Minutes before the July 31 non-waiver deadline, the Los Angeles Dodgers traded for one of the best pitchers in baseball in Yu Darvish. You know, because having the No. 6 (Clayton Kershaw), No. 10 (Alex Wood) and No. 29 (Brandon McCarthy) starters in the National League, per Fangraphs WAR, wasn’t enough. Not to mention July’s NL Pitcher of the Month in Rich Hill.
As soon as the trade was completed, you could almost hear the wheels turning in the minds of Dodgers fans everywhere — “our playoff rotation is going to be WHAT?!”
The excitement was palpable, and it was all for good reason.