Even after signing Dan Haren earlier in the offseason and agreeing to extend Clayton Kershaw today, the Dodgers hope to add another arm to their staff, report Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter links). Masahiro Tanaka is a possibility, but would be an ownership call, while Bronson Arroyo is also on the team's "short list" of options.
Club GM Ned Colletti has said that, despite inking Haren, another starter addition remained possible. The rotation presumably will include Kershaw, Zack Greinke, and Hyun-jin Ryu in addition to Haren. For the fifth spot, absent a new signing, the club would be expected to host a Spring Training competition between veterans Josh Beckett and Chad Billingsley.
While Beckett and Billingsley remain question marks due to injury issues, the two are owed a combined $27.75MM by Los Angeles next year. Presumably, either or both could become trade candidates in the event that another starter is brought in.
That was fast. Commit to three long-term deals plus Ryu or hold a fifth man competition for: Arroyo, Billingsley and Beckett?
Going to further say Arroyo and Tanaka end up on the Yankees and Dodgers in some combination.
Is Billingsley healthy? Seems his career had been stuck in idle…..
Recovering from TJ. May be available June.
I’m a Dodger fan exiled to Pittsburgh; guess I wasn’t aware he had TJ; thought he was going to be a great pitcher when he was young. Bu then I though Ismael Valdez was going to be great too.
The hope for the Dodgers is that the Tommy John surgery he had fixed his arm and he can have a similar rebirth a la John Lackey last season with Boston. And Billingsley is younger than Lackey was when he had the TJ surgery. (He doesn’t turn 30 until July.) In 2011-12, his velocity had dropped to about 91 or so due to his elbow issues. The same thing had happened to Lackey in Boston. Lackey was back throwing 95 last season. If Bills can get back to throwing 95, he could still be quite effective. He’s always walked too many guys, but guys haven’t hit him hard and his career ERA of 3.65 is very good.
Lackey averaged 91.7mph on his fastball last season. The three years prior? 91.6, 91.5, 91.6. I’m pretty sure TJ did nothing for him in that department.
And Billingsley has never averaged more than 92mph on his own fastball, and that was 7 years ago
Picky, picky, picky.
I have a feeling that Bills comes back in the pen.
Ownership wants to win. They will pay tanaka cash. Tanaka wants to win. Hello dodgers .
John Danks, take John Danks!
Gee, I wonder which pitcher the Dodgers have in mind…
Billingsley is out until June…
Take dodger Films
Kershaw, Greinke, Ryu, Tanaka, Haren. That looks amazing on paper. The Dodgers don’t need Tanaka, but if they want him I hope they get him. If they don’t the Dodgers will still have an amazing pitching staff.
unfortunately, you’re right.
I hope Dodger fans appreciate all this spending.
I just think it’s mind boggling as to how much money the Dodgers are spending.
The bottom line is what if the Dodgers don’t win a World Series with this team.
Then what?
Well, the Dodgers did lead MLB in attendance last year so the fans are coming out to the games.
Also, I’m sure cable and dish rates will raise for people in L.A. for the new TWC Dodgers channel they’ll be on so the fans will be paying extra for that as well.
Dodgers fans have lived threw being owned by the FOX corporation and Frank McCourt. Every year we saw top free agents sign with other teams with absolutely no chance of signing them. It’s only been two years since the Dodgers have finaly been able to sign top free agents. This is an exciting time for the Dodgers, and the fans. Hopefully a world series will come out of it, they are never a guarantee no matter how much money you spend.
Then try again.. Yes we Dodgers fans are in heaven compared to where they were 2 years ago when McCourt owned the team.
That extra pitcher will be Tanaka. The Dodgers are the new Yankees.
it’s said Tanaka’s wife prefers the west coast. I’m not up to date on Japanese culture but in my family, my wife and I have equal votes but she holds veto power.
Dodgers fans happy… Went from bottom of the barrel chapter 11 all the way back to the top…
Not much of a matchup between Beckett and Billingsley since he won’t even be available until midseason.
Beckett and Billingsley trade candidates? Interesting. They will be paying most of that $27.75 million whether they trade them or not.
A spring training battle involving Billingsley (Due back in May at the earliest) is nonsensical.
This $30.7m for Kershaw puts them at approx $240m, and they have a few arb players left.
How much will they be paying in luxury tax, since they’ve been over multiple times? 50%?! If it’s 50% for the amount over $189m that’s another $25M+ added to that $240m prior to signing Tanaka or another SP.
“How much will they be paying in luxury tax, since they’ve been over multiple times?” The Dodgers were hit with the luxury tax for the first time on 12-18-13. What multiple times are you referring too?
I meant 2013 and now 2014 sorry
Well if I understand the luxury tax system then they’ll have to pay a 30% luxury tax based on how much over $189M this year.
