How Dave Roberts Felt About Eduardo Rodriguez Vetoing Dodgers Trade

Countless baseball fans were shocked Tuesday when Eduardo Rodriguez rejected an opportunity to join the Dodgers.

Those high on the totem pole in Los Angeles were caught off guard by the left-hander’s decision, too.

Rodriguez invoking his no-trade clause and blocking a move to LA was something Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman “didn’t expect at all.” Manager Dave Roberts echoed that sentiment after the veteran southpaw chose not to latch on with one of the best teams in baseball.

“To have a chance to come to a team with guys that he’s familiar with, on a team that’s playing for a championship, it’s surprising,” Roberts told reporters Tuesday, per ESPN.

The familiar faces were also harped on by Friedman as a perceived selling point for Rodriguez. The Dodgers currently roster Ryan Brasier, Joe Kelly, Kiké Hernández, Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez, all of whom played alongside Rodriguez at points of his six-year tenure with the Boston Red Sox. Four of them won a World Series with Rodriguez back in 2018 against, ironically enough, Los Angeles.

But Rodriguez reportedly turned down the Dodgers with his family’s best interest in mind, so Roberts, Friedman and company will have no choice but to respect that choice even if they’re not happy about it.