Los Angeles Dodgers: Five best trades by Andrew Friedman’s front office

1. Yu Darvish trade

This trade just happened yesterday during the 2017 MLB Trade Deadline, but it is undoubtedly the best trade that Andrew Friedman has under his belt during his stint with the Los Angeles Dodgers. If Darvish sucks and posts a 5.00 ERA the rest of the season I will eat my words, but right now, this deal seems too good to be real.

Sure, you can argue that Darvish is merely a half season rental that has been pitching pretty poorly and is not a real improvement to the rotation. I understand that sentiment completely and on the surface it makes sense. However, pitchers thrive in Dodger stadium, especially under Rick Honeycutt, that is a fact at this point.

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Moving to the National League in a very pitcher friendly park will benefit Darvish immensely. Not only that, if he does only pitch as good as say, Brandon McCarthy, for what the Dodgers gave it is still a huge win.

Los Angeles managed to hold on to their top three prospects, Walker Buehler, Alex Verdugo and Yadier Alvarez. Darvish talks before the deal happened all mentioned that LA would have to part ways with one, if not two, of these guys.

Instead, the Dodgers sent the 69 ranked prospect Willie Calhoun, who is best suited for a DH role in the AL. He had no real path to the majors in Los Angeles, so getting rid of him was fairly easy. Add in two prospects that weren’t even in the Dodgers top 15 and this deal, again, seems too good to be true.

As you can tell, I am a huge fan of the recent Yu Darvish trade. It is hands down the best deal by Friedman for the Los Angeles Dodgers and amplifies the team’s World Series chances.