Headlines

  • Rangers Trade Dane Dunning To Braves
  • Kyle Gibson Announces Retirement
  • Yankees Interested In Mitch Keller
  • Pirates Trade Adam Frazier To Royals
  • Mets, Yankees Among Teams To Show Recent Interest In David Robertson
  • Stuart Sternberg Has Agreed To Sell Rays To Patrick Zalupski, Deal Expected To Be Final By September
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

Remove Ads
  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Guardians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2025 Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Agency Database
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Needs and Luxuries: Los Angeles Dodgers

By Tim Dierkes | October 4, 2007 at 3:51pm CDT

Next up in the series, the Dodgers.  You can view all the Needs and Luxuries posts here.

C – Russell Martin
1B – James Loney
2B – Jeff Kent
SS – Rafael Furcal
3B – Andy LaRoche/Nomar Garciaparra
LF – Andre Ethier
CF – Juan Pierre
RF – Matt Kemp

SP – Brad Penny
SP – Derek Lowe
SP – Chad Billingsley
SP – Esteban Loaiza
SP – Jason Schmidt/Mark Hendrickson/Hong-Chih Kuo

Setup: Jonathan Broxton
Closer: Takashi Saito

Needs

The Dodgers need some power; their .406 team SLG ranked 13th in the NL.  $108MM should buy better than that.  Fortunately, power will be added without acquiring anyone.

Rafael Furcal should slug better than 2007’s .355 mark.  He was at .445 in ’06 (.564 after the break).  Furcal sprained his ankle in a March ’07 game, and it bothered him all year.  He’s a tough guy, and played through it.  He won’t have surgery, but an offseason of rest and an upcoming walk year should get him back to normal for ’08.

Luis Gonzalez slugged only .433, not enough for a corner outfielder.  He won’t be back; his absence should allow Matt Kemp to reach 500 ABs (Kemp slugged .521 this year).

Nomar Garciaparra was pitiful at .371.  He did slug .463 in the second half, so maybe he can return to respectability.  Grady Little needs a quick trigger finger to go to LaRoche, whose 2008 SLG is projected at .483 by PECOTA.

So, I question the notion that the Dodgers need a power bat.  However, it sure as hell wouldn’t hurt.  How about having Ethier becoming one of the game’s most capable fourth outfielders, and importing a left fielder with power?  Adam Dunn, Jason Bay, Barry Bonds, or Manny Ramirez could be blockbuster acquisitions.  What about A-Rod?  As with any team that can afford him, he’d be the best possible acquisition.

Kent’s on board for $9MM in ’08, but there has been speculation that he might not return.  Not sure if that means retirement or a trade demand.  But if second base opens up, Tony Abreu seems a capable replacement.  For this reason, Kent could almost be considered a luxury (he’d be easier to trade if he was a better clubhouse guy).

Luxuries

I like the front end of the bullpen a lot, even more so with Jonathan Meloan close to contributing.  No need to sign pricey relievers, though I wouldn’t trade from this strength.

The Dodgers had an above average rotation in 2007 despite injuries.  Penny, Lowe, and Billingsley is an excellent playoff core.  The Dodgers hope to recoup some of the Schmidt investment.  Loaiza is making $7MM, so he gets first crack at the fifth starter job.  Hopefully, as with Nomar, Little isn’t overly patient because of salary. 

Wild card: the Dodgers have the two best left-handed starting prospects in the game in Scott Elbert and Clayton Kershaw.  Elbert is more of a question mark given June arthroscopic shoulder surgery.  Kershaw could definitely make an ’08 impact.

Randy Wolf wants to come back on the cheap, and Ned Colletti shouldn’t pass that up.  More starting pitching depth is always a good thing.  That said, I wouldn’t start dealing from this possible strength either.

The emergence of Chin-Lung Hu as one of the game’s top shortstop prospects may make Furcal expendable.  Furcal is still plenty valuable despite an off-year.  As I said earlier, a healthy Furcal in his walk year should really bounce back.  It makes sense to trade Furcal in June if he re-establishes his value and Hu keeps hitting at Triple A.  At that time, Colletti can assess his biggest need, perhaps getting that power bat if someone’s hurt or underproducing.

This is a strong team that should win a lot more than 82 games if the young players aren’t benched for inferior veterans.

Share 0 Retweet 0 Send via email0

Los Angeles Dodgers Needs and Luxuries

Brewers Hope To Keep Cordero, Linebrink
Main
Boras’s Approach With Pudge
View Comments (0)
Post a Comment

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.

Log in Register

    Top Stories

    Rangers Trade Dane Dunning To Braves

    Kyle Gibson Announces Retirement

    Yankees Interested In Mitch Keller

    Pirates Trade Adam Frazier To Royals

    Mets, Yankees Among Teams To Show Recent Interest In David Robertson

    Stuart Sternberg Has Agreed To Sell Rays To Patrick Zalupski, Deal Expected To Be Final By September

    Nationals Select Eli Willits With First Pick Of 2025 Amateur Draft

    2025 MLB Draft, First Round Results

    Red Sox Place Hunter Dobbins On 15-Day IL Due To ACL Tear

    Astros Promote Brice Matthews

    Red Sox Likely To Activate Alex Bregman Tomorrow

    Phillies Reportedly Targeting Controllable Relievers

    Yankees Prioritizing Pitching, Also Searching For Infield Help

    Orioles Trade Bryan Baker To Rays

    Yankees Release DJ LeMahieu

    Trevor Williams To Undergo UCL Surgery

    Nationals Fire PBO Mike Rizzo, Manager Dave Martinez

    Brewers Activate Brandon Woodruff

    Clarke Schmidt Expected To Undergo Tommy John Surgery

    Bobby Jenks Passes Away

    Recent

    Rays Agree To Deal With First-Round Pick Daniel Pierce

    Yankees To Designate Rico Garcia For Assignment

    Blue Jays Agree To Terms With First-Rounder JoJo Parker

    Brewers Place Sal Frelick On Injured List

    Reds Sign First-Round Pick Steele Hall

    Mets Interested In Danny Coulombe

    Rangers Select Cody Freeman

    Diamondbacks Sign Sergio Alcántara, Place Ketel Marte On Restricted List Due To Personal Matter

    Fantasy Baseball: Anticipating Bullpen Holes

    Rockies Place Thairo Estrada On IL With Thumb Sprain

    MLBTR Newsletter - Hot stove highlights in your inbox, five days a week

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Sandy Alcantara Rumors
    • Luis Robert Rumors
    • Alex Bregman Rumors

     

    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android App Store Google Play

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Remove Ads, Support Our Writers
    • Front Office Originals
    • Front Office Fantasy Baseball
    • MLBTR Podcast
    • Trade Deadline Outlook Series
    • 2025-26 MLB Free Agent List
    • Contract Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Guardians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • RSS/Twitter Feeds By Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    Do not Sell or Share My Personal Information

    hide arrows scroll to top

    Register

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version