The Dodgers officially agreed yesterday to a three-year, $48MM deal — which also includes an opt-out after the 2016 campaign — with free agent southpaw Scott Kazmir. Here are some reactions to the deal from around the game:
- Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi addressed the signing yesterday, as Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports. Giving in to an opt-out clause after just one season fit the team’s situation in several ways, he suggested. For one, there are several quality pitching prospects that could be ready to step in for 2017. And if Kazmir triggers the clause, then L.A. will be able to recoup a draft pick by making a qualifying offer. “In Scott’s case, he and his representation are aware that next year’s free-agent starting pitching market will probably be a pretty good seller’s market,” said Zaidi. “From our standpoint, we have a lot of good young pitching that we feel is going to be ready to contribute at some point in 2016 and certainly by 2017.”
- The move to add Kazmir wouldn’t necessarily preclude other rotation additions, said Zaidi. Indeed, the club has since reportedly reached agreement with Japanese righty Kenta Maeda. “There are some guys coming back from injury,” Zaidi said. “To the extent that adding more certainty to the rotation is an option for us over the next couple of months, we’ll definitely continue to look.”
- The Astros had interest in Kazmir “all along,” Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle tweets. But the team simply wasn’t willing to reach the salary level that the Dodgers offered the lefty. As Drellich explains in a post on the signing, Houston could stand to add a rotation arm after losing Kazmir and giving up some depth via trade. Whether or not that might come via free agency remains to be seen, as Drellich notes that it’s possible to imagine the organization dealing for an arm and then signing a position player off of the open market to compensate for whatever trade chips are utilized.
- Missing on Kazmir hurts the Orioles, who look in need of some upgrading in the rotation. But while noting his value, Steve Melewski of MASNsports.com also questions the wisdom of including an opt-out clause one year into a three-year pact.
- MLB.com’s Mike Petriello likes the signing for the Dodgers, noting that Kazmir’s recent durability has flipped the script on the idea that he’s an injury risk. Petriello explains that the lefty has varied his arsenal and proved effective over a long enough stretch to warrant this kind of payday. But, he argues, it’s also a nice value for the team given the price of other pitchers this winter.
- MLB Network Radio’s Jim Duquette argues (audio link) that the Dodgers can find value late in the free agent market after inking Kazmir. (Of course, the club has already gone on to reportedly strike a deal with Maeda.) He suggests that bringing back Howie Kendrick would make a good deal of sense — presumably, by deepening the infield and bumping Kike Hernandez to an outfield role — though Zaidi downplayed that possibility.
They signed Kazmir / Maeda.
Could they go after a bat as well?
It’d be mind blowing if they signed one of Upton / Cespedes / Gordon.
They would definitely want to move one or two of their outfielders before doing that
They could leave Pederson in the minors in the Spring…….He really struggled in the 2nd half (once pitchers figured him out). That would open a spot for Cespedes…..preferably.
No it wouldn’t they need a leadoff guy. Not a middle of the order aging OF. They aren’t going to be able to move both Ethier and CC contracts.
I think they can definetly move Either and not have to pay so much of it, he had a really good season last year in limited appearances. Crawfords only knock is staying on the field he’s a gold glover and great contact hitter when healthy so I believe he can moved as well if not contribute at the top of the Dodgers lineup
The problem is… in order to move those guys, especially CC, you have to showcase them off in the pre-season or the start of the regular season first. And by then, all the OF will already have signed. And if you do sign Cespedes or Upton, then teams will know you have to move an OF and lowball you.
That seems to be overrating Crawford’s skills…… A fair bit.
They could move Ethier but don’t expect much back if they aren’t paying for some of his contract. Limited appearances limits his value.
445 PAs in 2015. Not so limited.
Any chance of them reaching for the moon and getting Davis?
Doubt they want another big money left fielder, seeing as hes blocked at 1B by Gonzalez
Dexter Fowler FA from Chicago could be a good fit.
1, Pederson CF
2. Utley/Hernandez 2B
3. A-Gon 1B
4. Puig RF
5. Turner 3B
6. Seager SS
7. Ethier/Thompson LF
8. Grandel C
SP: Kershaw/Kazmir/Maeda/Wood/Ryu
Pen: Jansen, Howell, Anderson, Baez, Garcia, Hatcher then either Avilan, Frias or Montas as the last reliever. Montas throws hard, high upside reliever if they choice that route, considering hes buried in the depth chart.
Not a terrible team on paper. Strong lineup, even though its not great toward the middle, but strong efforts by Seager, Puig and Pederson can change that.
I think you would rather have seager lead off than pederson
Pederson is NOT a lead-off hitter. And the Catcher’s name is Grandal…..
Why is Pederson not a leadoff hitter?
