NL West Notes: Dodgers, Pads, Panda, D-Backs

While there had been some hope of a deal to resolve the Dodgers’ television dilemma, the issues will continue into 2016, as Meg James of the Los Angeles Times reports. Time Warner Cable had made renewed efforts to reach agreements on carriage fees with other cable companies, but the Dodgers’ SportsNet LA network remains available only to subscribers of certain cable companies. It’s certainly a disappointing result for all involved, and a path to resolution remains unclear.

Here’s more from the NL West:

• The idea that the Padres could try to land Pablo Sandoval from the Red Sox has been “overblown,” sources suggest to Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune (Twitter links). Lin suggests that Sandoval wouldn’t be a good fit on the San Diego roster, which currently features Yangervis Solarte as the top option at third. Of course, if the Pads place any value on Sandoval’s upside in a bounceback scenario, they could presumably make it work — either by including Solarte in the deal or by moving him into a different role (possibly including some kind of timeshare with Sandoval). At this stage, though, Boston would without doubt have to eat a huge portion of the money left on Sandoval’s deal in any kind of trade.
• While the Padres were widely criticized for failing to strike any deals at last year’s trade deadline, Joel Sherman of the New York Post suggests that the club may have been justified given the offers it was receiving. Ian Kennedy apparently drew extremely limited interest, with the best offer being then-Cubs outfielder Junior Lake — who has bounced around quite a bit and doesn’t appear to be that appealing an asset. Upton might have brought back Michael Fulmer from the Mets, which was at least a substantial return, but the Pads were said to have questions about his ability to stick in the rotation in the long run. Those two veterans ended up netting draft picks, of course, and that was inarguably the better outcome in Kennedy’s case, at least. And though San Diego could’ve had exciting infield prospect Jorge Mateo from the Yankees for closer Craig Kimbrel, per Sherman, the Friars were ultimately able to land a deeper package from the Red Sox at the outset of the offseason. It’s an interesting look back from Sherman, who also looks at the organization’s questionable future.
• Drew Pomeranz has won a rotation job for the Padres, the club announced. The southpaw came over in a winter deal with the Athletics, who received one-time top prospect Yonder Alonso and lefty specialist Mark Rzepczynzki. Now 27, and once a top prospect with the division-rival Rockies, Pomeranz has turned in two nice seasons in a swingman role with Oakland. San Diego will certainly hope he can lock down a starting role, as he’d represent a nice value with a $1.35MM arb salary and two more years of control remaining.
• The Diamondbacks have offered a bit of clarity on their infield mix, as Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic reports (Twitter links). Jake Lamb will receive regular reps at third base, says skipper Chip Hale, while the team will “rotate” Jean Segura, Chris Owings, and Nick Ahmed up the middle. That doesn’t give much of an indication as to how the playing time will be divided among those three players, and it could be that the spring battle will simply continue into the regular season. Meanwhile, outfield prospect Socrates Brito still appears to have a chance at cracking the roster to open the year, if only to help the club reduce the burden on regular center fielder A.J. Pollock as he ramps up to a full workload.
• With numerous arms on the shelf, the Dodgers will turn to Ross Stripling with the fifth starter role out of the gates, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports. That represents a bit of a surprise, as Shaikin explains, as Stripling didn’t seem even to be on the radar when camp opened. The other two finalists — Carlos Frias and Zach Lee — will remain on hand as depth options in Triple-A.