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NL Notes: Reds, Rockies, Wisler, Schafer

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Reds president of baseball operations Dick Williams gave an interesting interview to David Laurila of Fangraphs that’s worth a read. The top Cincy baseball decisionmaker noted that it’s harder for clubs of that market size to pay solid veterans on short-term deals during a rebuilding campaign, which is one of several factors that tends to make the process more painful. But the organization is plainly committed to doing it and doing it right. Williams detailed many different initiatives underway after an exhaustive review of “where we thought dollars would have a better return on investment than at the major league payroll level.” You’ll want to give the post a full read.

Here’s more from the National League:

  • With Ian Desmond set to miss a chunk of time early in the season, the Rockies are sorting through their options for filling in, as Nick Groke of the Denver Post writes. Mark Reynolds is the obvious choice as a primary replacement, of course, but the team will need to line up some bodies behind him. With manager Bud Black saying the club hopes to “take advantage” of the versatility of some of their own players, he lined up each of Jordan Patterson, Stephen Cardullo, and Cristhian Adames at first in drills. Whether the organization might look at external names isn’t known, but Black did say that he has not heard any discussion surrounding former Rockies first bagger Justin Morneau.
  • Righty Matt Wisler is still trying to establish himself for the Braves, Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution writes. The 24-year-old has been hit hard this spring, as he was in the majors last year, and there doesn’t seem to be much chance that he’ll crack the MLB rotation unless there’s an injury or big performance downturn during the season. Still, manager Brian Snitker says he’s a believer — at least in the quality of Wisler’s offerings. “[I]t’s just location– fastball location,” Black said of Wisler’s struggles. “He’s just got to keep working on location. The stuff is there. The kid’s stuff is too good not to be successful.”
  • Jordan Schafer’s efforts to make the Cardinals roster as a lefty reliever have run into some difficulties, as MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch Reports. The 30-year-old is dealing with forearm soreness, with the root cause yet to be determined. He hadn’t been particularly effective in his five outings anyway, and struggled upon reaching Triple-A briefly last year with the Dodgers organization. But Schafer was actually quite impressive at Double-A in 2016, working to a 3.15 ERA with 10.4 K/9 and 3.8 BB/9 over forty frames.

Injury Notes: Seager, Price, Red Sox, Scherzer, Mariners

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Dodgers star Corey Seager won’t appear in a game for the team at all this week, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (Twitter links via Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times). Roberts said over the weekend that Seager, who finished third in last season’s MVP voting thanks to a .308/.365/.512 batting line and strong glovework at short, is dealing with an “oblique-ish” injury. While there’s still time for Seager to ramp back up for the season, oblique issues have a tendency to linger. Seager hasn’t played since March 3 and now seemingly won’t get into action until the final third of the month. McCullough adds that lefty Scott Kazmir also isn’t likely to pitch in a game this week as he continues to tweak his delivery after leaving his most recent Cactus League outing due to tightness and limited mobility in his hip.

A few more injury issues worth keeping an eye on around the league…

  • David Price told Red Sox reporters that he’s not 100 percent certain exactly what the injury he’s facing is, but in fairly strange fashion, noted that he’d have opted for surgery if he were 22 or 23 years old (via Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald). “They said if I was 22 or 23, they’d have told me to go have surgery,” said Price. “…I’ve gone through this. This is something I feel like happens every spring training. It’s those first four to five weeks of spring training that I feel like I go through this every single year, and this year was just a little bit worse.” Pressed on the specifics of the injury Price stated that he’s not sure what precisely set off the alarm bells for doctors but added that his elbow feels good and offered no concern regarding his ulnar collateral ligament. There’s no timeline for his recovery, though Drellich notes that it’s looking likely that Price will be on the DL to open the season.
  • Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal provides updates on a pair of mending Red Sox relievers (Twitter links). Setup man Tyler Thornburg, acquired in the trade that sent Travis Shaw to Milwaukee this winter, is slated to throw off a mound on Wednesday. Thornburg hasn’t appeared in a game since March 1 but appears to be nearing a return to action. As for last season’s setup acquisition, Carson Smith (who underwent Tommy John surgery before pitching in the regular season), he threw a 15-to-18 pitch bullpen session today, which marks his first mound work since undergoing his Tommy John procedure.
  • Nationals ace Max Scherzer voiced with confidence on Monday that he’ll be ready for Opening Day, per Jorge Castillo of the Washington Post. Scherzer, the reigning NL Cy Young winner, has been slowed by a stress fracture in his right ring finger but said plainly on Monday, “I’m gonna do it,” when asked about being ready for the start of the season. Manager Dusty Baker offered a similar take, stating that Scherzer is “a little bit behind but not as far behind as it looked like he was going to be at the beginning” of camp.
  • Mariners setup man Steve Cishek is all but certain to begin the season on the disabled list, per Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. The 30-year-old side-armer had surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip last October and is still at least one week, if not two weeks, away from throwing off the mound, according to manager Scott Servais. “I think coming into this camp, it was no secret that we were projecting that he might start the season a little bit late,” said Servais.“We’re still on that schedule.”
  • Within that same piece, Dutton notes that the Mariners got better news on right-hander Tony Zych, who is already throwing off a mound and will face hitters in live BP this week. And in a second column, Dutton adds that the Mariners got positive news following an MRI on right-hander Shae Simmons. There’s no ligament damage in Simmons’ elbow, as the hard-thrower is instead dealing with a strained muscle in his forearm. He’ll be out for the next couple of days, but it seems that the former Brave has staved off any form of serious injury.

