Dodgers Rumors

Reactions To And Effects Of Chase Utley Trade

By Jeff Todd | August 20, 2015 at 12:09pm CDT

The Phillies continued to dismantle their aging core, agreeing last night to send All-Star second baseman Chase Utley to the Dodgers in return for some salary relief and a pair of young players. “And then there were two,” said first baseman Ryan Howard, who is joined by backstop Carlos Ruiz as the only remaining pieces of the club’s 2008 World Series-winning outfit (via MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki).

Here are some notes and reactions to the deal:

Dealing a franchise icon in Utley was hard, but was “the right thing for us to do for both Chase and the franchise,” Ruben Amaro Jr. tells MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (audio link). Utley “had given us some clubs that he would be interested in and would consider going to,” said Amaro, but it was nevertheless difficult to finalize a deal given the “complications” of the veteran’s full no-trade protection. “We got to the point where I think Chase, the Dodgers, and the Phillies kind of worked together to make this happen,” said the Philadelphia GM. “Hopefully this is a good thing for all parties.”
Utley seemed to echo Amaro’s thoughts in his comments last night to the press, as Ryan Lawrence of the Philadelphia Daily News reports. “Three weeks ago or so, I had a conversation with Ruben,” said Utley. “I think everyone knows my love and affection for the city . We put our heads together and decided it might be best for us to part ways. I gave them a list of a handful of teams that I would consider playing for, and then it was Ruben’s job to find the best deal he could for the organization. And ultimately it came down to the Dodgers, a team I grew up watching.” He also expressed a clear vision for what he’s hoping to accomplish in his new home: “My goal there is to win. That’s the bottom line.”
In addition to saving about $2MM, the Phillies come away from the deal with some fairly interesting young players, MLB.com’s Jim Callis writes. 24-year-old Darnell Sweeney is a solid all-around player with good defensive flexibility, writes Callis. Meanwhile, righty John Richy has a power sinker and three playable offspeed pitches, making him a possible back-end starter.
That return represents a win for the Phillies front office, opines Corey Seidman of CSNPhilly.com. Sweeney will head straight to the big league roster, of course, meaning that Philadelphia will get an early look at just what it has. The club was able to benefit from the fact that the Dodgers are loaded with similar players already and would have found it hard to protect him from the Rule 5 draft this winter. Given the limitations presented — salary, no-trade protection, and Utley’s struggles this year — Seidman says that it wouldn’t have been reasonable to expect more.
From the Dodgers’ perspective, says GM Farhan Zaidi, the club has high expectations for Utley’s bat, as J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles News Group reports. “When he’s healthy, he’s still one of the best hitters in the game,” said Zaidi. Utley is expected to see regular action at second until Howie Kendrick returns from the DL, and could shift around the infield thereafter.
Many have wondered why Los Angeles went after a hitter when the team’s bullpen has struggled so much of late, but Zaidi indicated that adding Utley did not preclude other moves, as Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com reports on Twitter. Indeed, the club could still add a relief arm, according to the GM. “I don’t feel like [the Utley trade] depletes our trade capital … in any real way,” he added.

NL Notes: Hamilton, LeCure, Adams, Seager

By Jeff Todd | August 20, 2015 at 10:45am CDT

Let’s take a look at a few notes from the National League:

The Reds announced yesterday that speedy center fielder Billy Hamilton will hit the DL, with C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer adding on Twitter that Hamilton suffered a sprained capsule in his right shoulder. It’s not clear at this point how long Hamilton will miss, though he’ll obviously have plenty of time to work back to health over the offseason regardless. It’s been a trying season for the 24-year-old, who continues to draw strong defensive ratings and put up huge stolen base tallies but has hit just .226/.272/.290. He’s still a good bet for a regular role in 2016, when he’ll be looking to increase his production in advance of arbitration.
Cincinnati also brought back righty Sam LeCure, who’d spent the entire season at Triple-A. The 31-year-old struggled in the minors as he played out the second year of his extension, and figures as a likely non-tender candidate this fall.
Cardinals first baseman Matt Adams is nearly at full-speed in his rehab progression, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports. He seems to be slightly ahead of Jon Jay and Matt Holliday, who are also looking to return in the coming weeks. St. Louis is also dealing with injuries to outfielders Jason Heyward and Randal Grichuk, and could theoretically look to add another bat, though it appears that the club will begin to welcome back some key pieces in relatively short order.
Top Dodgers prospect Corey Seager played third base the last two days at Triple-A, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times notes on Twitter. The 21-year-old has spent some time there previously and has cooled off at the plate since moving up to the top level of the minors, so it’s not entirely clear that a promotion is imminent. But as Shaikin notes, with the club designating Alberto Callaspo for assignment last night, Seager could conceivably see some time at short and/or third at the big league level once rosters expand.