Approx $16m at this point. That’s puppy change for LAD.
as long as they don’t go over the $285M avg the new TV contract gives them per year they’ll be OK, and with Bills, Beckett & the deferred contracts coming off the books next year (40M) eveything should be fine even if we sign Tanaka
Gonna be fun watching LA miss the World Series again
Man your team must be terrible if watching the dodgers lose is your idea of watching and enjoying baseball.
Everybody has teams they root for and against. It’s not hard to root against a team that’s trying to buy a championship
Every team is trying to buy a championship. You can’t win without giving millions of dollars to players. Every team does it, the Dodgers just do it more.
Just about every team has a fairly restrictive budget limiting where they can allocate their resources. The Dodgers continue to pick up the big names in areas that are already loaded despite the fact that such moves will essentially force them to eat massive portions of displaced player salaries
I’d still root for my favorite team but I would still be against that approach. Historically it hurts teams more than it helps them
As a Dodger fan, I would much rather ownership put money back onto the field and into the fan experience (google “Dodgers Stadium renovations” to see what they have been up to in that department) than just pocket it. I would be ticked if the Dodgers had a $160 million payroll now that I know how much their TV deal was worth. I am glad they are spending it on players, but I also realize the accusations of “buying a championship” come with the territory.
Must be nice to root for a team where the players play for free, oh wait, that doesn’t exist in professional sports. So every owner is trying to “buy a championship”
Big names in areas that they are already loaded? Where? I don’t see 20 million dollar guys filling utility roles, do you?
It can’t be corner infield..it can’t be middle infield..the outfield is riddled with injuries..bullpens are always a crapshoot..can’t be the rotation either (Beckett is broken, Billingsley probably isn’t ready until mid-year).
They’ve got holes. So they are trying to fill holes with the best guys. Seems pretty logical.
After going through decades of famine it is nice to go through some decades of feast. We have a very fat cow that is why we do it more.
So if your favorite team all of a sudden became billionaires, and started signing every top free agent that was available you would root against them because they are trying to buy a championship? Really?
Whaaaa? The Dodgers have a spot in the rotation open and you call the Dodgers possibly signing Tanaka trying to buy a championship?
Seattle Mariners could sign Masahiro Tanaka this month….
and how will that come?
C’mon…sign Tanaka and break the bank.
Kind of hard to break the bank when the principle owner (Mark Walter) is a billionaire willing to spend his own money to win. dodgers haven’t even maxed out their tv money. People severely underestimate how deep the ownerships pockets are and their willingness to invest all revenue into the team
The Dodgers just secured an 8.5 billion dollar TV contract. They can sign 5 Kershaws and 10 Tanakas, and not break the bank.
So, is this to settle things before making Tanaka offers? That can work two ways: reassuring Kershaw (big time) and showing Tanaka they’re serious. Presuming they haven’t closed the vault, I believe this makes the Dodgers front-runners for Tanaka (if they weren’t already). For teams not in the NL West, it may be the best outcome.
The question is at what point does the Dodgers ownership say the gains aren’t worth the price.
Looking at Cot’s and adding in Kershaw’s new contract, the Dodgers are already at $170M for the 2015 season and that’s just taking into account 12 contracts. There’s also at $160M for 2016 and that’s 9 contracts. That basically means any contract the Dodgers sign this year will actually cost 30% more this year, 40% next, and possibly 50% the year after.
In other words assuming the Dodgers sign Tanaka, let say $20M a year, and assuming the Dodgers keep a high payroll then over the next 3 years Tanaka will cost the Dodgers $24M more than the $60M the Dodgers will pay him over 3 years.
A likely 5 yr/120 MIL deal for what would be your #3 starting pitcher seems crazy. Nothing wrong with throwing money around if you’ve got it to blow but why not address a bigger weakness (Uribe at 3B comes to mind)?
I agree, but there weren’t really any good 3B options on the market this year. Uribe has a 2 year deal, which is clearly only a stop-gap deal until Corey Seager is ready to play at the ML level. The plan is that either Seager or Hanley will slide over to 3rd.
And again, assuming Tanaka is the contract that breaks the luxury tax barrier then that 5 year/$120M deal is actually $144M+.
They better settle for Jimenez, Santana, or Arroyo, cause Tanaka’s coming to NY.
Doesn’t look like Dodgers ownership is settling on anything they don’t want. If they want Tanaka he will be a Dodger. They can offer as much money as anybody else, the decision is up to Tanaka
what are you talking about? he is gonna be a Mariner.
You’re both wrong, he’s coming to the White Sox.
why would he go to the white sox. when he can come to seattle.
You’re all wrong, I’m the real Spartacus
No! THIS IS PATRICK!
I say go all in on Tanaka, trade Beckett or Billingsley and call it a day. Arroyo is mediocre.
There’s nothing certain about recovering from Tommy John surgery but Brian Wilson seems okay after two of them.I think Billingsley will be the fifth by mid-season.
How can anybody have as much cash as the Dodger’s ownership? It’s unreal – and wonderful for the LA fans.