Sports

Tigers keep Rodriguez after P nixes Dodgers deal

Published

2 years ago

August 2, 2023

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ESPN News Services

Aug 1, 2023, 05:38 PM ET

DETROIT — Tigers ace Eduardo Rodriguez used his no-trade clause to veto a deal Tuesday and remain with Detroit, general manager Scott Harris said.

Harris confirmed the team had an agreement on a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers and also confirmed that Rodriguez exercised his no-trade clause before Tuesday’s deadline, although he declined to say if Rodriguez specifically blocked the deal with L.A.

Rodriguez invoked his 10-team no-trade clause — that included the Dodgers — to block a deal that was in place between the two teams.

“We reached an agreement that he was not comfortable with,” Harris said.

The left-handed Rodriguez can opt out of his $77 million, five-year contract after the season and become a free agent, or he can choose to play out the deal that pays him $18 million in 2024, $16 million in 2025 and $15 million in 2026.

“We’re excited to get Eduardo back,” Harris said. “He sent a very strong message that he likes it here.”

The Dodgers landed Lance Lynn last week and were only chasing high-end starting pitching, a list that was basically limited to Rodriguez, Justin Verlander, Mitch Keller and Dylan Cease, the latter two of whom did not move. They expressed shock that Rodriguez passed up on the opportunity to play with them for the next two-plus months.

“We thought it was done,” Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “And then we learned that it wasn’t.”

The Dodgers deployed some of their players, some of whom previously teamed with Rodriguez on the Boston Red Sox, in an effort to get Rodriguez to change his mind, but to no avail.

“We thought with having a lot of his ex-teammates and guys he’s played with, our place in the standings, I thought we would be very desirable,” said Friedman, who instead acquired a depth piece in Ryan Yarbrough from the Kansas City Royals in the final minutes of the deadline.

“We never got a chance to talk to Eduardo. But we talked to his agent numerous times. We respect that he had this 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.”

Detroit was unable to deal Rodriguez despite his 6-5 record with a 2.95 ERA this season, and a career record of 75-49, in large part because of his contract.

If he opts out following the season, the team that could have added him ahead of the trade deadline would have him on the mound for a short time.

If the 30-year-old Rodriguez had a significant injury with his new team, it would risk having a banged-up pitcher on the payroll for three seasons and $49 million.

“His performance is a fit for every team in baseball,” Harris said. “However, there were contractual headwinds that influenced his market.”

Rodriguez has bounced back this season after going 5-5 in 17 starts last year, his first in Detroit after cashing in on his strong run with the Boston Red Sox.

In June 2022, the Tigers placed Rodriguez on the restricted list after he informed them that he would not rejoin the team due to personal matters. He returned later in the year and has been one of top pitchers for the rebuilding franchise this season.

Detroit did get a significant deal done before the deadline, sending right-hander Michael Lorenzen to the Philadelphia Phillies for minor league infielder Hao-Yu Lee on Tuesday.

Detroit did finalize one deal with the Dodgers, acquiring minor league infielder Eddys Leonard for cash. Leonard, who was hitting .254 in Double-A, was assigned to Triple-A Toledo.

And after they missed on Rodriguez, the Dodgers made a deadline deal for Royals left-hander Ryan Yarbrough, sending minor league infielders Devin Mann and Derlin Figueroa to Kansas City.

Yarbrough, 31, has pitched well since missing two months after being hit in the face by a line drive. He posted a stellar month of July: In 24⅔ innings, he gave up six runs and struck out 15 batters, walking only two.

Yarbrough is 4-5 with a 4.24 ERA for the season, with 14 appearances (seven starts). He’s been strong as a starter this season, going 4-3 with a 3.08 ERA.

Yarbrough has a career mark of 44-36 with a 4.32 ERA with Tampa Bay (2018-22) and Kansas City.

Mann, 26, was selected in the fifth round of the 2018 draft by Los Angeles. He was slashing .307/.402/.541 with 14 homers and 71 RBIs through 89 games with Triple-A Oklahoma City.

