MLB NEWS/RUMORS Thread

O’Koyea Dickson signs contract to play in Japan
by Daniel Starkand | Dodger Blue — 2 hours ago

The Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles of Nippon Professional Baseball’s Pacific League in Japan signed former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder O’Koyea Dickson, the team announced Tuesday.

Dickson was a 12th round draft pick of the Dodgers in 2011 out of Sonoma State University. He made his Major League debut this past season, going 1-for-7 with two walks in seven games.

In seven Minor Leagues seasons in the Dodgers organization, Dickson proved he can handle a bat as he hit .279/.349/.491 with 117 home runs in 736 games.

Despite his strong production with his bat, Dickson lacked a true position in the field, which may have kept the 27-year-old from reaching the big leagues sooner. There were thoughts he may have been better served in an American League organization.

Dickson had another strong season this year with Triple-A Oklahoma City, as in 116 games he clubbed 24 home runs and drove in 76 runs while hitting .246/.328/.484.

On Nov. 6, Dickson was outrighted to the Minors and removed from the 40-man roster. After spending seven seasons in the Minor Leagues it makes sense that he wanted to pursue other options in Japan.

Dickson underwent shoulder surgery in October but is believed to be on pace to be ready for the start of the 2018 season.

Former big league players like Andruw Jones, Masahiro Tanaka, Hisashi Iwakuma and Takashi Saito have all played for the Eagles in the past. The Eagles went 62-78-3 in 2016 and have not had a winning season since 2013.

 

what's to compare?
one's a fragile asian choke artist
the other is an in-closet asspounding lumberjack homofuck
wow, insensitive racist homophobe


Comparing Jake Arrieta and Yu Darvish
by Matt Borelli | Dodger Blue — 72 minutes ago

With less than a week until the calendar turns to 2018, a plethora of high-profile free agents remain available to sign. That especially holds true in the starting pitching market, with the likes of Jake Arrieta and Yu Darvish still without a team for the upcoming season.

Entering the winter, the pair of right-handers topped a relatively weak free-agent class for starting pitchers that has seen little movement to date. The exceptions are highly-touted Japanese star Shohei Ohtani, who elected to sign with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, while potential breakout candidate Tyler Chatwood has also found a new home with the Chicago Cubs.

Ohtani has all the makings of a future superstar, but Arrieta and Darvish are the only established top-of-the-rotation starting pitchers with previous Major League success.

Given the lack of star power in the class, it’s no surprise that Arrieta and Darvish were expected to command two of the largest contracts of the offseason — likely in the nine-figure range. While that notion may ultimately become a reality, it’s evident that interested clubs are content in waiting out the market for a possible bargain in the coming weeks ahead.

Arrieta, entering his age-32 season, is coming off an up-and-down campaign with the Cubs, where he posted a 3.53 ERA, 4.16 FIP and 1.22 WHIP over 168.1 innings on the year.

After the All-Star Game, however, Arrieta pitched to a 2.28 ERA and 1.09 WHIP with 61 strikeouts over 67 innings. He allowed just one run and five hits in 10.2 innings across two postseason starts — further improving his free agency stock.

Arrieta saw his velocity dip during the 2017 season, but reinvented himself as a curveball-dominant pitcher. He’s just two seasons removed from winning the 2015 National League Cy Young Award, where he led the Majors in wins (22), shutouts (three), hits per nine (5.9) and home runs per nine (0.4).

Darvish, meanwhile, won’t turn 32-years-old until later next season in August. Since he was traded midseason, any club that signs him won’t have to account for draft compensation.

That could give Darvish an edge over Arrieta, as organizations have become more hesitant in recent years to part ways with valuable picks.

Darvish, though, is coming off arguably his worst season since joining the Majors in 2012. With the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers, he amassed a 3.86 ERA and 3.83 FIP — all career-highs — over 186.2 innings with 209 strikeouts to 58 walks.

He allowed a career-worst 27 home runs and noticeably faltered in the World Series after a pair of impressive starts in the NL Division and Championship Series for the Dodgers.

