The Los Angeles Dodgers may be sitting pretty atop the NL West standings, but they of all teams know that regular season success doesn't seamlessly translate into postseason triumph. Thus, in the leadup to the MLB trade deadline, the Dodgers made a concerted effort to bolster their pitching staff, adding Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly from the Chicago White Sox in recent days. But on deadline day, the Dodgers made a huge swing, agreeing in principle with the Detroit Tigers in a trade for talented left-handed starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez.

However, Rodriguez, whose contract structure makes it difficult for teams to strike a deal in the first place, blocked a potential move to the Dodgers, invoking his 10-team no-trade clause to stay in the Motor City. That decision blindsided Dodgers president Andrew Friedman, as he couldn't understand what made Rodriguez say no to a move to a contending team, especially when the 30-year old southpaw has a lot of former teammates in Dodger blue.

“We didn't expect it at all. We thought with having a lot of ex-teammates and guys he's played with, our place in the standings, I thought we would be very desirable,” Friedman said, per Alden González of ESPN.

Nevertheless, these decisions aren't as simple as black and white, and the Dodgers president even acknowledged as much. Friedman revealed that there wasn't that much communication between the Dodgers and Eduardo Rodriguez, which may have complicated matters.

“But obviously for family reasons, we never got 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,” Friedman added.

Eduardo Rodriguez would have given the Dodgers a high-level arm to front the rotation amid the team's injury problems and innings limits to their young starters. Rodriguez, in 15 starts (88.1 innings pitched), has put up a 2.91 ERA, tallying 2.2 WAR (per Fangraphs) for the 47-60 Tigers.

After failing to acquire Rodriguez, the Dodgers will be relying on Tony Gonsolin, Julio Urías, Bobby Miller, Emmet Sheehan, and Lance Lynn to make some starts for the team amid Clayton Kershaw's injury.