Quick Hits: Royals, Rebuilds, Quentin, Payrolls

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The Royals are pushing to contend in 2017 but if the team is out of the race in July, GM Dayton Moore has told outside executives that impending free agents Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas and Alcides Escobar will all be available, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports.  Moore stopped short of completely confirming this report, though he did tell Sherman that “we would have to consider it [a fire sale] if things do not go right.”  2017 has long been seen as the last year of the Royals’ run of contention with this core group, though the team is considering pursuing a reunion with at least one or two of the quartet this winter once they hit free agency.  As the Yankees did with Aroldis Chapman last season, K.C. could deal several of their free agents to reload on prospects or MLB-ready talent and then try to re-sign one or more of the traded players back onto the roster.  Sherman figures the Mets will keep tabs on Cain and/or Moustakas given their uncertainty in center field and third base.

Here’s some more from around baseball…

  • There’s no set timetable for when a rebuilding team should start trying to compete again, as C. Trent Rosencrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer hears from several general managers who have either led their teams through rebuilds or are currently within the process of building for the future.  The Cubs’ blueprint for rebuilding seems to have worked perfectly, though GM Jed Hoyer noted that the team’s decision to spend on veteran talent following an 89-loss season in 2014 was made in part because too much losing would’ve been detrimental.  “We were very concerned about a losing culture and bringing up our young players.  If you bring your players up in a culture that accepts losing, at some point it’s going to have a negative impact on those guys,” Hoyer said.
  • Now that he is finally healthy, Carlos Quentin felt he owed it to himself to give baseball one more shot, the veteran outfielder tells Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald.  “I didn’t want to look back five years from now and say, ’I should have just picked up the phone and made a call and swallowed my ego and pride and done it the right way,’ ” Quentin said.  The Red Sox signed Quentin to a minor league deal this winter, and at age 34 and having not appeared in a big league game since July 26, 2014, Quentin is comfortable with the fact that he faces a long road to crack Boston’s deep roster.
  • The Dodgers have the more “dead money” on their payroll than any other team in baseball, Fangraphs’ Craig Edwards observes.  Los Angeles has $47.4MM committed to players who are not on their 40-man roster (whether they’ve been traded, released or are still in the organization but just not on the 40-man) this season.  The Padres ($35.1MM), Yankees ($26.5MM), Angels ($22.4MM) and Red Sox ($22.3MM) round out the top five, though San Diego is by far the leader in terms of dead money as a percentage of overall payroll.  A whopping 54.8% of the Padres’ 2017 payroll is going towards players who are no longer on the team’s 40-man roster — Melvin Upton Jr., James Shields, Hector Olivera and Jedd Gyorko.

Quick Hits: Dodgers, Astros, Royals, Gagne

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Two weeks ago, the Dodgers were leaning toward having left-hander Julio Urias open the season in their rotation. It now appears he’ll begin in the minors as they attempt to tamp down his workload, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. The 20-year-old phenom threw a career-high 122 innings between the majors and minors in 2016, and LA wants to keep him fresh this season for a potential playoff run. Should the Dodgers send down Urias, they’d choose among Brandon McCarthy, Alex Wood and “wild card” Hyun-Jin Ryu to fill their final two rotation spots, adds Sherman (Twitter links here).

