Here’s a look at the Dodgers:
- In an interview with MLB Network Radio, agent Bryce Dixon said that the Dodgers were in on Johnny Cueto “up until the last couple days” (Twitter links via Jon Morosi of FOX Sports). Dixon thought that Cueto would have been a “real good fit” for the Dodgers, but, in the end, the Giants made the stronger offer. At the Winter Meetings in Nashville (before a deal was struck with the Giants) Dixon told MLBTR that he thought Cueto could help form a strong rotation alongside Clayton Kershaw in Los Angeles.
- Mark Whicker of the Los Angeles Daily News isn’t sure that he understands Andrew Friedman’s plan for the Dodgers. He doesn’t feel that Friedman has made unwise deals, but he also doesn’t feel that Friedman’s moves fit together well. Whicker is also concerned about the Dodgers’ lack of a clear No. 2 next to Kershaw after the departure of Greinke and Cueto signing with the Giants. He opines that landing Jose Fernandez from the Marlins would be the best way to fill the No. 2 spot in the rotation and also supports the idea of trading for Rays hurler Jake Odorizzi, something L.A. has explored.
- The Dodgers are damned if the do and damned if they don’t, Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes. If the Dodgers retained Zack Greinke, signed Hisashi Iwakuma, and dealt for Aroldis Chapman, they’d get slammed for spending too much. Now that they haven’t made those moves (for different reasons), some folks are critical of what they view as inaction on the part of Los Angeles’ front office. “I remind the thin-skinned people in front offices of the smart words Hyman Roth gave Michael Corleone in that hotel room in Havana — ‘This is the business we have chosen,’ ” Dodgers president Stan Kasten said by phone. “The criticism and fishbowl scrutiny is just part of the business. … I am really proud to represent a team that has won 90 games and the division title [each of the last three years]. Yet, that is not good enough for our fans, the media, ownership and me. That is the way it should be. We are the Dodgers, we represent Los Angeles. We should expect to compete for the top every year. Criticism is what goes along with that, which is just fine.”
Chapman shoots up his house
Grienke signed for 34 million til age 38 or 39 and had elbow injections each of the past two seasons
Cueto is a severe injury risk to say the least and with a 2 year opt out if he succeeds he will be gone anyway..
Butttt…….. Friedman is being scrutinized here?
How is Cueto a severe injury risk?
I take it you don’t know of his elbow issues from last year. Not once but twice he had an MRI done. Constant tiredness and inflammation in your elbow is usually a sign something could be going on. He did lose about 5mph on his fastball the second half of last year.
Look at last year… lmuney said it all
He apparently had elbow troubles down the stretch last year.
If a team hears ‘elbow’ and ‘injury’ in the same sentence, they usually back off.
Watch the Dodgers make the postseason with a Kershaw-Ryu-Wood-Anderson-McCarthy rotation anyway. I agree, the media has been ruthless against the Dodgers this offseason, but it appears Freiman is trying to do a little low-level, non-MLB rebuild and reformat the team’s future his own way without changing the on-field team too much.
De Leon, Urias, Montas & Holmes are on their way too. I don’t understand the Dodgers hate.
He has done a good job setting the team up to have a nice future and be very much involved in the super 2018 free agent class. Unfortunately the casual fan is usually the loudest.
Phillies will rule that class.
Maybe if they have a winning season under their belt before then, if not it will be hard, as the Astros learned last year all the young talent in the world and they could not give money away.
All those players for the future you are alluding to ( sans Montas) were acquired by the previous front office.
Nonsense, basically. Did you read what Kasten said? Even he acknowledges that he future should be now. Knowledgeable fans see the booted ground balls and still count them as errors.
LAD fans are fickle. Fans were complaining about letting Hanley walk and trading Kemp last year
LA fans are tards. They typically claim victory in July. BTW, we’re still waiting for the National League Championship parades to take place. That’s three and counting and still no parade. Must be a fan support issue. You all want the Universe but can only give planet LA and that in itself is the biggest joke in professional sports. You fair weather fans with a chip on your shoulder, problem is if any weight whatsoever is added to those shoulders you cave in and call a therapist. Pansies, the perfect word to describe the Dodger fan base.
I won’t be shocked if any of those are traded to bring in sonny gray or jose fernandez
Well dodgers won’t do a trade unless they seem it fair and teams want alot for their young talent
Another Fan, that’s a good take and a quite possible outcome. The Greinke issue was disappointing only because Andrew was outmaneuvered and perhaps a little overconfident that he had his man. Chapman is best left alone at least until his issue is resolved and he was a rental anyway. And I still don’t like Cueto’s elbow making it even halfway thru the contract. Hanging onto the youth is a safe bet. The Dodgers put their cards in AF’s hands. You’ve gotta hang with him.
