Live-blog: Farhan Zaidi talks post-deadline Dodgers

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By Jon Weisman

Farhan Zaidi is speaking to reporters today about the state of the Dodgers after today’s three trades that yielded Rich Hill and Josh Reddick, Jesse Chavez and Josh Fields, at the cost of Jharel Cotton, Grant Holmes, Frankie Montas, Mike Bolsinger and Yordan Alvarez. We’ll live-blog his comments as they come, beginning shortly after 3:30 p.m. …

On how the deals came together: 

“It was kind of a slow buildup toward the last couple of hours here. The Oakland deal really started getting into the final stage late last night, and we were able to sort of start the medicals on that, so that wasn’t quite as frantic as some of the other activity going on. We really wanted to add another bat to the lineup and bring in a starting pitcher, and to be able to accomplish both of those goals in the same deal was really helpful.”

On how difficult the market was: 

“In the era of the two wild-cards, there’s a lot of teams out there that feel like they’re still in the playoff hunt and not that many teams that are really in pure sell mode. … I know the perception is coming in that on some of these deals, the buyers paid a high price. Maybe it’s not a high price – maybe it’s just the price of doing business these days.”

On whether the thin free-agent market this winter affected deadline deals:

“Even guys that are potential free agents, it’s possible just kind of just having them around your team and creating some dialogue around that gives you a little bit of a first-mover advantage in trying to lock them up. That’s certainly a factor in rather than waiting around for free agency, try to bring some guys in who can help you now and maybe retain them going forward.”

On how the uncertain status of Clayton Kershaw affected their approach:

“I wouldn’t say it did at all. Our position on Kersh is there’s still some optimism that he can help us, and he’s the most valuable player in the game, in my unbaised opinion. But beyond that, this team has played very well since he went down, so there was a real motivation to try to keep some of that momentum going and try to add a bat and an arm to help this team’s recent surge continue. … I think the most important thing was, we’re in a pretty good position to make a run, and so let’s go out and get the pieces we think can help.”

On Reddick and Hill: 

“Josh Reddick is a two-way player. He has power. He’s a Gold Glove-caliber outfielder. I think he’s gonna help this team a lot. I think he was as good as any position player available in this trade market. Rich Hill as a starting pitcher was just from a pure performance perspective as good or better as any starting pitcher traded today or in the last week or so. I think both of these guys can help us a lot, and I do feel like we were aggressive in going out and getting these guys.”

On how Reddick’s acquisition affects the starting outfield: 

“We’re just going to take it day by day and put out the lineup every day that has the best chance to win.”

On how soon Hill will pitch for the Dodgers:

“We don’t have an exact timetable on that, but obviously his availability in the short term was an important part of us moving ahead on this deal. So we feel pretty good about it, but we don’t have an exact date for when he’d be out there for us.”

On the bigger names that didn’t get traded: 

“A lot of the names that were out there that were rumored to be available did not get moved. That speaks to either erroneous reports about their availability in the first place, or the fact that no other team was willing to meet the price that was put out there. That’s not to say the price wasn’t fair, but none of those guys were moved.”

On the pitching prospects the Dodgers gave up: 

“I guess our broader philosophy was, this is a team that actually from a minor-league standpoint has a lot of pitching depth, particularly starting pitching in the pipeline coming up through Double-A and Triple-A. So the ability to meet our trading needs from our pitching depth, rather than going to our position-player side, was our preference. … We like the guys that we gave up. There was a competitive market for these two players that we got from Oakland. We knew we were going to have to give up pitchers we like.

“That’s the cost of doing business at the trade deadline. When your team is in a good position and you know there are other teams trying to prove themselves also, you’ve got to dip into that well and give the team across the table value. I certainly think we did that, but we obviously like the guys we got a lot.”

On whether Fields will go to Triple-A:

“We haven’t decided that. We have a day and we’ve got some moving parts.”

On whether Chavez will start or relieve:

“I think we view him as a swingman, and obviously another guy that I know from my time in Oakland, and actually did a good bit of starting for us there. What is valuable about him is he’s got a rubber arm, he can come in and pitch two, three, four innings at a time. On the flip side … if you need him to make a spot start, he can do that. That kind of guy is really valuable, and we’ve certainly gone through stretches this year where having that type of guy would have helped our pen stay fresh. So his versatility in that role is going to be a big benefit to us. We expect him to start in the pen, but he has the ability to swing over if we need it.”

On the Giants’ moves:

“We’re focused on our team and what we felt we needed to do to improve ourselves. It’s obviously a close race, and the two guys we got we think are certainly going to help us. We expected them, like every team that’s in the playoff hunt, to turn over stones trying to improve their team, and they did bring in a couple of players that they think will help them, and we brought in a couple of players that we think will help us.”

On whether the Dodgers are too left-handed at the plate:

“Our division’s pitching is actually pretty right-handed. Being left-handed leaning can actually be of some benefit in this division. We do have some right-handed bench bats that can come in and spell some guys and create a different look for the lineup. More than anything, we were looking for guys that can come in and help us and impact the division race.”

On how much Reddick will play against left-handed pitchers:

“I know he feels he’s an everyday guy. I have seen him play every day in stretches and have quality at-bats against left-handed pitching. And the fact that he brings quality, Gold Glove defense every day adds to value of his being out there every day. But that’s ultimately a question for (Dave Roberts) if he wants to address it, but frankly I think what he’s going to do, especially with this group that gives him different options and different looks, is just put the best eight guys out there on that given day.”

On the odds that the Dodgers make another move (in which players would need to clear waivers): 

“It’s hard to handicap. We have a team that, part of the reason we’ve been able to withstand (so many) injuries is because of the depth that we had going into the year, and I think we still feel pretty good about that depth internally. Because of the way the waiver rules work, you’re more likely going to be looking at depth-type options in terms of who becomes available and who gets to your place on the waiver order. Relative to the situation where we had more urgent needs, I’d say it’s a little less likely we do something, but we’re going to be very active on trade waivers looking for guys we think can help us.”