Dodgers Acquire Chase Utley

By Jeff Todd | August 20, 2015 at 7:50am CDT

TODAY, 7:48am: The precise financial terms are contingent upon performance bonuses and the Dodgers’ decision on Utley’s option, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweets, but Philadelphia is expected to owe about $3.7MM of the remainder of Utley’s deal.

YESTERDAY, 10:25pm: The Phillies announced that Sweeney will step directly onto the big league roster to fill Utley’s roster spot.

9:47pm: Another franchise icon is out the door in Philadelphia, as the Phillies announced tonight that they have traded Chase Utley and cash considerations to the Dodgers in exchange for minor leaguers Darnell Sweeney and John Richy. L.A. will reportedly receive about $4MM, meaning the Phillies will save a bit less than $2MM.

Reports earlier afternoon indicated that Utley was likely to either be dealt today or remain with the Phillies for the rest of the season. The veteran has drawn interest from multiple clubs in need of a veteran presence down the stretch. With full no-trade rights, Utley had the ability to dictate if he was traded and to where he was traded, and the Dodgers fit his preference of a Southern California team.

Utley, 36, has been one of the game’s very best players of the last decade. Over his 6,617 career plate appearances, he has produced at a 124 wRC+ clip. With stellar defense also a key component of his value, Utley has racked up over 60 WAR in 13 seasons.

But that outstanding production slowed somewhat last year and fell off a cliff in 2015 as Utley dealt with nagging ankle issues. He ultimately hit the DL for a stretch as his performance continued to suffer. All told, Utley carries a career-worst .617 OPS on the season.

Things have been trending up, however, since Utley returned from the DL. He’s slashed a robust .484/.485/.742 over 31 plate appearances in the month of August. That’s a small sample, of course, but it does suggest he’s healthy, and Utley obviously has an outstanding and lengthy track record of success.

For Los Angeles, of course, the interest in Utley is tied in large part to the club’s loss of second baseman Howie Kendrick to a hamstring strain. The left-handed-hitting Utley will now rejoin long-time middle infield mate Jimmy Rollins, though presumably both will share time with Kike Hernandez down the stretch.

Hernandez, of course, could also see time in center as the Dodgers work to maximize the platoon advantage. Playing Hernandez in the outfield would likely mean exposing Utley to left-handed pitching. While the long-time All-Star has fared well historically against opposing southpaws, he’s also shown much wider splits in the last several seasons.

Utley has a vesting option that would’ve triggered at $15MM were he to reach 500 plate appearances, but he’s no longer a candidate to hit that mark. Instead, it will become a team option with a price tag of between $5MM and $11MM, depending upon precisely how many days he ends up tallying on the DL.

In Sweeney and Richy, the Phillies will receive the Dodgers’ No. 13 and No. 29 prospects, respectively, per MLB.com. Sweeney has spent most of his time in center field this season but also has experience at both middle infield positions. He’s hitting .271/.332/.409 with nine homers and 32 steals at the Triple-A level this season. Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo over at MLB.com feel that he’s a fringy option at shortstop but can play an adequate second base or center field. He lacks a standout tool but possesses more power than most middle infielders and has “solid” speed.

Richy, 23, was L.A.’s third-round pick in 2014. He has a four-pitch mix with a fastball that tops out at 94 mph. He’s able to throw strikes and projects as a potential back-of-the-rotation starter, per MLB.com. Fangraphs Kiley McDaniel also wrote up both players in his preseason look at the Dodgers’ farm system. Baseball America ranked Sweeney 16th among Dodgers farmhands and ranked Richy 24th prior to the season

MLB.com’s Todd Zolecki first reported that the Dodgers were moving closer to a deal. Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweeted that two minor leaguers would go to the Phillies, with about $4MM going to the Dodgers. Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com tweeted that the deal had been agreed to. Zolecki reported that Sweeney was in the deal (Twitter link). Rosenthal reported that Richy was the other minor leaguer (Twitter link).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Dodgers Designate Alberto Callaspo For Assignment

By Steve Adams | August 19, 2015 at 10:56pm CDT

The Dodgers announced that they have designated infielder Alberto Callaspo for assignment tonight, which will clear room on the 40-man and 25-man rosters for newly acquired Chase Utley.