Ryu can make difference but he is only about a 50/50 comeback proposition. McCarthy won’t be available until midseason at the soonest, and I’ve never heard anyone talk about him like he’s something special, even when healthy. Anyway Sherman’s spin on this situation is pretty silly. Who the heck cares if the Dodgers are “lambasted for spending too much?” Who cares if someone accuses of them “of trying to buy a title?” Who are these somebodies anyway? The fans don’t care about how much they spend. What the fans care about results, and if Kasten is believed, that’s exactly what he is saying too.
Like the Yankees Cardinals Dodgers and recently the Giants fans outside that area would love to see someone else in the mix that’s why the Royals,Cubs,Astrou’s even the Pirates has a big fan base outside there area.Times is blowing in the wind may the force be with anyone new.
The Dodgers should have signed Chapman when they had the opportunity. No charges were filed. The MLB is no stranger to young men who can’t handle fame and fortune…they helped create it after all.
You mean trade for chapman? He’s a member of the Reds
While they still need a starter, they need to work on building a consistent offense that doesn’t rely so heavily on home runs. If Pedersen and Puig can come back strong this year and Seager has a strong season, they will be ok. If not, then one starter won’t be the difference maker.
joc certainly needs to settle down, but he’s a rookie and just one guy. anyway he was awful for a long time last year and they still made the playoffs.. plugging in seager for rollins should help, although kendrick is a loss. adrian, turner, ethier, grandal all do more than hit home runs, as does puig if he can get going at all.
so there’s a lot of variables but that’s true of most teams. they’re not at 2015 astros levels of home run or bust.
There is a lot of variables but I look to the Mets as a team the Dodgers can copy off of. They have 3 pitchers at the AAA level that could probably all step in this year or the next. Why sign a bunch of high priced, aging pitchers when you have your future #1a, #2 and #3 starters in your system. I think we’ll be fine if just one of those lives up to thier reputation.
A couple of problems with this thinking. First, the Dodgers were very much in pursuit of these “high priced aging pitchers.” They just failed to sign them is all. Second, none of the three top starting prospects are likely to have an impact in 2016. They are not projected to be available until 2017. Keeping in mind the most advanced and touted of the three (Urias) is only 19 years old. So if you are going to ignore the Dodgers’ own projections, and count on someone at that age as making a difference this year, you have to at least ask yourself how often that happens.
I think the managerial change will help bring small ball back to the Dodgers. Mattingly was the main reason the Dodgers were just swinging for the fences and rarely doing anything else on offense.
This front office does not believe in small ball. That era is over in Chavez Ravine.
Im really getting tired of all the Dodgers talk. If they wanted to trade for Fernandez, gray, sale, etc. than they would have done it already. Everybody in the world is proposing trades the Dodgers could make for an ace, but the fact they are going after Odorizzi tells me that they really don’t care about replacing Greinke with another ace. Wouldn’t surprises me if Freidman/zahidi pulled a moneyball on us, and replaced him with two pitchers instead of one. People forget Ryu is coming back too
Sale isn’t going anywhere.
It takes two to tango. It’s obvious those teams you mentioned don’t want to trade them. And why would they right now with two wild card slots. Orrdorrizi and McGee are just what the Dodgers need and won’t cost the farm. Odorizzi and a Kazmir/Maeda will signing in fine. Granted your hopeful wood can continue to develop and Anderson is healthy. The biggest wild card is Ryu because he is not an ace but a solid #1 or 2. Ryu is also nails, with the exception of his first playoff start, in the playoffs.
The casual fan doesn’t realize teams don’t just play for a few years. The franchise keeps going. Friedman has done a good job of rebuilding the farm around the big names. Look at all the injuries the last couple years and they just plug and play a guy keep going forward. Grienke was a big departure but outside of him and Kendrick everyone else that was worth anything is still there. Still favorites in the NL West and I’m sure they aren’t done dealing yet. It’s only December 20th.
Favorites in the NL West??? Haha! The only teams the dodgers have advantage over are the Padres and Rockies…The Giants are the favorites now, with the DBacks close behind
I can see SF contending, but I cannot see them as the favorites. Until knocked from their post, I would still list LA as the favorite. No one else in the division has done enough to become a clear favorite. Dodgers have come back to the pack some, however.
don’t sleep on the dbacks
I’m a dodger fan and I’ll still definitely agree with you. they’re gonna compete.
The farm was rebuilt before Friedman got there. That was Colletti, Logan White and De Jon Watson, who retooled the minors.
I’m no fan of the Whiz Kids but they’ve done some good work on rebuilding the farm. Unfortunately that’s about the extent of their accomplishments.