Elsewhere around the majors…

  • Houston’s acquisition of catcher Brian McCann from the Yankees in November played a key role in their December signing of designated hitter Carlos Beltran, Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow informed Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. “As we recruited Beltran, bringing McCann over was a big part of getting Beltran to accept coming over here,” said Luhnow. Teammates in New York from 2014-16, McCann and Beltran have already been quite valuable behind the scenes for the Astros, per Luhnow. “These two guys have been a tremendous boost to the environment in our clubhouse,” he stated. “I’m so glad they’re here.”
  • When he accepted the Royals’ two-year, $12MM guarantee as a free agent last month, southpaw Travis Wood seemed like a decent bet to start 2017 in their rotation. But another offseason acquisition, trade pickup Nate Karns, has emerged over Wood and Chris Young as the clear favorite for Kansas City’s last starting spot, tweets Sherman. The right-handed Karns, 29, made 46 starts with the Nationals, Rays and Mariners from 2013-16 and logged a 4.19 ERA, 9.0 K/9 and 3.69 BB/9 over 249 innings. The 30-year-old Wood worked solely as a reliever with the World Series champion Cubs last season, which came after he racked up 133 starts in Cincinnati and Chicago from 2010-15. He recorded the same ERA as Karns (4.19) to go with 7.11 K/9 against 3.15 BB/9 during that 776-inning span.
  • Free agent reliever Eric Gagne, 41, is making a case for a contract in the World Baseball Classic, though the Team Canada righty and 2003 NL Cy Young winner realizes he’d first have to succeed in the minors to have any chance at returning to the majors. “I know the game, I know how it happens, I know they need spots on the 40-man roster and don’t want to release a young guy for a 41 year old, so of course I’d be willing to do anything,” the former closer told Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. Gagne, who hasn’t pitched in the bigs since 2008, worked out for five teams before the WBC, writes Davidi, and has since fared well in the tournament. “Words are irrelevant at this point. Clubs are seeing it with their own eyes,” Gagne’s agent, Scott Leventhal, told FanRag’s Jon Heyman (Twitter link).

West Notes: D-Backs, Simmons, Wolters, Toles

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Former Diamondbacks executive and interim general manager Jerry Dipoto (now the GM of the Mariners) tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that the biggest regrets of his tenure in Arizona are missed opportunities in the draft. “The (mistakes) that really gnaw at me and I still wake up thinking about are the ones in the draft,” says Dipoto. “Where you had a scout or multiple scouts in the room telling you, ‘This is the guy.’ You know, ‘We should take Chris Sale.’ We should have.” Of course, the D-backs were hardly alone in passing on Sale, who fell to 13th in the first round of the 2010 draft. Still, the D-backs’ selection of Texas A&M righty Barret Loux, who ultimately didn’t even sign due to medical reasons, stings Dipoto as a misstep to this day. Dipoto adds that he hopes he’s grown as an executive from his ealier days, when he’d “run renegade on a group” of scouts or let his voice “overwhelm the opinion of the group.”

More from the game’s Western divisions…

  • Mariners righty Shae Simmons exited today’s Cactus League game with the trainer, tweets MLB.com’s Greg Johns. While there’s no word on the specifics of the injury just yet, that’s a troubling scene for the newly acquired flame-thrower, who has already seen one season of his career wiped out due to Tommy John surgery. Simmons is competing for one of the final spots in the Seattle ’pen and, prior to 2015 Tommy John surgery, flashed quite a bit of potential in the Atlanta relief corps. The 2014 season saw Simmons rattle off 21 2/3 innings of 2.91 ERA ball with a 23-to-11 K/BB ratio.
  • The Rockies have been without catcher Tony Wolters since March 5 due to a hyperextended right elbow that he suffered on a swing, but he could return to the field on either Sunday or Monday, tweets MLB.com’s Thomas Harding. The 24-year-old Wolters hit .259/.327/.395 in 230 plate appearances as a rookie last season and drew excellent marks for his pitch-framing skills. He’s expected to split time behind the dish with fellow youngster Tom Murphy in 2017 as half of the Rockies’ primary catching tandem.
  • Dodgers outfielder Andrew Toles tells J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group that while he knew little to nothing of sabermetrics a year ago, his newfound fascination with modern metrics aided him in his rise to the Majors last season. Toles began teaching himself the new concepts on Fangraphs and admits that they changed the way he evaluated himself. “I think that’s it,” the 24-year-old said. “You don’t look at batting average, home runs, all that.” Toles cited director of player development Gabe Kapler and the Dodgers’ general willingness to break down exactly what they’re looking for as driving factors behind his embracing of advanced metrics and said that ultimately, the advice he received paid off. “I just pretty much did what they told me to do. I listened.”