Unlike Arrieta, Darvish also has a major surgery under his belt. He underwent Tommy John surgery in 2015 and has only logged more than 200 innings in a season once (2013), while the former Cubs ace has accumulated an average of 198 innings over the last three years.

Although there isn’t much clarity for Arrieta’s market, many clubs are reportedly said to be interested in Darvish. He recently met with a trio of teams last week, including the Cubs, Houston Astros and Texas Rangers, while the Minnesota Twins are also hopeful in eventually securing a meeting.

The New York Yankees and Dodgers are also said to be monitoring Darvish’s availability, though both teams may have to get creative in order to add his salary without exceeding the 2018 luxury tax threshold.

As the offseason lingers on, the market for Arrieta and Darvish will surely heat up with time. Given the flux of young, controllable arms being discussed on the trade market, the two will likely have to accept a deal that’s less than what they anticipated.

That could create opportunities for clubs to jump into the fray, as it’s not everyday where ace-caliber pitchers could be signed at a discounted rate. That will likely be the theme of this offseason, where organizations have evolved from jumping the market to waiting out the market for a potential steal.

 

Inbox: Does Kemp trade signal shift in strategy?
Beat reporter Ken Gurnick fields Dodgers fans' questions
by Ken Gurnick | MLB.com — 17 hours ago

Why didn't the Dodgers pull off the trade with the Braves BEFORE Stanton went to the Yankees? Wasn't the entire reason they weren't really in on the Stanton sweepstakes because of the luxury tax issue?
-- Todd Andrew @oddtoddious

I think the real reason Dodgers management wasn't all-in on Giancarlo Stanton is that they didn't feel he was worth $295 million - plus accompanying luxury tax -- for 10 years. If Miami had been willing to pick up a huge chunk, the Dodgers might have made a serious run. But eating any of Stanton's salary would have defeated the purpose of Miami's fire sale.

As for the purpose of the trade with Atlanta -- which shifted $21.5 million in payroll from 2018 to 2019 -- the Dodgers now can hold the payroll below the $197 million luxury tax threshold in '18 and reset the penalties.

Do you see the Dodgers being big players in the next couple of free-agent classes? I really thought Stanton now would be more affordable than, say, Bryce Harper, Manny Machado and others later?
-- @Ralphdaddy13

Not unless they veer sharply off the course set since Guggenheim Baseball Management bought the club. This is not a front office that wants to be bound to nine-figure contracts, like the one Stanton has, the one Harper will get, or even the one that would have kept Zack Greinke from leaving. If you like wild spending, don't get your hopes up. The Dodgers nearly won the World Series with this strategy, so why change?

What role do you envision Walker Buehler having with the Dodgers this year? How slowly will Julio Urias be brought along post-injury?
-- Michael C. Kelly @trojanmikey

Because of what happened to Urias this year, it will be fascinating to see how management handles Buehler next year. There's no way to prove that Urias' shoulder injury was the result of an unusual strategy to limit his innings by starting him up and backing off and starting him back up again. But he did blow out.

Now, the Dodgers have another top pitching prospect in Buehler who, like Urias, is knocking on the door of the Major Leagues and, like Urias, isn't yet built up with enough foundation Minor League innings to withstand a full Major League season. Management has said Buehler will be a starter in 2018, not a reliever as he was during his September call-up. The hope for Urias is that he returns by June.

Thoughts on whether Clayton Kershaw will opt out after 2018 and, if so, odds of re-signing with the Dodgers at higher rate?
-- Tom T @ThingsChange

Thoughts on whether he'll be healthy in 2018? It all depends on that. When Kershaw is healthy, there's none better. But he's been on the disabled list three of the past four years. If he stays healthy, and if he opts out, the amount of years is at least as great a club concern, if not greater, than the annual salary.

Kershaw will be 31 in 2019. Will he still be an ace at 35? At 37? And his salary is already $35.5 million. How high do you go?