The new owners rebuild the farm. The old owners who had Ned just forgot about it. The new owners made it a point to fix it and they have. They aren’t about to sell the farm they just rebuild to get talent
There favorites with Greinke gone and a lousy bullpen. I don’t see it.
His answer was epic
I was thinking the same thing lol
Hard to garner sympathy for a team that spent $298 Million in payroll last season. I imagine the Dodgers ownership is in hot water with their past spending and current situation.
most of that money is from players salary that OTHER teams SPENT they only really spent on international free agents really what big free agent have they signed other then Greinke in 2013 I’ll wait…
Just because the Dodgers are not footing the bill for the entire contract, it does not mean that their roster is not full of overpriced mercenaries. In fact, that is precisely what it means, and it might have something to do with the reason they haven’t been able to advance in the playoffs. The Dodgers are set up to be a fantastic mess next season, but at least the Giants and Diamondbacks have both gotten better and should make the division race exceptionally tight. The biggest question mark for the Dodgers is their rotation, and they have done nothing to address those concerns, but keep crossing your fingers, I’m sure that will work out well for you.
I wouldn’t say hot water. They are trying to fix a mess that Colletti started. Obviously they had to show the fanbase a sign of good faith after McCourt. The casual unintelligent fan will destroy the FO, but those who can see a plan in place understand it. By the way those stupid FO small market guys have been to more World Series than…….(Insert GM) since the last World Series 1988.
Two successive ownerships starved the farm system, not Ned Colletti. Nice spin effort though.
the only way the dodgers can replace greinke is if they sell the farm for fernandez or gray
Well dodgers aren’t going to do that
If they want a young ace, they will
I think the criticism is well deserved. They’ve lost 10.4 war from last year (Greinke and Kendrick) and have done nothing to replace them. Their rotation after Kershaw looks a lot like the Red Sox’s disastrous pitching staff from last year, and their key offensive players, like Puig, Seager, Pederson, and Turner, all have big question marks. Not to mention Arizona and San Francisco both got a lot better. There’s still time I guess though.
They really have no reason to panic and acquire a huge arm right now, the rotation they currently have is not bad and with all the young pitching prospects on their way to LA, I’m sure the dodgers are content with the possibility of struggling this year until they get the prospects to the bigs, why sell four or five great prospects to the Marlins for Fernandez when you could have a couple pitchers who could be just as good in a few years? They need to stand pat, maybe add a bullpen arm and one more bat and they will be fine next year, I still say they make it via the wild card if everyone stays healthy and Joc doesn’t slump like he did last season
To get through 2016, Dodgers should make a play for James Shield for a couple of second level prospects. Fernandez, Gray, Archer and the like are just too expensive in the current market..
I just don’t see th immediate need, they have five good starters and morneon the rise, the problem was not pitching it was the line up, they will be fine if they add a starter or not
It’s not even Christmas yet – people need to relax.
Yeah, this FO has shown that they will make something happen…….NOT!
You just gotta believe. Apparently.
I believe two ESPN writers (Saxon and Schoenfield) have consistently been the most insightful print journalists on Friedman and “his plan”. In response to the recent three-way trade, Saxon wrote:
“Friedman and his front office view prospects as gold not only because they can replenish an aging roster on the cheap, but because they are the only currency nearly as valuable as actual currency. The Dodgers are shifting to a model where they’re more willing to give up the former than the latter, it seems.”
While I don’t necessarily agree with the last sentence, there is no question that Friedman is all about managing assets….and prospects are no different than money in that regard. When Guggenheim and Kasten took over, there is no doubt that they felt an obligation to win over fans. The best way to do that was to spend a lot of money and get good quick. That is not economically sustainable even with their kind of dough.
To me, what Friedman is really about is building a deep 40 man roster, player development and exploiting market opportunities. He is going to also be a market contrarian–most of the time, who is loathe to follow the crowd and overpay for any short-term need. He hates being in a position where others can take advantage of him. This recent three-way deal, I am convinced, is simply taking advantage of an opportunity. For some reason the Reds overvalued Peraza. Obviously, he was the key to the Aroldis Chapman deal. When that deal fell through, the Reds were still salivating over the young second baseman. Friedman simply took advantage of their acute desire and flipped one very good prospect for one pitching prospect that he believed was even more valuable than Peraza and two additional prospects that were clearly superior in value to the two Friedman gave up. Friedman could’ve had Todd Frazier, but he had no place to play him and because he’s not controllable in the long term, taking these prospects was simply the kind of upgrade AF likes best.
