The Dodgers were in desperate need of pitching at the trade deadline last season, and opted to take some less-expensive chances rather than go for one of the three aces on the market.
David Price was traded to Toronto, Cole Hamels to Texas and Johnny Cueto to the eventual world champion Kansas City Royals. The Dodgers probably had the means to trade for one or two of them, but instead opted to trade for Mat Latos and Alex Wood, among others. Toronto, Texas and Kansas City all traded valuable prospects in their respective moves, while the Dodgers basically traded an injured reliever and an injured 31-year-old prospect, and got a top-100 prospect in return.