acquire

CHICAGO — The Dodgers added catching depth on Monday with a familiar name.

They acquired journeyman backstop Ben Rortvedt from the Mets for right-hander Chayce McDermott, the team announced hours before the trade deadline.

The move marked the third time in a little over a year that the Dodgers have acquired Rortvedt. They also traded for him before the deadline last year and claimed him off waivers for several days in February.

The Dodgers designated McDermott for assignment on Friday in the midst of a reliever shuffle to prepare for a bullpen game.

The team felt comfortable with backup catcher Dalton Rushing taking on the bulk of the catching duties while catcher Will Smith continues to work back from a lingering neck injury that’s kept him sidelined since early June. But depth at the physically taxing position is always valuable.

That point was highlighted Sunday, when the Dodgers scratched Rushing from the lineup with what they called minor arm irritation.

In Rortvedt, the Dodgers bring in an experienced catcher who is familiar with their pitching staff back into the organization. Not on the Mets’ 40-man roster, Rortvedt has spent the season in Triple-A Syracuse, where he posted a .733 OPS.

Also Monday, the Dodgers acquired left-handed pitcher Kris Bubic from the Kansas City Royals for right-hander Carlos Duran, according to a person familiar with the but not authorized to speak publicly. Bubic, who is on the 60-day injured list with left elbow soreness, last pitched on May 14 against the Chicago White Sox. He made 20 starts last year for the Royals, going 8-7 with a 4.11 earned-run average.

Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman felt good enough about his trade discussions with the Detroit Tigers for two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal that he gave manager Dave Roberts a positive update shortly before the team’s game against the Red Sox on Saturday.

“I heard that it was pretty much done,” Roberts recounted Sunday afternoon. “But there’s obviously things that have to go on with medical, so it wasn’t actually even finalized. I just heard that it was pretty much close.”

Friedman, however, wasn’t ready to exhale until he got final word from the Tigers during the game.

“I had no idea and was trying to emotionally hedge,” he said. “I wasn’t getting too high or too low on it until we actually found out.”

There was, it turned out, no need to stress. On Saturday, the Dodgers agreed to trade three prospects — outfielder Zyhir Hope (No. 25 on MLB Pipeline’s top 100), right-handed pitcher River Ryan (No. 68) and right-hander Brady Smith — to the Tigers for one of the best starters in baseball.

The teams officially announced the trade Sunday.

Even as the Dodgers signaled a potentially low-key trade deadline in the lead-up — “we try to do everything we can to avoid not having to do something,” Friedman said last week — many rival executives and scouts had come to see the Dodgers landing Skubal as practically inevitable.

Of course, the World Series favorites didn’t need to acquire Skubal. But if they wanted him, they’d get him.

And they did.

“Friday it started picking up a little bit,” Friedman said. “But [Saturday] it was much more aggressive back and forth and a lot of different conversations. Obviously being on our side, you didn’t really know how long the process was gonna go, whether it was gonna go into Sunday, into Monday. But obviously we were of the mind to be aggressive and try to get a deal done.

“We were of the mind to be aggressive for one player this deadline, and fortunately we were able to line up.”

Andrew Friedman, Dodgers president of baseball operations, speaks to reporters on Jan. 21.

(Damian Dovarganes / Associated Press)

Two aspects of the trade did, however, take the industry by surprise: the timing and the return.

The Dodgers pulled off the trade without disrupting their major-league squad. Ryan, who made four major-league starts in 2024, has the stuff to compete in the majors, but health has kept him from another call-up.

“Obviously they felt good going through it,” Friedman said. “We gave up a lot of talent. Those guys are really good, and have a chance to be really good major-league players. But with where our core is, this moment in time, it was something that we felt like, erring on the side of aggressive made the most sense right now.”

Skubal joins Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and Shohei Ohtani as postseason rotation options, creating an enviable surplus if all five are healthy in October.

“I think it’s arguably the best rotation of all time — as if it wasn’t before as well,” catcher Dalton Rushing said. “Hope he’s ready to win a ring.”