Acquired from the Braves earlier this season, Callaspo saw an uptick in production following his move to L.A., but his .262/.338/.303 batting line was still considerably below the league average. Callaspo signed a one-year, $3MM contract with Atlanta this offseason and figures to go unclaimed if placed on waivers, as he’s still owed $770K through season’s end. The switch-hitter served as a solid utility piece from 2009-13 with the Royals, Angels and A’s, but his production has declined over the past two seasons, as he’s totaled just a .227/.300/.286 batting line in 711 plate appearances.

West Notes: Mariners, Gyorko, Dodgers Pen

By Jeff Todd | August 18, 2015 at 2:10pm CDT

MLBTR joins the rest of the baseball world in extending its best wishes to veteran Giants beat writer Henry Schulman, who announced yesterday that he is undergoing treatment for a serious illness. We wish Hank a speedy recovery and look forward to his return to the beat.

With a tip of the cap to one of the game’s preeminent journalists, here are some notes from out west:

The Mariners are beginning to assess whether to make a front office move, says Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, with the team still not decided on whether to bring back GM Jack Zduriencik. Rosenthal addresses the idea of Seattle pursuing Dave Dombrowski for a front office role, noting that many in the game see it as a likely fit, but it appears that the connection is being made on paper rather than through actual indications of specific interest.
Padres infielder Jedd Gyorko made his first-ever professional appearance at shortstop yesterday, and it seems there is at least an outside chance that he could be considered there in the future. While manager Pat Murphy did not give much of an indication of the club’s plans, as MLB.com’s Corey Brock tweets, neither did he dismiss it as a spot start. “We’ve got to see if our hunch is right first,” Murphy responded when asked whether Gyorko was auditioning for a new position next season.
The Dodgers bullpen has had its ups and downs this year, but one issue it has not struggled with much is sufficient rest, as J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles News Group explains. With plenty of turnover and careful tracking of the work load, the team has minimized the wear and tear on its relief arms. Of course, as Hoornstra notes, it’s fair to ask whether that tack has been successful, as the pen has struggled at times (in particular, of late).

Dodgers Set To Overhaul International Scouting Department

By Jeff Todd | August 18, 2015 at 8:09am CDT

The Dodgers have notified several significant members of their international scouting department that their contracts will not be renewed, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez and Ken Gurnick report. While the team’s future plans remain unknown, it now seems committed to overhauling its international operations over the coming months.

Included in the cuts is vice president of international scouting Bob Engle. Originally hired a few months after the team signed Yasiel Puig back in 2012, Engle was the man chosen to lead the club’s broader efforts to ramp up its presence in the baseball hotbeds around the world.

Despite significant front office turnover in the interim, international spending has continued to be a major element of the organization’s efforts to leverage its nearly-unmatched financial might. Key players such as Puig, injured starter Hyun-jin Ryu, and top pitching prospect Julio Urias have come from abroad. Most recently, the Dodgers inked the since-traded Hector Olivera and paced the league in July 2 spending (including a $16MM bonus for Cuban righty Yadier Alvarez).

Engle is the top executive who the team is parting with, but hardly the only one. Per the report, the Dodgers have also dismissed Latin America scouting coordinator Patrick Guerrero, who came with Engle from the Mariners. “The only explanation I got was that they wanted to go in a different direction and nothing else,” Guerrero told MLB.com. “I understand. That’s baseball.”

Also left looking for new jobs are Dominican Republic scouting coordinator Franklin Taveras, director of international and minor league relations Joseph Reaves, special advisor for international player performance Rafael Colon, senior manager of international scouting Hidenori Sueyoshi, and Latin America field coordinator Bruce Hurst.

President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and GM Farhan Zaidi continue to remake the organization on and off the field. With a ban on significant July 2 spending forthcoming for the next two signing seasons, the front office seemingly decided it was an opportune moment to turn over the team’s international operations.

Dodgers, Red Sox Discussing Alejandro De Aza

By Jeff Todd | August 17, 2015 at 4:25pm CDT

The Dodgers and Red Sox are engaged in trade talks regarding outfielder Alejandro De Aza, Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports reports (Twitter links). Boston acquired De Aza from the Orioles in early June.

Per the report, the Dodgers are considering De Aza as an alternative acquisition target to Chase Utley. While the two obviously don’t play the same position, Rosenthal suggests that adding De Aza would allow Los Angeles to continue deploying Kike Hernandez at second base in place of the injured Howie Kendrick.

