As MLB’s offseason continues, here are three things we’ll be keeping an eye on around the baseball world throughout the day today:
1. What’s next for the Dodgers?
The Dodgers added a big bat to their lineup yesterday evening, agreeing to sign Teoscar Hernandez to a one-year deal. The addition of Hernandez solidifies their outfield mix of James Outman, Jason Heyward, Manuel Margot, and Chris Taylor, allowing Mookie Betts to stay on the infield dirt on a regular basis headed into the 2024 campaign. The addition of Hernandez takes the club’s luxury tax payroll to just under $303MM, per RosterResource. Now that the club has surpassed the final luxury tax threshold for 2024, could more additions be on the horizon?
While the club’s positional group seems largely set, an addition at shortstop who can provide more certainty than the club’s current tandem of Gavin Lux and Miguel Rojas would certainly make sense. On the pitching side of things, another starter who can slot into the Opening Day rotation could allow the Dodgers to be more careful with their deployment of Walker Buehler in his first full season following his second career Tommy John surgery. Beyond that, the club has yet to make any changes of note to its bullpen mix, and longtime franchise stalwart Clayton Kershaw remains unsigned, though the veteran lefty won’t return to the mound until sometime this summer following shoulder surgery earlier this winter.
2. Will the Mariners continue retooling their roster?
The Mariners have altered the look of their lineup this winter after beginning the offseason with a focus on improving the club’s contact skills. By parting ways with Hernandez, Mike Ford, Eugenio Suarez, and Jarred Kelenic, Seattle made room for the additions of Luke Raley, Mitch Haniger, Luis Urias, and Mitch Garver while also shedding the remaining years on underwater contracts for Evan White and Robbie Ray.
The club’s corner outfield duo of Raley and Haniger sport question marks, however, as does the infield duo of Urias and Josh Rojas. Raley got off to a strong start in 2023 but petered out to slash just .200/.270/.380 over the season’s final two months. Meanwhile, Haniger posted a wRC+ of just 73 last year and has gotten into just 118 games across the past two seasons. On the infield, Urias and Rojas both appear to be best served in platoon roles. The addition of an infielder capable of playing everyday and perhaps another part-time outfielder would go a long way to rounding out the club’s offense, but the Mariners have seeming operated on a tight budget this winter. Do they have room for additional finishing touches?
3. The clock is ticking on Imanaga:
Left-hander Shota Imanaga, ranked No. 10 on MLBTR’s annual Top 50 MLB free agents list, is entering the final stretch of his window to sign with MLB clubs after being posted by his NPB team, the Yokohama DeNA BayStars. Imanaga’s posting window will come to a close on Thursday, meaning just four days remain for the southpaw to sign with a big league club. There’s little question about whether he’ll be able to find a team given the interest he’s received from teams like the Giants, Red Sox, and Cubs this winter.
That being said, it remains up in the air not only which club the lefty will ultimately sign with, but what sort of guarantee he’ll land. MLBTR predicted a five-year, $85MM deal for Imanaga this winter, but reports last month indicated his market could be pushing toward a $100MM guarantee. Will Imanaga secure a nine-figure deal in the coming days? Any deal a club signs with Imanaga would come with an additional posting fee for the BayStars, which could cost around $16.9MM if Imanaga does land a $100MM deal before his posting window comes to a close.
Do it dodgers. Go for 400 mill payroll. You’ve already come this far. Might as well just go for broke and sign any remaining top free agent pitchers for rotation and pen and trade for a ss
Sign Snell
Sigh Montgomery
Trade for Francisco Lindor
Sign some expensive pen pieces
Snells agent is that evil b.astard Boras. And he don’t want anybody to be happy but himself. So the Dodgers aren’t signing him.
Dodgers should add a short stop and pitcher.
DO NOT SIGN KERSHAW ace against 22 teams and gets his a.ss handed to him by the elite 8 in the playoffs.
Clayton Kershaw is coming back to the Dodgers. He will sign and be on the mound by August.
Kershaw is going to the Rockies. I’m 99.99% sure of it.
Yes Boras is so evil, able to get his clients, the people that pay him, good contracts from billionaires who you apparently think deserve more billions for doing nothing but profiting from the labor of others. I assume if you had a job you would ask your employer to pay you as little as possible so they can make more profit.
Why is Boras evil? I don’t understand why an agent who gets his clients their worth and then some is evil.
Yeah and they probably still don’t win the World Series.
@captain, good chance you are correct, the team with the highest payroll / the team with the highest WAR / the team that has the largest positive run differential ………doesn ‘t get a WS title or even win any playoff series. The playoffs are a crapshoot. Last years NL team in the WS had a losing record in August, got it over .500 with a good early September but then backed into the playoffs losing 6 of their last 9 games of the season. But….they got hot when it mattered.