.347 OBP plus he can steal bases (averaged 29+ per season in minors)
As for the spelling error, I caught it the second I pressed ‘post comment,’ but there is no edit button. ohwell
OBP is not always the telling stat for lead-off hitters. Pederson’s attraction is his “prodigious power potential”…..typically those guys are #3 or #4 hitters. The guy hit .210 last year, and had 92 walks, but 170 K’s…..LOL. How long before pitchers figure out (if they haven’t already) that he has issues making contact. Not the kind of overall numbers that you want in a lead-off hitter. Gordon had a .377 OBP……Stanton had .346…..Cespedes .337……Would you have any of those guys bat lead-off??? Take a look at the top 10 guys in OBP last year…….None of them are lead-off hitters. Pederson came it at #25 for OBP last year…….4 of the top 24 were lead-off guys (or could be).
Sorry about the spelling comment………My bad…….There used to be an edit button…..not sure why they eliminated it in the new format….that was a bad move on their part…….we all need to edit now and then.
Not necessarily on the Pederson batting leadoff bandwagon, but this might even be a worthwhile experiment. One way or another they are going to have to teach him to tighten up his swing, or he isn’t going to be effective anywhere in the lineup. He also needs to be a smarter baserunner to go along with his speed. With the right adjustments he could be good at the top of the order.
If they were going to that, he should probably learn it in AAA, not majors,
Anderson has got to be in the rotation one would imagine. Otherwise, he probably wouldn’t have took the QO. His earning potential is severely impacted by being put into the bullpen. So much so that I could see him filing grievance if they were to put him in the bullpen. He was signed as a starter. That is what he will be so long as he is healthy.
You can’t file a grievance based on the role you play. Doesn’t work like that.
Why not? Bryant and Franco filed grievance over service time manipulation. Papelbon I believe filed grievance after getting suspended. If Chapman gets suspended for more than 46+ games, he will likely file grievance too. If Anderson and the Dodgers were under the agreement that Anderson would be a starting pitcher in their rotation in 2016 (which is likely the case, otherwise Anderson would have declined the QO to pursue a better opportunity elsewhere), then he can certainly file a grievance (that doesn’t necessarily mean he would win). His earning potential is severely impacted by being put into a reliever’s role. If he agreed to sign as a starter on a one-year deal, he will be a starter (unless injured, in which the Dodgers can probably get away with it). It seems like Wood is going to be the odd man out anyways.
Completely different scenarios. The Bryant
Weird. Don’t know why my post was cut off but without typing it again, Anderson can’t grieve what you’re describing. Like db2259 said.
After the Greinke miscalculation and the Iwakuma and Chapman debacles, Andrew
To finish the rest of the post….Andrew
Wonder if now they have the chips to make a Jose Fernandez trade.
Anyone forgetting about Crawford still a huge contract
Well, in theory, the Dodgers could eat that contract for the right deal. The front office has shown willingness to light piles of money on fire before ($100MM to non-Dodgers in 2015) but seemingly aren’t willing to do so this offseason to be more “sustainable.” Not sure if I buy needing to cut payroll, seeing as they make $340MM /year on the TV deal before anyone even buys a ticket, Dodger dog, or $9 beer, but that’s none of my business….
Since money is no object, and Tampa’s on the prowl for high end prospects and an impact bat, how about the Dodgers put together something that lands Longoria to play 3B? Puig, Pedersen and Michah Johnson for Longo and Desmond Jennings … Seems reasonable to me!
If I’m the Dodgers I don’t even consider that. Longoria hasn’t been the same hitter in recent years. Puig is the better bet between the two I would think. Adding Pederson makes the deal even worse. Plus, the Dodgers really don’t need a 3rd basemen. They have Turner who is really good.
Why would you want longoria? He’s an aging hitter who would then be in a pitcher’s ballpark and he’s signed on a significantly long deal that he absolutely won’t live up to. I would rather take my chances with Turner in the short term and figure it out.
Also, why would longoria and Jennings command that much in return?
I think that Longoria could be a great fit. It’s not like he’s that old old. He could be way better than Turner if he bounces back.
But see just like every businessman they’re in it to make some money. The dodgers are finally working themselves out of the financial issues. So money is an issue seeing as they’ll be at 50% luxury tax plus the international overages. A middle of the order bat is not a need it’s a luxury. They passed on Frazier so not going to happen.
Justin Turner just had a major injury and surgery and I think may be a risky guy to count on hence Longoria rumors. As the pitching staff will not be a shut down staff past Kershaw, the offense is going to have to step up and manufacture runs and also hit with power, I think they can patch 162 games from the depth of starting pitchers well enough, but I am more concerned over which 4 pitchers will be the starters in the playoffs and woe to the team if they qualify only as a wild card and Kershaw is not eligible to start the wild card game
I like Jim Duquette but he probably should lay low whenever Scott Kazmir’s name comes up.
Very smart sign for LA, and still a great deal for Kazmir. What would be a #1, 2, or 3 for many clubs is their rotation depth. If he replicates what he has done recently, he will opt out and the Dodgers get one quality season for $16M total. Getting Maeda and Kazmir with all their youngsters coming up right now looks like the better choice over spending more than their combined total on Greinke.
Isnt the Dodgers GM Andrew Friedman? The old rays GM. And by the way i prefer the new GM 10X better.