The sale of the Dodgers to a group headed by Magic Johnson and longtime MLB executive Stan Kasten has been the biggest story in sports over the past 48 hours. Here's a look at the latest out of Los Angeles..
- Andre Ethier says that it's too early to say how the Dodgers’ sale could affect his future, writes Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times. Ethier is under contract this year for $10.95MM and will be eligible for free agency at the end of the season. The outfielder sounds open to discussing a deal during the season.
- Jim Bowden of ESPN Radio (via Twitter) believes that one of Stan Kasten's first moves will be to sign Clayton Kershaw long-term and go after the likes of Matt Cain, Cole Hamels, or Zack Greinke in free agency.
- MLB commissioner Bud Selig addressed the sale of the club, saying, "This has been a long, difficult process, and I once again want to thank the great Dodger fans for their loyalty and patience," tweets Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times.
- Former owner Peter O'Malley led an unsuccessful bid to buy back his club but is happy to see that Magic Johnson and Stan Kasten will be at the helm, writes Shaikin.
Kershaw, Greinke, and Hamels. That would be nice. Not only are they among the elite pitchers in Baseball, but they are all young too. The Dodgers are the only team in the position to offer all these guys long term deals worth a lot of money. Lately from what ive seen in recent free agents is that they are more concerned about length of there contracts rather than how much it pays. Given all their ages and with new ownership the Dodgers seem like the only team that can give all three of these guys exactly what they’re worth and the years they are asking for.
… Yankees have the ability to offer them long term deals with lots of money, too.
But they won’t because they’re trying to stay under the new salary threshold.
True. The Dodgers are only the 11th highest spender.
I think what important is the development, health and maturation of Nova, Pineda, Hughes, Banuelos and Betances this year. Obviously, none of those 4 are as impactfull as the 3 big free agents mentioned but if they perform up to their potential then those 4 plus Sabathia make the need for another $150 mil pitcher less urgent.
As for the 2012 payroll, I’m not sure where they are right now but it’s not hard to figure that Mo ($15 mil), Swisher ($10.25), Kuroda ($10 mil), Felciano ($4 mil), Garcia ($4 mil), Jones ($2 mil) and Joba ($1.7 mil) may not be on the roster next year. After raises, a new deal for Cano, etc they should still have enough to cover a $22 mil annual salary.
The key is to be able to replace the stars with less expensive but equally capable players. The pitching may not be as much of a problem as maybe the position players since the Yanks don’t have a OF of Swish’s ability in the upper ranks yet.
Yeah but they can only pick one. Like i said we are the only team in the position to possibly get all three. Besides I don’t think anyone of those pitcher’s want to pitch in a super small ballpark like Yankees stadium. I’m sure they would rather pitch in a pitchers park like Dodgers Stadium.
I will swear off baseball if Cain goes to the Dodgers.
Haha, why though? As in a Giant going to the Dodgers? Stuff like that doesn’t matter anymore I think.
I’ll admit I was shocked when Jason Schmidt signed with the team, and then double shocked when his first fastball of the season clocked in at a healthy 87 MPH. Yikes…
Hamels pitches in Philly. He can handle any park.
I’d take Cain over Greinke.
no way. Greinke’s got the power of Adderall
I would too. I only say Greinke because Cain is currently a Giant and i think i would be easier to get Greinke. You are totally right though. Cain is better than Greinke.
I’m not even sure why it would be a question, besides one great and frankly aberrant year Grienke is simply an above average pitcher whereas Cain is a star.
That said, I seriously doubt we’ll see Cain in Dodger blues next year. My bet is the Giants will do whatever it takes to keep Cain.
Your right. Getting Matt Cain seems like a long shot. I wonder if he’s gonna ask the Giants to pay him more than what they paid Zito? If i was him i’d be mad if they offered him anything less than what they gave Barry Zito.
Has Jim Bowden had an original idea in his life?
I feel bad for Dodgers fans. Kasten cares more about other teams fans than the fans of the team he works for.
Is that a reference to the Nats/Phillies screw-up? Can you explain how Kasten could have stopped that? I don’t mean that to sound like an attack, I just want your opinion because I’ve never thought how someone could stop something like that.
I am not 100% sure of the situation surrounding it either. Did a bunch of Phillies fans just buy the tickets off of the Nats website? So they saw that a bunch of the tickets were going to Philly and should have stopped it?
I tell you, I have so much respect for Magic Johnson. What a great example of a guy making the most out of live and squeezing every bit of potential out of his life. How many ways can this guy succeed? Maybe he’ll decide to go to medical school and find a cure for Aids? What a successful guy and a great example of an athlete transitioning into an even better businessman.