Dodgers' trade for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner was essential - Los Angeles Times

The Dodgers had lost 15 of 20 games.

But 127 games remained on the regular schedule, plenty of time to surpass the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres in the National League West and steer themselves on track to another World Series title.

Just when it looked like a division rival would make the biggest splash at the trade deadline, Andrew Friedman of the Dodgers came through again.

Winning their ninth straight division title, never mind a World Series, to avoid the dreaded one-game wild-card playoff would require favorable outcomes for matters beyond their control.

So Andrew Friedman took control before Friday’s trade deadline.

On Friday, he upended the baseball world by acquiring All-Stars Max Scherzer and Trea Turner from the Washington Nationals for four minor leaguers, including Keibert Ruiz and Josiah Gray, the organization’s top two prospects.

“For us it was about adding impact talent,” Friedman said of beating out a division rival for Scherzer.

Major midseason trades aren’t foreign to Friedman.

The Dodgers aren’t the only NL West power anymore — not this season and not for the foreseeable future.

MLB’s trade deadline tracker: Updates, analysis on all the moves.

With the trade deadline on Friday, The Times provides real-time updates and analysis on all the transactions in Major League Baseball.

The genesis for Friday’s seismic trade can be traced to the Dodgers’ four-game series in Washington at the beginning of July.

The Dodgers arrived in the nation’s capital on a Wednesday, the day after a woman accused Bauer of sexual assault and obtained a temporary restraining order against him.

On Thursday, they visited the White House to celebrate their 2020 World Series.

Corey Seager, back from injury, says Trea Turner trade makes Dodgers ‘a better team’.

Corey Seager, who returned from the injured list, was evasive about how the trade for shortstop Trea Turner would impact his future with the Dodgers.

The genesis for Friday’s seismic trade can be traced to the Dodgers’ four-game series in Washington in July

But the Dodgers swept them and they never recovered, leading to general manager Mike Rizzo’s decision to deal eight veterans, including three All-Stars, less than two years after winning a World Series

Front offices strive to avoid rebuilds, to remain in World Series contention every year

Friedman and the Dodgers aren’t there yet