The Dodgers topped the Braves 6-2 in Game 4 of the NLDS on Monday and in doing so advanced to the NLCS for a third straight year. Speaking those six runs, here's a fact of note:
As Shaikin notes, the Dodgers under president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and GM Farhan Zaidi have been reluctant to trade away their premium prospects for near-team guys who will help them in the here and now. On the other hand, the Dodgers this season have been active in bolstering the roster, and two of those guys came up big in Game 4.
First, here's postseason legend David Freese coming up huge in a big spot in the sixth inning:
That clutch single flipped the script for the Dodgers in this one. As for Freese, the Dodgers acquired him during the August waiver period from the Pirates in exchange for a utility infielder in the lowest rungs of the minors.
Now let's go to the seventh, when Manny Machado supplied the dagger:
That three-run shot essentially put the game away for the Dodgers. Machado, of course, was the Dodgers' headline-grabbing addition in the days leading up to the non-waiver trade deadline. Friedman and Zaidi were able to land the superstar and prize of the deadline while parting with only one top-100 overall prospect.
So, yes, the Dodgers still have high-ceiling youngsters like Walker Buehler, Alex Verdugo, Julio Urias, Keibert Ruiz, Mitchell White, Yadier Alvarez and Dustin May in the fold, and they've resisted calls to trade some of those names. That, however, doesn't mean the current roster and the organization's designs on winning the World Series have been neglected. For evidence of that claim, look no further than Game 4 in Atlanta.