Injury Notes: Seager, Red Sox & Orioles Pitchers, Gray

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We just checked in on Rangers righty Andrew Cashner. Here are a few more injury situations worthy of note from around the game:

  • What seemed at first like a minor issue for Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager is beginning to seem a bit more concerning. While he’s apparently dealing with tightness in his back, manager Dave Roberts says it’s “oblique-ish” in location, as Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times tweets. Though Seager is said to be improving, it’s still not clear when the star youngster will return to the lineup. He also weighed in on the injury, saying that he doesn’t expect to have any trouble getting ready for Opening Day, as MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick tweets.
  • Red Sox manager John Farrell gave updates on a variety of players to reporters, including Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald. That includes lefty Roenis Elias, who has been diagnosed with an intercostal strain that will sideline him for at least a few weeks. A minor thumb issue for righty Rick Porcello doesn’t appear to be posing many problems. And while it’s not strictly an injury matter, it’s worth noting Farrell’s comments on righty Tyler Thornburg, who still needs to build up shoulder strength. That’s common for hurlers that are new to the organization, says Farrell, who cites a “period of adaptation” as pitchers “go through our shoulder maintenance program.”
  • Meanwhile, Red Sox lefty David Price isn’t yet ready to throw, but is able to go through a pitching motion, Drellich adds on Twitter. It’s promising, at least, that there’s forward momentum as he works through a flexor strain.
  • Time is tight for Orioles righty Chris Tillman, who is still not ready to return from his shoulder issues. He will need to progress smoothly to appear in the first week of the season, manager Buck Showalter told reporters including Rich Dubroff of PressBoxOnline.com (via Twitter). There’s perhaps a bit more breathing room for O’s closer Zach Britton, who’s working through oblique pain. Showalter says that he may appear in Grapefruit League action next after a pen session today, as Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun tweets.
  • Orioles righty Logan Ondrusek is taking the always-ominous trip to see Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion, Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com reports. Ondrusek talked about how he experienced the elbow injury, explaining that he felt it on a single pitch but didn’t think more of it until he woke up with soreness that evening. He notes that it’s tough for pitchers who are going year to year to deal with potentially significant injuries. In his case, it’s not clear how his contract will work out. Ondrusek agreed with the O’s on a MLB deal that didn’t guarantee him all of his $650K salary.
  • Athletics righty Sonny Gray says he was surprised to learn of his lat strain, as Jimmy Durkin of the Mercury News reports. An MRI was ordered just to be on the safe side, which revealed “a little bit of a strain there that’s just going to take a little time to heal.” Gray says he’s confident he’ll return in relatively short order — and regain his former trajectory. “There’s no doubt in my mind that when this thing gets knocked out that I’m going to be back to being the guy I’ve always been,” he says. “It’s just another little test that I’ve got to deal with.”

Injury Notes: Travis, Kazmir, Dodgers, Carpenter, Rojas

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The Blue Jays aren’t sure when second baseman Devon Travis will be ready to return to game action, writes Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet. Manager John Gibbons seemed to suggest to Nicholson-Smith that the club could be without Travis, come Opening Day, as the 26-year-old’s recovery from knee surgery has been slower than the team expected. “To be honest I don’t know when he’s going to be back and ready to go,” said Gibbons. “It’s one of those things where if it costs him a couple of weeks, or whatever it might be, at the beginning of the season, so be it. … I expected him, to be honest, to be a little further along than he is.” As Nicholson-Smith points out, that could prove advantageous for out-of-options infielder Ryan Goins, who could break camp with the team if Travis ultimately starts the year on the disabled list. Goins and Darwin Barney, then, would presumably be the Jays’ primary options at second base, although Toronto has also been linked to Brett Lawrie since his surprising release by the White Sox last week.

