to say no.
"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. If the consolation prize is that we get one of the best left-handed starters in baseball on the mound every five nights, sign me up for that. We’re excited to get Eduardo back."
They would have been more excited to trade him, or they wouldn't have tried. Indeed, Harris said the Tigers "set out to move multiple starting pitchers in two very different markets" at the deadline, and only moved one in Michael Lorenzen. Rodriguez, who missed significant time last season tending to a reported marital issue, is said to have invoked his 10-team no-trade clause "out of a desire to remain closer to family on the east coast."
Harris, Detroit's rookie president of baseball operations in charge of his first deadline, said it was determined in "the last hour" that the deal wasn't going to go through. By then, it was too late for the Tigers to find another suitor for one of the best starting pitchers on the market. Harris wouldn't say whether Rodriguez had ever previously approved a deal to the Dodgers, only that "we had a lot of conversations about different teams and different situations and steady communication throughout." In the end, they weren't on the same page.
"The only thing that matters right now," said Harris, who might have benefited from the general manager he has yet to hire, "is he wasn’t comfortable with the deal and he wants to stay in this organization and help us in the second half."
Whether Rodriguez wants to stay beyond that remains to be seen. If so, it's one way the Tigers can pick up the ball they dropped on Tuesday, barring an out-of-nowhere run to the AL Central crown over the next two months. (Not happening.) Rodriguez would either have to forego the opt-out in his contract after this season and leave wads of cash on the table in free agency (not happening) or renegotiate his contract with the Tigers before it comes to that.
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Asked if this will spark such talks with Rodriguez, Harris said, "We have had conversations throughout the year with Eduardo directly, none that I can really share out of respect for Eduardo. But listen, he sent a very strong message that he likes it here and we want players to like it here in Detroit and to want to stay here, and he demonstrated that."
Barring an injury or serious spiral down the stretch, Rodriguez won't simply opt in to the final three years and $49 million of his deal. With a career-low 2.95 ERA this season, he could make as much as double that on the open market this winter. The Tigers will have to doll out more money and more years to persuade him to stay, which in theory isn't a bad idea. Harris wouldn't say whether they've come to Rodriguez, 30, with the idea of an extension.
A couple weeks ago, Rodriguez acknowledged that "if my future (with the Tigers) is in somebody else's hands, then it's in somebody else's hands." It was in those of Harris, who had a prime opportunity to cash Rodriguez in to enrich the organization. Stop us if you've heard this before, but the Tigers still lack bats. The Orioles, with a deep pool of hitting prospects, were known to be interested. The Dodgers had a lot to offer themselves, but Harris was forced to fold. Rodriguez holds the cards now.
"At this point, we need to focus on what’s in front of us," Harris said. "And if that means Eduardo is going to stay on our team and help us win every five days, that’s a big win for us."
Frankly, it's the only way this won't go down as a loss. Four top-100 position player prospects, per MLB Pipeline, were traded for proven starting pitchers at this year's deadline. The Tigers had a good one to sell in the left-handed Rodriguez, regardless of the "contractual headwinds" Harris said he had to confront. And they tried to sell high. While contenders like the Rangers, Rays, Angels, Astros and Orioles made aggressive moves for coveted arms, Harris and the Tigers held tightly to theirs and were left empty-handed.
If Rodriguez had a late change of heart regarding a move West, that would be his contractual right, "so he shouldn’t be the villain in any of this," Harris said. And the Tigers' progressive 36-year-old boss should have been prepared to pivot. Harris is smart, articulate and highly-educated, and this was far from his first foray into deadline dynamics after front-office stints with the Giants and Cubs. But he may have outwitted himself by waiting so long to sell, and he couldn't come up with the answers when the calculus changed.
Harris said the Tigers are "at the mercy of markets," and "we were working within the market that we had with Eduardo." Except, the only team with which they executed a trade wasn't in his market to begin with. Star players commonly waive no-trade clauses for contenders, like Max Scherzer did for the Rangers and Justin Verlander did (again) for the Astros. And like Lance Lynn did for the Dodgers. If Harris was banking on Rodriguez to do the same, he should've had an insurance policy in place.
The only one remaining will cost about $100 million this winter.
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