Figueroa, 19, was batting .237 in the rookie-level Arizona Complex League.

Information from Reuters, The Associated Press and ESPN’s Alden Gonzalez was included in this report.

Sports

Rodriguez makes history with another 20-20 year

Published

9 hours ago

August 4, 2025

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Rodriguez makes history with another 20-20 year

ESPN News Services

Aug 3, 2025, 07:04 PM ET

SEATTLE — Julio Rodriguez homered to become the first player in major league history with 20 or more home runs and 20 or more stolen bases in each of his first four seasons, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 on Sunday.

Rodriguez hit a two-run shot in the third inning — his 100th career homer — and the slugging and speedy center fielder also added his 21st stolen base of the season after singling in the fifth inning.

“That’s a very big accomplishment,” Rodríguez told reporters, according to MLB.com. “I know my family’s very happy, and I’m sure they’re thinking of all the things I had to do to be able to get here. To be able to do it with this team and this organization is awesome. I’m just excited to see where things are going to go from here.”

Jorge Polanco added a solo shot in the second, and shortstop J.P. Crawford smacked a two-run blast in the fourth against Rangers starter Jacob deGrom (10-4), who became the fastest pitcher in major league history to reach 1,800 career strikeouts by games and innings Sunday.

The Rangers kept things close by pushing across three runs against Mariners starter Logan Evans (5-4), but tallied only one run against the Mariners bullpen before closer Andrés Muñoz locked down his 25th save of the season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Sports

Marlins def. Yankees, earn 1st-ever sweep of N.Y.

Published

14 hours ago

August 4, 2025

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Marlins def. Yankees, earn 1st-ever sweep of N.Y.

ESPN News Services

Aug 3, 2025, 04:55 PM ET

MIAMI — Kyle Stowers hit a three-run homer and the Miami Marlins defeated the New York Yankees 7-3 on Sunday, completing their first-ever sweep of the Yankees in a series of three or more games.

The Marlins (55-55) reached .500 for the first time since April 15, when the team was 8-8. Since June 13, the Marlins are 30-14; that’s tied with the 2003 team for the most wins in a 44-game span in franchise history, according to ESPN Research.

The 2003 Marlins went on to beat the Yankees in the World Series in six games.

Marlins starter Edward Cabrera (5-5) pitched six innings of two-hit ball with seven strikeouts and one walk. His only blemish came against the first batter he faced. Trent Grisham drove Cabrera’s 98.1 mph four-seam fastball to right-center.

Miami rookie Jakob Marsee, who made his major league debut on Friday, was 2-for-4 and finished a single short of the cycle.

Stowers made it 6-1 when he connected on an 0-2 fastball from Brent Headrick, who entered in the fourth with two on after starter Luis Gil (0-1) was lifted 3⅓ innings into his season debut.

Gil, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year, struck out three and surrendered five runs and five hits while issuing four walks in his return from a high-grade lat strain. He threw 77 pitches.

Gil’s shaky debut comes at a rough point in the season for the Yankees, whose inconsistency has prompted a rash of criticism, the latest coming from former Yankees stars Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez on Fox’s pregame show Saturday night.

“They make way too many mistakes,” Jeter said. “Way too many mistakes, and you can’t get away with making that number of mistakes against great teams.”

Added Rodriguez: “Where’s the accountability?”

Boone addressed those criticisms before Sunday’s game, saying it comes with the territory of being the Yankees, but he added after the loss that it’s “gut-check” time for his club.

New York’s weekend series at Miami included the Yankees blowing a six-run lead in a wild 13-12 loss on Friday, before a 2-0 loss on Saturday.

The Yankees had a seven-game lead in the AL East in late May. By July 2, the lead was gone and the Yankees have been looking up at Toronto in the division ever since. The red-hot Boston Red Sox, who were more than 10 games behind the Yankees about two months ago, have overtaken their rival for the second spot in the AL East and AL wild-card lead.

“It’s getting late,” Boone said. “And it’s certainly not too late for us. I am confident that we’re going to get it together. But that’s all it is right now is, you know, it’s empty until we start doing it.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.