In spite of that explanation, it seems a curious fit unless another move is also being contemplated. De Aza hits from the left side, and the Dodgers already have three left-handed-hitting outfielders in Andre Ethier, Carl Crawford, and Joc Pederson. And it’s not as if the 31-year-old De Aza posts reverse platoon splits; to the contrary, he’s been far more productive against right-handed pitching this season and over his career. (The same holds true of the team’s incumbent options.)

De Aza does have some extra flexibility given his extensive (though somewhat outdated) experience in center field. But the same can be said to greater or lesser extent of the three players just mentioned — including, of course, the team’s current up-the-middle defender, Pederson.

The major difference between De Aza and the in-house veterans lies in the contractual realm. Boston only took on $1MM of his salary in acquiring him from the Orioles, and he’ll hit free agency after the season, so he’s a cheap rental piece at this point. Ethier ($38MM over two seasons) and Crawford ($41.75MM over two seasons) come with significant guarantees after the current year, though both have been rather productive at the plate. It’s conceivable, at least, that Los Angeles would have interest in an immediate replacement for either player if they found a trade partner willing to take on a piece of the future obligations.

While he’s best as a platoon player or fourth outfielder, De Aza is a useful piece — he’s slashed .313/.362/.520 since coming over to Boston. And it’s fairly clear that he holds more function to a team other than the cellar-dwelling Red Sox. But it’s also not immediately apparent that he makes a ton of sense for the Dodgers, as that team’s roster is currently structured.

Of course, being that it’s August, De Aza would need either to be claimed by the Dodgers or have already passed through revocable waivers to be dealt. It has not been reported whether or when De Aza was placed on waivers.

Ron Roenicke To Join Dodgers’ Coaching Staff

By Steve Adams | August 17, 2015 at 2:45pm CDT

2:45pm: The Dodgers have announced the hiring of Roenicke as their new third base coach. Bundy will officially stay on as the team’s outfield coordinator, per the press release.

2:33pm: The Dodgers will hire former Brewers manager Ron Roenicke to join their coaching staff, according to Scott Miller of Bleacher Report (Twitter links). Roenicke will become the team’s new third base coach, according to Miller. Current third base coach Lorenzo Bundy is believed to be staying with the organization, he adds, but he’ll move to a yet unknown role. Dylan Hernandez of the L.A. Times tweets that Bundy will remain in charge of the outfield defense.

The 58-year-old Roenicke was dismissed as the Brewers’ manager in favor of Craig Counsell back on May 3. He spent parts of five seasons at the helm in Milwaukee and finished with a winning record (342-331) despite the club’s woes dating back to late in the 2014 season. Roenicke also had an eight-year playing career as an outfielder back in the 1980s. This will be his second stint coaching with the Dodgers, as he began his coaching career in L.A. back in 1992 and remained there through the ’93 season before embarking on a minor league managerial career. Roenicke also served as a coach on Mike Scioscia’s staff with the Angels from 2000 through 2010.

Free Agent Stock Watch: Brett Anderson

By charliewilmoth | August 15, 2015 at 4:44pm CDT

Dodgers starter Brett Anderson appears set to enter the 2015-16 offseason as one of the winter’s most unusual free agents. Injuries have limited him to 622 2/3 career big-league innings. 2015 has been his first full season in the big leagues since his rookie year in 2009. He is, in the grand scheme of things, still unproven. And yet he’ll still be highly sought after.

First, the injury record: Since 2011, Anderson has missed significant time with elbow issues resulting in Tommy John surgery; an oblique strain; a stress fracture in his foot; a broken finger; and a herniated disc in his lower back. Many of those injuries haven’t been arm problems, at least, and it’s possible Anderson has partially been the victim of flukes, but that long list is still a scary one.

Despite Anderson’s history, the Dodgers signed him to a one-year, $10MM contract before the season. When signing players with track records as sketchy as Anderson’s, teams frequently secure an option of some kind as a way of guarding against future injury. Anderson’s contract contained relatively little hedging, however, other than a series of $300K-$400K bonuses for innings pitched (many of which Anderson looks likely to achieve). Also, Anderson’s $10MM guarantee looked like a lot for a pitcher who hadn’t thrown even 100 innings in a season since 2010.

Anderson has, nonetheless, proven to be a bargain for the Dodgers. Thus far, he has a 3.43 ERA, 6.1 K/9 and 2.5 BB/9. He’s also pitched 128 2/3 innings. If someone had told you before the season that the Dodgers would have an injury-riddled rotation, you probably would have assumed Anderson would be one of the culprits, but he hasn’t missed a start all season (although he left one July outing early with a minor Achilles injury).