@WampumWalloper- I would still say the Dodgers, Phillies, and the Braves are the best bets in the NL though. Definitely top dawgs.
They better hope they win Captain. They’ve mortgaged their future to do so with all the deferred money they will have to be paying.
I still think Atlanta is a better team.
If only the Dodgers knew how to invest that deferred money….
They literally invested $256M to pay for shohei’s deal. With an expected interest rate at 4.4% through 2043, they won’t have to pay more then $276M ($256M investment + $20M salary) out of their pocket for the best player in the game. Pretty sure they’re doing something similar with the other deals.
Yes absolutely agree Joe, the Braves are tough, and the Phillies are too.
@Joe says…..
But that’s the thing, Joe.
The Dodgers DIDN’T mortgage any future with their signings; rather, they used an incredibly club-friendly deal SUGGESTED BY THE GAME’S BEST PLAYER to sign that player AND continue to add around him.
Hell, the Teo Hernandez deal is a mini-Ohtani deal–again, one that ANY TEAM IN THE SPORT could’ve offered.
But if your belief that the LADs are ScReWeD gets you to bed at night, well…sleep soundly, my man.
You don’t seem to know the difference between screwed and mortgaged. Mortgages can be paid. I just paid mine this past year. But even so, investments can be a gamble and low returns can result in future payroll limitations. So no I don’t believe they’re screwed but they most certainly have raised expectations to an insane level.
Nah they definitely aren’t now. There big signing is Sale who will be on IL by May
Any team could have offer Teo’s deal, but not many teams would he have accepted. He was projected at a 80M deal and settled at just over QO, but we factoring in its deferred (interest-free), it’s less valuable. He’s hoping to benefit from that LAD offense around him, especially if he’s anywhere near his 31% K-rate from 2023 (211 K or 3rd most in MLB). Not sure that’s that smart considering next FA he’ll be 32 y/o, but it’s obvious Boras isn’t his agent.
It’s easy to back out the anticipated annual rate of return on the deferrals. It’s a very modest five percent. I suspect Guggenheim Partners knows how to do at least that well with the set-aside money. The level of freak-out on the Hernandez deferral is kind of funny. Looks like all of $5M. Chicken Little will never be unemployed.
Thanks for the info. Honestly, I’m glad they signed him and not Adam Duvall, but Teoscar has less risk/younger, higher ceiling and probably a contract more suited to their needs.
Or Tommy Pham, IMO.
If Pham signed with LAD, maybe Joc can re-send that same GIF denigrating his then SD team that made him so upset, but this time, Pham wouldn’t have the same reaction.
FWIW, LAD clubhouse don’t need that energy. Freddie may get popped for trying to give him a hug.
@Joe says
But your response comes with the “can” hedges that your initial comment lacked, Joe–the one where you said the Dodgers “mortgaged their future” with their spending this offseason, which–when you consider the club-friendly deal Ohtani suggested and the Dodgers provided, which will result in the Dodgers paying Ohtani hundreds of millions of dollars less than the “$700M” figure that sparked all manner of initial outrage, etc.; the fact that the signings of Ohtani and Yamamoto will result in tens (and tens, and tens) of millions of dollars in additional sponsorships and other revenue streams; and the Dodgers’ overall financial might–simply isn’t true.
The Teo Hernandez signing is just one more example: a $15M outlay (plus $8.5M deferred over a decade, which is relative peanuts) on a one-year deal for a player who only needs to mash lefties while likely batting in the 6-hole. It’s an unarguably team-friendly deal, which won’t involve the mortgaging of any future, at all.
Anything “can” happen, sure. But in terms of hamstringing the team’s future ability to remain competitive by moving salary into deferred monies–which is what your initial use of the colloquial “mortgaged their future” suggested–it’s just…not accurate.
All of that comments-section bluster aside:
Congrats on your mortgage, my man. That’s really awesome, and something about which you should be very proud.
Seems likely that an ownership group whose main gig is asset management (with a portfolio north of 300 billion) might know something about what to do in this matter.
Watch for Friedman to sign Snell & Hader and trade for Burnes & Adames or just Lindor. Dodgers are a powerhouse in 2024
Trading for Burnes and Adames would solve both issues for them. Man that would be a nice haul for the Crew I bet.
Are the Mets willing to pay over half of Lindor’s salary?
If any SS help is coming to the Dodgers, it will likely be at the deadline. They’re certainly willing to give Lux a chance first to regain his form post-injury.