More injury news from around the league…

  • Scott Kazmir’s MRI revealed no signs of a serious injury in his problematic left hip, as ESPN’s Doug Padilla writes. Kazmir exited yesterday’s Cactus League start after throwing his first pitch of the second inning and expressed frustration about his hip following the game. It’s not clear when Kazmir will return to a mound for the Dodgers just yet, Padilla adds, though the 33-year-old told the media that he’s pain free and is only experiencing limited mobility.
  • First baseman Matt Carpenter will be out for “at least another week” due to lower back tightness that has sidelined him since last Wednesday, writes Jenifer Langosch of MLB.com. Carpenter, who will slide across the diamond for the Cardinals this season (with Jhonny Peralta manning third base), was forced to withdraw from the 2017 World Baseball Classic due to his back troubles.
  • Dodgers non-roster invitee Henry Ramos will be out for a considerably longer amount of time (Twitter link via MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick). Manager Dave Roberts revealed to the media on Tuesday that the soon-to-be 25-year-old outfielder will miss the next four to six weeks of action due to a sports hernia/right groin injury. Ramos, who batted .263/.306/.402 between Boston’s Double-A and Triple-A affiliates last season, wasn’t likely to crack Los Angeles’ roster anyhow, of course, but he’ll now be delayed in beginning his minor league campaign as well.
  • Marlins infielder Miguel Rojas was forced to exit Tuesday’s Grapefruit League game after being struck in the head on a throw down to second base from catcher Tomas Telis, writes Glenn Sattell of MLB.com. As Rojas explains the situation, the grass in front of second base was “really wet,” which caused Telis’ throw following a wild pitch to take an unexpected hop upon bouncing. “I wasn’t expecting the ball to go that high,” said Rojas. “I’m glad I could quickly turn my head. It hit me in the [side of the head] instead of my eye.” Rojas will undergo concussion testing after telling the training staff that he was “feeling a little dizzy and uncomfortable.”

NL West Notes: Gonzalez, Kazmir, Cain/Blach, Vargas, Weaver

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Adrian Gonzalez will return to playing first base for the Dodgers tomorrow before joining Team Mexico for the WBC, as Alana Rizzo of Sportsnet LA tweets. The veteran first baseman has been battling a minor injury described as “tennis elbow,” but it seems that it has improved enough to allow participation in the global tournament.

Here’s more from the rest of the NL West:

  • We already checked in on Dodgers lefty Scott Kazmir, who left his spring outing today with hip tightness. We’ll need to wait for more news, though it seems he won’t head straight for an MRI; instead, as Eric Stephen of SB Nation tweets, Kazmir will be reevaluated tomorrow. The veteran southpaw clearly wasn’t pleased with the health issue, as Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports. “The frustration is through the roof right now,” said the veteran southpaw, who bemoaned the need to “manipulate my body just to be able to get through an outing.”
  • While there’s nominally a competition for the Giants’ fifth starter role, primarily featuring Matt Cain and Ty Blach, Andrew Baggarly of the Mercury News writes that it may not be much of a battle. Though manager Bruce Bochy says nothing has been decided, he did intentionally bring Blach on in the middle of an inning in his most recent outing. Per Bochy, it could be that the young southpaw opens the year in the bullpen, functioning as the club’s long man and/or in a setup capacity. (Certainly, utilizing him to piggyback with Cain could make some sense, if there’s roster space. There are loads of competitors for the club’s few open pitching jobs.)
  • There’s little doubt that the Padres are open to multiple possibilities in their rotation. As MLB.com’s AJ Cassavell writes, though, the club has begun to pare down the number of competitors. Righty Cesar Vargas was the first to go; he was sent down to minor-league camp in part to give him enough time on the hill to build back to full strength after dealing with a flexor strain in 2016. Vargas, 25, had turned in six eye-opening starts before the day of his injury, and could certainly still enter the picture at some point during the season to come.
  • One Padres starting job will go to righty Jered Weaver, who Cassavell spoke with about his progress thus far. The 34-year-old says that focusing on flexibility has allowed him to make huge strides in his mechanics, calling it “night-and-day from last year.” He’s hoping the change will make him looser and allow better extension, while also preventing the neck and shoulder issues that plagued him previously.

Injury Notes: Kazmir, Cashner, Rosenthal, Naquin, Angels

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Scott Kazmir left today’s Cactus League start in the second after a mound visit from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and the team’s trainer, Doug Padilla of ESPN.com was among those to report. Kazmir’s departure, which came just one pitch into his second inning of work, was the result of tightness in his left hip, per Sportsnet LA’s Alanna Rizzo (Twitter link). The southpaw is headed for an MRI that the team is terming “precautionary” at this point, per Rizzo, though certainly given Kazmir’s extensive injury history, the situation is worth keeping an eye on. Kazmir is slated to slot into the fourth or fifth spot in the Los Angeles rotation this season and has a guaranteed $32MM remaining on his contract over the next two seasons (though $8MM of that sum is deferred to 2019-21).