Certainly, Friedman would love to acquire a young controllable potential ace to replace Greinke. In the short term, Iwakuma could have come close but he’s not going to be that kind of pitcher over the next five years. To Friedman’s credit, he did not blink when the medical reports revealed a higher probability for risk than AF was comfortable taking on. Given the kind of off-season AF has had, he deserves credit for taking the short-term heat and walking away. Gray, Fernandez, Camacho would be the kind of young pitching talent that Friedman would be willing to trade multiple high end prospects to get. I am guessing he would even deal Urias (and other lesser prospects) for Gray or Fernandez. If it were not for the “Kershaw window”, I suspect AF would not even be willing to do that.
Both Saxon and Schoenfeld have written in previous articles that one thing they are certain of about Friedman is that he doesn’t panic. Over reacting in the short term to what rivals are doing can be catastrophic in this game, even for the wealthiest of franchises. As long as Friedman retains the confidence of the Guggenheim owners, he will be fine. It is very possible that the Dodgers won’t even make the playoffs in 2016. Friedman is certainly not conceding that, but he is not going to sacrifice 4-5 years of competitiveness in order to cobble together another 90 win season that leaves him vulnerable in the long run. If it were not for the “Kershaw window”, I believe that Friedman actually would be looking for this to be a down year where he accumulates long-term assets and sheds aging, expensive and unproductive players very aggressively. I think guys like Friedman actually welcome a year where they can approach the July trade deadline as a seller and exploit the short-term thinking of general managers like the ones in Kansas City and Toronto this past year. Guys like Carl Crawford, Ethier, Anderson even Agon can be incredibly valuable assets to deal at a time when they match up with someone else’s short-term need. December is not the time to be able to exploit a sense of urgency that does not yet exist. Just like the three-way trade though, I am convinced Friedman is a guy who is comfortable switching roles and constantly looking to take advantage and exploit others.
When AF took over the Dodgers had a strong 1-10 in the forty man roster and the best 1-2 SPs in the game. Arguably, they had one of the worst 11-40 in the game. With his trades and international signings, Friedman has now created one of the best and deepest 1-40 rosters in the game. This is what Dodgers should be looking at. As others stated others here though, the casual fans are usually the loudest (are you listening Mr. BlueSky LA??)……
Still, it is only December and Friedman is far from done making moves in preparation for 2016. Andrew Miller is a guy that I suspect AF would like to get and Chapman may well end up in LA. I am not optimistic that AF will get Gray or Fernandez; but you never know. Most likely it will be Leake, Odorizzi, Moore, Salazar or some other #3. I would also not be surprised to see Friedman deal CC or Ethier to some team that is desperate for an left fielder by paying 50-75% of the remaining contract(s). That would allow him to get an Upton or Cespedes to play LF. To me spending money in this fashion (assuming he could get Upton or Cespedes at a reasonable level) is more consistent with what Friedman likes to do than tie up $200 million for six years on a 32 year-old pitcher whose best days are now in the record book.
You lost me after the third paragraph. This “causal fan” is a season ticket holder and has probably been following baseball for longer than you’ve been alive.
Otherwise, good stuff. Your check is in the mail.
Dodgers and Angels in the same boat: criticized for spending too much, and criticized for not spending enough.
The Angels should not be criticized for their lack of spending. They should be criticized for not knowing HOW to spend money. The same could be said of the Dodgers, but to a lesser extent. The Angels are the extreme example in baseball for this anomaly. They consistently spend boatloads of money, consistently have a terrible farm system because they make short sighted trades. Because of all of this, they will never be terrible, but they will never go very far in the playoffs either.
Dodgers didn’t really need Cueto, Giants were a way better fit. What the Dodgers DO need is for their lineup to be less swing and miss and be more consistent.. Cant have a bunch of .230 hitters swinging for the fences every at bat.
Tons of money spent, not enough to show for it!
I still can’t Believe the Giants got Cueto for 2/46. Huge steal
The likely scenario is that they will pay him $130m spread out over the next 6 years.
ONLY in the unlikely event he returns to the pitcher he was in 2011-14, will he walk away from the sweetheart deal they just gave him.
The Jints clearly did not learn from their Barry Zito fiasco.
Barring injury very unlikely he won’t opt out in year 2. He should easily find another +100 mil deal at 32.
Maybe they didn’t but in the end Zito helped us win our second ring in three years and the Dodgers are closing in fast on 30 years with Nothing, nada, zip, zilch, NOTHING!!!!!! You do however lead all of MLB in spending, Luxury Tax Penalties and Worthless Fanbase.
You can’t stop talking about the Dodgers… Whats up with that? Granted your slamming them and their fan but seems to me like some kind of medical theraphy maybe needed…chill out dude take a walk or something
That argument eats itself. Some like to claim that every nonperforming contract dooms a ball club to failure. For a small market club playing their payroll very close to the edge of the possible, it might even be true. But clearly that is not the case for large market clubs. They can afford the extravagance of contracts that may not be cost-effective, especially in the out years.