The Dodgers say they still view Kenta Maeda as a starter, despite his postseason success in relief. Is this set in stone, or could he emerge as the setup guy?
-- Craig Turner @DCTurner49

Maybe both. That was the indication from Andrew Friedman at the Winter Meetings. On the current depth chart, Maeda is needed in the starting rotation. But his postseason success transitioning to relief, and the fact that increased fastball velocity made him a setup weapon, makes that a legitimate possibility if the Dodgers again find themselves with a surplus of starters and in need of a bridge to closer Kenley Jansen.

 

Reds to sign Daniel Wright
by Jeff Todd | MLB Trade Rumors — 46 minutes ago

The Reds have agreed to a minor-league deal with righty Daniel Wright, according to SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo (via Twitter). It seems reasonable to anticipate that he’ll receive an MLB camp invite, though that’s not yet clear.

Wright, 26, has worked to a 5.61 ERA with 4.9 K/9 and 2.4 BB/9 over 59 1/3 MLB innings in the prior two seasons. All of those outings came with the Angels, who claimed Wright from Cincinnati — the organization that originally drafted him — in early September of 2016.

All in all, it was a tough 2017 campaign for Wright, who sits at only about 90 mph with his fastball but works in three offspeed offerings (a change, slider, and curve) with regularity. He logged 92 2/3 innings at Triple-A, almost entirely as a starter, but was torched for a 6.99 ERA and managed only 5.9 K/9 with 3.4 BB/9.

 

Kemp and Ethier platooning in LF next year would be a funny turn of events.
Too bad neither is any good vs lefties.

 

the key word being after
as in...

"i realized i shouldn't have engaged in unprotected sex and intravenous drug use with underage haitian male prostitutes after i tested positive for aids." — rube, circa 2006 ​

or...

"i discovered what i was doing might be wrong after my students began making accusations against me." — huh?, 1998​

just hypothetical examples of course...

Verdugo learned importance of strong work ethic after MLB Debut
by Matt Borelli | Dodger Blue — 2 hours ago

The Los Angeles Dodgers are set to enter Spring Training with a loaded outfield depth chart that features the likes of Kiké Hernandez, Joc Pederson, Yasiel Puig, Chris Taylor and Andrew Toles all contending for three positions.

Other possible options include the newly-acquired Matt Kemp — largely dependent on the club’s ability to jettison the veteran’s salary elsewhere — and promising rookie Alex Verdugo, who has remained in the organization despite consistent trade rumors revolving around him.

Verdugo received his long-awaited promotion to the Majors last September and proceeded to slash .174/.240/.304/ with one home run over 25 plate appearances. That was a far cry from his production with Triple-A Oklahoma City earlier in the year, in which he hit .314/.389/.436 with 37 extra-base hits over 495 trips to the plate.

During an interview on “Access: SportsNet Dodgers”, Verdugo revealed his biggest takeaway after experiencing a month of Major League action, via Spectrum SportsNet LA:

“I think the biggest thing I took away was, just starting to set relationships with the guys and understanding the work ethic, kind of what it takes to be in the big leagues, how to work and how to go about your business every day.”​

Verdugo specifically credited Kenley Jansen and Justin Turner, among a few veteran teammates, for offering him guidance during his cup of coffee in the Majors.

Verdugo’s main focus this offseason is to add muscle in an effort to bulk up and hit for more power. His career-high in home runs at any level is 13, which was accomplished during a stint with Double-A Tulsa in 2016.

The 21-year-old checks in as the Dodgers’ top-ranked positional prospect and figures to challenge for a spot on the 25-man roster during Cactus League play in March. Though, he could very well open up the year at Triple-Oklahoma City and serve as a potential reinforcement later in the season.​

 

Wait.. no Broxton or Russ Martin?

Cmon, lets get the previous fucktard nerd genius dream team back together!

 

i though chad got what he deserved
i lost all respect for him when he refused to protect his hitters
loney was worthless
but at least he has a great moment in dodger lore

 

i hated loney
hit off his back foot and had a poor swing path that was prone to slump

 

racist