Even better, Anderson has posted an exceptional 65.8 percent ground ball rate, a ridiculously high number that makes him very likely to have at least modest success as long as he’s healthy and has a competent infield defense behind him. Anderson’s ground ball rate is the best among qualified MLB starters, with Dallas Keuchel, Tyson Ross, Gio Gonzalez and Felix Hernandez following him in the top five. That’s strong company, even if Anderson doesn’t strike out as many batters as those other four do.

So how might Anderson fare in the market next winter? He will, of course, be on a lower tier than big-name starting pitchers like David Price, Johnny Cueto, Jordan Zimmermann, Scott Kazmir and Zack Greinke (assuming Greinke opts out of his current contract). There will also be a strong secondary starting pitching market, with Jeff Samardzija, Mike Leake, Hisashi Iwakuma, Mat Latos, Yovani Gallardo and others potentially available.

Still, if Anderson can stay healthy, he will be highly valued. Teams have lately proven willing to gamble on talented starting pitchers, even when they have obvious question marks. For example, Anderson’s current teammate Brandon McCarthy, another ground-ball-prone starter, got a four-year, $48MM deal last offseason after a brilliant 2014 stretch run with the Yankees. McCarthy had previously suffered through periods of inconsistency and injury.

Of course, McCarthy had Tommy John surgery in April, although that injury mostly appeared unrelated to his previous troubles. A more positive recent precedent, though, might be that of the Pirates’ Francisco Liriano, who earned a three-year, $39MM deal after strong 2013 and 2014 campaigns in Pittsburgh, even though he had posted ERAs above 5.00 in the two years before that and had pitched more than 163 innings in a season only once in his career. Liriano is in the midst of a third straight strong season with the Bucs.

Every case is different, of course, and Anderson might not quite have the upside McCarthy or Liriano appeared to, since he doesn’t have the strikeout rate those pitchers had. Anderson also (perhaps sensibly, given his history) hasn’t worked particularly deep into games this year, averaging just 5.8 innings per start.

Health permitting, though, Anderson’s ground ball rate gives him a reasonably high floor (no pun intended), and his age (he won’t be 28 until February) will also work in his favor. Other than Trevor Cahill, there aren’t currently any significant 2016 starting pitching free agents younger than Anderson, and only Latos and Leake even come all that close.

Anderson looks like a strong candidate for a qualifying offer, which might affect his market somewhat — the Dodgers gave Anderson a significant percentage of the value of a qualifying offer when they signed him for 2015, so extending one after what’s been a strong and healthy season looks like a no-brainer. Every player (including starting pitchers like Liriano and Ervin Santana) who rejected a qualifying offer last year got a multiyear deal, however, so it seems likely that Anderson will also be able to land one.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

West Notes: Zito, Flores, Wood

By charliewilmoth | August 15, 2015 at 3:22pm CDT

With Aaron Brooks headed to Triple-A Nashville, the Athletics will need a starter sometime in the next few days. That could be A’s veteran Barry Zito, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. The 2002 AL Cy Young winner and three-time All-Star hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since 2013, but he’s pitched 137 innings for Triple-A Nashville this year, posting a 3.48 ERA, 5.9 K/9 and 3.9 BB/9. Zito had been scheduled to start for the Sounds on Saturday, but Sean Nolin will take the ball instead, and Zito is no longer listed among the Sounds’ upcoming probable pitchers. Zito has also briefly missed time recently with a shoulder injury, althoug Slusser characterizes that issue as “extremely minor.” Here’s more from the West divisions.

Mariners outfielder Ramon Flores has a compound fracture in his ankle and will miss the rest of the season, MLB.com’s Greg Johns tweets. As Tacoma Rainiers broadcaster Mike Curto tweets, Flores left yesterday’s game on a cart after falling while trying to make a play in the field. The Mariners acquired Flores with Jose Ramirez late last month when they traded Dustin Ackley to the Yankees. The 23-year-old Flores was off to a terrific start with Tacoma, batting .423/.524/.654 with eight extra-base hits and 11 walks in 63 plate appearances.
The Dodgers lost their first two games with new trade acquisition Alex Wood on the hill, but he picked up his first win with them yesterday against the Reds, as Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register writes. Mat Latos, the Dodgers’ other starting pitching acquisition in that trade, had also struggled, so Wood’s victory likely came as a welcome sign for the Dodgers. Wood says his outlook hasn’t changed significantly since arriving from Atlanta, however. “For me, and I can probably speak for the other guys too, the expectations everywhere you go are high,” he says. “[Y]ou’ve got to come in and you have to perform … Not just to be a contributor or make trades look good or bad but to stay here and be a part of it, you know?“

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