@differentbears
I hope not, as Lux showed to be a below-average defender prior to his injury. I’m OK with his bat playing in the 9-hole, but a left side of a defensive infield consisting of Muncy and Lux borders on malpractice, especially considering the totality of the moves the team has made to this point.
I’ll believe the Dodgers will roll out those two as everyday players when I see it. (And if they do, it’ll be a bummer….)
I have my doubts about Lux as well defensively, range and arm for SS I think at best average, and not even mentioning how he’s prone to mistakes. That said, they did pass on Seager and Turner partially because they had him at AAA and he’s cheap and controllable. Why pull the plug on that before actually giving him a real chance to succeed. He had shown some progress with the bat before the injury, which is a shame because he was geared to have a breakout season. Bulking up a little bit. We’ll see how it shakes out but good to have a good defensive backstop in Rojas. I think his best bet is to be a plus bat at the plate and good enough defensively. Everything is relative. If those guys can give you more offense than they are defensive liabilities it all works out. Can’t just ignore the offense. Dodgers are well aware that they’re not the best defensively.
I could see the Cardinals making Edman available if Winn hits well in the first half.
If the dodgers dont win it this year it will be a travesty. Signed Bluejays fan
Murphy
“If the dodgers dont win it this year it will be a travesty. Signed Bluejays fan”
Nah. It’ll be another fun season of exciting baseball that ends with a touch of disappointment. Signed Dodgers fan who sees baseball as entertainment not as a part of my self-worth.
It’s even more fun and exciting to watch David whup Goliath!
Cs (or is it Ct?)
Anyway
“It’s even more fun and exciting to watch David whup Goliath!”
You kean, perhaps the league having a few big behemoths might be good for the league?
@filihok
Precisely.
I’m perfectly happy that my team is a perennial contender built to withstand the rigors of the sport’s six-month regular season and then takes its best shot in the crapshoot of a postseason antithetical to the sport itself.
It’s been a remarkable decade, and this all augurs well for another helluva run….
If the dodgers dont win it this year it will be a travesty.
========================
Why? The NYMs spent a lot more last year than the Dodgers will this year.
In fact, the NYMs are marginally ahead of the LAD this year. I’m not why it qualifies as a travesty to be #2 in payroll.
I think we all should be able to agree that when your CBT penalty exceeds the payroll of a postseason eligible team, it’s not a good thing.
GASF
“I think we all should be able to agree that when your CBT penalty exceeds the payroll of a postseason eligible team, it’s not a good thing.”
Why? It shows competitive balance. If only the biggest spending teams were making the post season THAT would be the problem
There should be an incentive to spend, though.
I would like to see
1) a regular season that mattered to more people
2) a 30 team playoff
3) teams paying the best players to try and win
The problem is – with the emphasis on the playoffs, teams have less incentive to be good.
Spending for the best players increases your chances of winning in the 162 game regular season much more than it does a 3, 5 or 7 game playoff series. The easier it is to make the playoffs, the less incentive there is to be good.
I’m perplexed. 1 says you want a regular season that matters to people and 2 you want all 30 teams in the post season?
TrOG
“I’m perplexed. 1 says you want a regular season that matters to people and 2 you want all 30 teams in the post season?”
Yes
I want both those things
And 2 championships. One for the team that wins the grind of the season. And another for the chaos of the playoffs.
And people should recognize that those are two completely different things
Edit:
And don’t call it playoffs. Call it the post season tournament. Or just the tournament
These comments are so stupid and shows how little informed some posters are. There are no guarantees in sports, especially MLB playoffs. We all know that. All you can do is position your team for a deep run and hope for the best. These if they don’t win it all posts are ridiculous. The Dodgers are positioned for deep runs.
I don’t understand why the assumption is that Haniger plays most days. As it stands, to me he is the 4th OF/ plays vs LHP for Raley or Canzone.
The question and answer sessions at the Cubs Convention this weekend might get a little dicey if Imanaga and Bellinger (or Hoskins) aren’t there. Even if it’s not a “big” splash I am expecting SOME news this week.
I can confidently say the Giants or Cubs are more likely than the Red Sox to get Imanaga. There’s just no interest by the Sox in anything more than 2 year deals
Except for Devers, Yoshida, Whitlock, Story. But then why let the facts get in the way of your whining.
Except if you read any reports from THIS off-season every offer they make is for 2 years. Piss off.
I definitely think the Giants, Mariners or the Angels will sign Imanaga. He would be wise to sign somewhere where’s theres a big ballpark/flyball pitcher.
What’s next for the Dodgers? Sign Tony Stark and Chuck Norris
Who is going to pledge $100 million to Imanaga?