Said veteran utility player Miguel Rojas: “It’s a statement from this organization to the rest of the league and the world that they’re not just satisfied with what happened the last couple years. … It’s kind of like a pressed button for us to kind of continue to go and not let the rest of the league catch up to our standards.”

Of course, health is never guaranteed. Skubal and Snell have undergone surgeries to remove loose bodies from their pitching elbows. Skubal has made nine appearances since, and Snell is scheduled to make one more rehab start before being activated off the injured list.

Glasnow, on the verge of a rehab assignment, has been sidelined for nearly three months with back spasms, an injury the Dodgers initially hoped wouldn’t even need an IL stint.

Ohtani’s nagging knee problem creates the most uncertainty. Ohtani hasn’t pitched in nearly a month, despite receiving an Orthovisc injection to lubricate the joint. He could restart playing catch this week in Chicago, Roberts said.

“We’re as confident as we can be that he’s going to be back and he’s going to start throwing soon and building back up,” Friedman said. “You can never perfectly predict the future but if you said, ‘Hey, place a bet on it,’ I would be very confident placing it that he would be back pitching.”

Pitcher Tarik Skubal is congratulated by teammates after playing in his final game with the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday against the Baltimore Orioles.

(Paul Sancya / Associated Press)

With this much time off, however, Ohtani will need to build back up to a starter’s workload without the benefit of a rehab assignment, similar to what he did last season. The timing of his return to the mound will dictate how long the build-up will be.

“We have a plan to build him up slowly, methodically,” Roberts said. “And that would have happened if this trade would have happened or not.”

In the meantime, the Dodgers are filling his spot in the rotation with the best possible option. Skubal is scheduled to make his Dodgers debut Tuesday against the Cubs in Chicago.

And the Dodgers aren’t necessarily done dealing. As of Sunday afternoon, they still were engaged on “a number of different conversations on a number of different fronts,” Friedman said.

When asked if the Dodgers could still add to the major-league roster, however, Friedman said that was “less likely.”

“Never say never,” he said. “Fortunately, we don’t have that acute need that we have to do this or our team is in real danger.”

He did, however, mention the Dodgers’ lack of an acute need before acquiring Skubal too.

As if anyone needed a reminder, the Rams know how to go all-in.

On Monday, the already Super Bowl-ready Rams pulled off another massive deal, acquiring defensive end Myles Garrett — the league’s defensive player of the year — in a trade with the Cleveland Browns for edge rusher Jared Verse, a 2027 first-round draft pick, a 2028 second-round pick and a 2029 third-rounder.

Garrett, 30, is a nine-year veteran, five-time All-Pro and two-time defensive player of the year. Last season, he amassed a league-high 23 sacks, increasing his career total to 125.5.

Garrett is scheduled to earn $31.5 million this season, according to Overthecap.com.

Verse, 25, was the 19th player chosen in the 2024 draft. He was the NFL defensive rookie of the year and last season had 7½ sacks for a Rams team that advanced to the NFC championship before losing to the eventual Super Bowl-champion Seattle Seahawks.

Verse is scheduled to carry a salary-cap number of $4.1 million this season, according to Overthecap, but is presumably in line for a massive contract extension.

Rams linebacker Jared Verse (8) celebrates after a defensive stand against the Colts in September.

(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

The Garrett trade is the second major offseason deal for the Rams. In March, they traded for All-Pro cornerback Trent McDuffie, and then signed him to an extension that makes him the highest paid player at his position in NFL history.

The Rams are a favorite to play in Super Bowl LXI, which will be played at SoFi Stadium.

The move bolsters an already formidable Rams pass rushing unit that has played a integral part in the Rams being among the favorites to win the Super Bowl at SoFi Stadium in February. During the 2021 season, the Rams traded for pass rusher Von Miller en route to winning the Super Bowl at home.

This is a developing story. The Times will have more soon on the Rams acquiring Garrett.