Some more injury updates from around the league…

  • With Opening Day just four weeks away, Rangers right-hander Andrew Cashner has not yet progressed to throwing off a mound, tweets Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Cashner is currently playing catch from 85 to 90 feet, but he’s been slowed this spring by tendinitis in his right biceps. The 30-year-old inked a one-year, $10MM contract with Texas this offseason and had been penciled into the back of the team’s rotation, but if he’s delayed much further, Opening Day could certainly be a question mark for Cashner. A.J. Griffin, Chi Chi Gonzalez, Nick Martinez, Eddie Gamboa and Dillon Gee are among the Rangers’ candidates to round out the rotation; Yohander Mendez and Connor Sadzeck were both optioned to Triple-A today, per a club announcement.
  • Trevor Rosenthal was scratched from today’s start due to a tight right lat muscle, per MLB.com’s Jenifer Langosch. Cardinals manager Mike Matheny tells Langosch that Rosenthal will need a bit of extra rest but didn’t consider the injury to be serious in nature. Brian Stull of WGNU 920AM in St. Louis tweets that an MRI performed on Rosenthal came back clean, and the closer-turned-starter is now targeting Friday of this week for his first start of the spring.
  • The Indians breathed a collective sigh of relief today as x-rays on Tyler Naquin’s foot came back negative, per Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (on Twitter). The 25-year-old former first-round pick exited yesterday’s spring contest after fouling a ball off his foot. Naquin surprised many with a breakout rookie season and an excellent .296/.372/.514 batting line with 14 homers in 365 plate appearances last year. With Michael Brantley’s health an ongoing question mark and Rajai Davis now in Oakland, a significant absence for Naquin would been a highly unfortunate hurdle for the reigning AL Champs to face early in the year.
  • J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group provides a couple of health updates on some mending Angels (Twitter links). Albert Pujols is set to run the bases today for the first time since undergoing surgery to repair his plantar fascia, while right-hander Cam Bedrosian will face hitters for the first time this spring as he throws to minor leaguers on a back field at the Halos’ complex. Pujols underwent surgery in early December and was given a rough four-month timeline for his return to the playing field. Bedrosian, meanwhile, was slowed a bit by a groin strain earlier in camp but looks to be getting back up to speed. The ninth-inning hopeful hit the DL last season due to a finger injury and ultimately required surgery to repair a blood clot in his right arm. With Huston Street going down for the next three to four weeks, Bedrosian’s main competition for the closer’s gig looks to be veteran Andrew Bailey.

Andrew Friedman On The Dodgers’ Offseason

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Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman spoke with Casey Stern and Mike Ferrin of MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (audio link) today, and here are some of the hot stove-related highlights….

  • In re-signing Kenley Jansen, Rich Hill, Justin Turner and other key pieces, retaining the core was obviously a big priority for the Dodgers this winter.  “The growth from February 2016 to October was incredible.  The dynamic among the group was great, it was something we felt like was really good, in terms of the environment that’s conducive to winning….We were fortunate with the support from ownership to retain this group and kind of supplement around it,” Friedman said.
  • With Jansen, specifically, Friedman said that if the team hadn’t re-signed their longtime closer, they wouldn’t have extended a similarly large contract offer to other top closers on the market, such as Aroldis Chapman.  The Dodgers’ familiarity with Jansen’s makeup, work ethic and obviously his ability gave the team “that much more conviction to” make their five-year, $80MM deal with the stopper.  “There’s so much volatility among relief pitching in general, there are very few that are kind of bellwethers.  Kenley, for us, is a guy that’s a bellwether,” Friedman said.
  • Sergio Romo is already fitting right into the L.A. clubhouse, and his postseason track record was also part of the reason why the World Series-hopeful Dodgers added the veteran reliever.  “He has experience getting big outs in October games, which is not nothing,” Friedman said.  “There are some guys who just can’t handle that pressure, he has demonstrated that he can.”
  • “Everyone was lobbying each other” to re-sign Chase Utley, Friedman joked, as “even the groundskeeper was lobbying us to bring Chase back.”  Utley’s addition during the 2015 season was a major reason why the Dodgers developed such a good winning attitude last year, Friedman feels, as “I’ve never been around a guy who is more focused on winning.”  Utley re-signed with the Dodgers on a one-year, $2MM deal this offseason and will get only limited at-bats since Los Angeles is set around the infield, though clearly Friedman feels Utley’s influence to the Dodgers’ success extends well beyond the field.
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