I think he’s going back.
Do you want to come here to play baseball or to make a hundred million dollars?
I guess we will find out.
What is this little league? The goal is to make money, as much as you can. For these guys to uproot their families to move to a different country, it’s even more imperative to get what they seek or why bother? They can play baseball at home. You come to MLB to make money.
NL Teams should aim for the 3rd Wild Card, as that team has won the pennant every time since the Playoff Format changed.
Seattle actually thinks they’re better than last year??….
Their offseason has seen a lot of movement but they’ve gone nowhere fast.
Dipoto thinks he’s a genius but all he does is make moves for the sake of it. He left the Angels in a complete disaster, and he’s doing his best in Seattle to do the same. The Giants just sat on his face with that Robbie Ray deal. Disco DeSclafani and 1ball Haniger???
Would love for the Mets to trade that albatross of a contract Lindor has. Are the Dodgers even thinking about acquiring him? Mets could give Pete that $.
Should the Mariners continue retooling, yes. Will they, probably not.
Dodgers still need some help at SS, RF & SP. Doesn’t look like the All-Star team we would expect from a team spending a billion dollars.
Once they do that, I would be disappointed if they don’t go 162-0 this season. At the moment, they only seem like a 110+ win team.
FTD!!!
Even with this signing, the Dodgers outfield is their Achilles heel. Their infield may be the best in baseball, and Smith is Smith, but those three (or four) out there are clowns.
The Dodgers really don’t need any more starting pitching. They’d be sending three rookies back to the minors who are in various states of readiness for the majors, or have to trade at least one of them. And then May will be back midseason and very possibly Kershaw too. No, pretty much the last thing they need is more starting pitching.
I would get another starter just to avoid having 2 or all of Grove, Sheehan and Stone in the rotation at the same time. There’ll be injuries and periods of the 6-man rotation. Though, they could prolly wait for the trade deadline. The pen is definitely a more pressing issue.
Obtaining another legit starter would likely require trading one of the rookies, and for that they probably get a virtual rental. If I got a vote, which of course I don’t, I’d vote for standing pat on the rotation for now — and as you say, focus on tidying up the bullpen.
With Yamamoto you’re better off going with some kind of six man rotation to ease him into MLB pitching schedule. The #6 doesn’t have to make all his starts with off games. But that would be the prudent thing to have. I think Sheehan has earned that #6 spot but Dodgers should pursue a #5 type of starter. Buehler may also be out at beginning of season with Yarbrough filling in, which is not the best option. Really don’t need guys like Grove and Stone, who were clearly not ready last year, making significant starts. They’ll be available for depth. The other reason for having another SP is that you really don’t know who’ll be left standing at the end of season as we saw last year. And the deadline market for SP was very thin.
I’d say acquiring another SP equally as important as upgrading the LH reliever depth. Ferguson is more than serviceable but Vesia needs to be upgraded. Don’t need a Hader type of reliever just someone more dependable than Ferguson.
We’ll see how they handle Yamamoto. The problem with acquiring another starter for the bottom end of the rotation is he has to be kept on the 26-man or DFA’d. This could be a real factor midseason when May is available (though possibly assigned to the bullpen), and potentially Kershaw too. For certain if Kersh is ready to pitch again this season the Dodgers will find room for him on the roster. Crunch! I also don’t see why Buehler won’t be ready to go on opening day. He was close to ready last September. Barring another injury in spring training I think he’s in the rotation right away.
Of course he’d have to be on the 26-man roster. Are we really talking about May? I’d have my doubts about him returning this season. I’m sure the Dodgers will slow him down and a good chance he goes to the pen instead of the rotation.
We don’t even know if Kershaw is coming back. And with age he’s a shell of his former self. A good chance he doesn’t come back. And if he does I’d think that there will be room in the roster. Yarbrough for starters could get traded or DFA’d, depending on how he performs. There are so many injuries over the course of the season. That’s why it’s good to use the younger guys for depth. Dodgers have a lot of injury question marks in rotation and bullpen. There will be plenty of IL trips and I’d guess a few season ending injuries.
Buehler will be delayed because there is no reason to rush him. All you want for him is a long runway to playoffs. Dodgers have more than enough depth. And they’ll likely lighten his workload so that he’s fresh for playoffs. Plenty of articles written on that topic. You actually believed that he was ready to pitch last season? I didn’t believe it for one second.
Better to be prepared than to be caught off guard like the Dodgers were last year. Slim pickings in the deadline and teams didn’t want to deal younger pitchers or asking for way too much in return.
