1 hour ago
2
CHICAGO –– In the days leading up to Monday’s deadline, the Dodgers’ front office was believed to be discussing potential trades for Eric Lauer and Alex Call.
Behind the scenes, however, conversations were had with the two players themselves, as well.
Both Call and Lauer, who wound up not getting dealt and will now finish the season in Los Angeles as depth pieces in the club’s pursuit of a third-straight World Series, said Tuesday that they talked with executives about their status and expressed their desire to remain with the team.
Each also emphasized how much they appreciated the way their situations were handled, and how they were grateful to still be with the organization after weeks of trade rumors had left their futures in doubt.
“How comfortable and easy everything has been here,” Lauer said, “I don’t think that going to another organization would be the same.”
Lauer had been bracing for trade possibilities ever since the Dodgers initially acquired him from the Toronto Blue Jays earlier this season.
Though the veteran left-hander has surpassed expectations in his brief tenure with the club, going 5-0 with a 2.96 ERA in nine outings (all of which have been Dodgers wins, to boot), he also knew he was serving as a temporary fill-in for their banged-up starting rotation, leaving his roster spot tenuous for the stretch run of the season.
By the time Monday arrived, though, Lauer had an inkling that he might not end up getting dealt.
While he did feel “anticipation building” as the deadline approached, he said his recent discussions with the team had also put his mind at ease.
“They had been pretty open with me communication-wise about what they were thinking, what I was thinking,” Lauer said. “I expressed to them that I wanted to be a Dodger. So I think they took that to heart.”
“I think it’s very rare,” he added of the front office’s openness with him. “I’ve never been given this option. I’ve never been told this much about what was going on. So it’s just another testament to the communication here. It’s top of the line, really.”
Call echoed that sentiment, saying he had chatted with president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman as reports repeatedly linked him with a potential move away from the team.
“He wasn’t giving me assurance either way,” Call said. “But [he said] basically that, ‘We really respect you. We value what you do. How you approach the game, how you prepare, how you’re ready. That’s the exact type of player that we like.’ … Anytime you hear that type of stuff, you’re just grateful for the organization. It kinda validates what you’re doing.”
Had Lauer or Call been dealt, of course, they likely would have gone to a team capable of giving them more important roles.
Call has been relegated in recent weeks almost exclusively to bench duties, starting only four games since June 24. Lauer is still in the Dodgers’ rotation for now, thanks in part to Emmet Sheehan’s demotion to triple-A, but is likely to shift to a bulk-inning bullpen role once Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow (who both made minor-league rehab outings Tuesday) return to health.
Despite that, both maintained that their preference was to stay with the two-time defending champions.
“There’s an argument to be made for playing somewhere else, and maybe playing more,” Call said. “But the way I look at it is, I am tremendously blessed to be here, to be in the major leagues, and to be on the best team ever. The grass isn’t always greener. And, I do have a tough role, but I like tough things. And to be champions, you need everybody to do their part.”
“My part is probably not going to be as large as Shohei Ohtani’s,” Call added with a laugh. “But nonetheless, there’s still opportunities for me to have an impact on a championship season. And that’s where my mindset is focused on every day.”
Thus, once the deadline struck at 5 p.m. Central time on Monday, both were informed by the team’s coaching staff that they weren’t going anywhere.
“We talked through every possible scenario,” Lauer said. “And my comfortability level with it, their comfortability level with it, it all just kind of lined up.”
English (US)