At some point you have to deal some of your younger prospects for players that have already shown progress at the MLB level. It looks like the Dodgers have way too many younger pitchers in the 40 man roster. If I had to guess there should be a deal before the beginning of the season.
I sure wouldn’t bet against Kershaw. He needed shoulder surgery so I think that explains his performance at the end. Speaking of which, no way he wants to end his career that way. If he can return he will, and the Dodgers will make whatever moves are necessary to make it happen.
On Buehler, I don’t have to believe anything to know he was on a rehab assignment and seemed to be progressing well. He thought he might be ready for September but the Dodgers put up the stop sign. Unless we hear about some sort of setback no reason to think he won’t be good to go six months later. On an innings limit probably. And there’s actually something of a reason to rush him, and it’s free agency at the end of the season.
I don’t much care for them giving up another rookie starter or two for one year of somebody, only to have to DFA him or somebody else midseason. The controllable players are your depth.
I have no issues with Kershaw returning if he wants to. Ball is in his court and there will always be a roster spot. But at this point the Dodgers are just not factoring him as a main contributor. Shoulder injuries are not exactly the easiest injuries to come back from.
C’mon. Even after Buehler’s surgery all the timelines were saying realistically 2024 season. He was trying to speed his return back but not close to returning when you factor in that he would need to be rehabbing and pitching in real games. They’re already saying he could get pushed back and will be on a limit. The Dodgers are never very conservative on those reports. So if that’s what is being reported I certainly wouldn’t count on him being early and/or pitching more this season. More important than the amount of innings is health and making sure he actually pitches well. He hasn’t pitched much in the last 2 seasons, and wasn’t very good in 2022 on a smaller sample size. Who knows how effective he will be this season. Quality over quantity will be more important. Give him time to work off that rust and make sure he’s fully healed. Hope it’s not Dustin May Part 2.
C’mon they gave up essentially nothing to acquire Yarbrough. He didn’t make the postseason roster. If he doesn’t pitch well early in the season I’d think he’s a DFA candidate if the Dodgers are looking for roster space.
Really the only left option for the Yankees, for someone who might sign willingly, that is- and already is told by current team to shave….Yankees are in trouble. And AJ & Cole look to be wasted like Trout, at least Cole won a ring. AJ may never unless he can get out of his contract tract and sign with a team that allows players to regulate their own beards and heads of hair. AJ can with in Houston or LA or a few other teams. He should leaned to pitch or play 1B to extend his career. Or end up like trout.
There’s something about this Imanaga saga (nice rhyme which I just made up) that makes me think he will be a bust with whoever signs him.
Either someone overpays….my guess, the Halos….or he takes a lower contract than he anticipated and he mails it in. How much you want to bet there’s an opt out in his deal….if there is one.?
With a tweak or two the Dodgers could create a middle reliever roster spot for Imanaga.
The Dodgers technically need another starter, and have a bit of a question at SS. They have the talent depth if they wanted to acquire Burnes and Adames.
Cubs are out on Imanaga. They were in til it reached 100M. Now they’re out.
It’s early yet, but if any of the remaining upper-level FA starters isn’t finding the long-term deal he wants, the Dodgers would probably be happy to provide a generous one-year contract, allowing the pitcher to try again when teams have more clarity on revenue. Stroman, in particular, seems to be having difficulty finding a market.
M’s roster is better today than it was a few weeks ago but it still lacks an impact bat. As constructed they are an 85-88 win team but not a world series team, IMO.
Why no mention of Hader? Dodgers are definitely considered in the running for him. Seems logical they would go for him as the icing on the cake.
As much as I would love the Red Sox to solve the lack of LHP by signing Imanaga, I’m not convinced he’ll be productive. We saw what happened to Kikuchi, who, in some ways, had better numbers before making the move to the MLB. It took him three full seasons of adjusting before he had his first truly productive season last year. The more the media pushes a player in free agency, the more hype they get, and the more people just assume they’ll turn into a productive player. I see too many home run being given up. Just like Tre Turner hit in the WBC.
I don’t like the idea of Mookie playing inf this year one bit.
Its cool he can in a pinch but for that to be everyday just adds unnecessary risk Imo
The Dodgers take the opposite view. He doesn’t have to be on his legs nearly as much at 2B.
Agreed. He’s better in RF in my opinion and there are plenty of 2B options. I guess this is what Mookie wants rather than what the Dodgers want. I’d think he be open to moving back to RF if it becomes evident that someone else needs to slide into 2B.
I don’t want the Red Sox anywhere near Imanaga. Use the money for Montgomery or nobody.
I also don’t care for the rumors about them signing Jorge Soler. His glove is abysmal and we don’t need a DH.