DODGERS NEWS/RUMORS thread

That slogan hasn't worked in quiet a while

 

never got the feeling the indians were all that interested in dealing kluber
maybe just floated his name out there with bauer to get bauer more visibility
especially when they re-upped carrasco

 

robertson is a good signing
i wouldn't necessarily count philly out on others since their owner was quoted as saying they were going to spend "stupid" amounts
but tbh who knows?
i think manny signs in the next couple weeks
but wouldn't be surprised if harper lingered into february as jeff passan predicted
but i do think manny [signing], will open the floodgates -- pollock, et al
marlins are completely delusional
it's like they're trying to make up for their poor returns on ozsuna, stanton and yelich in one fell swoop
and rosenthal is right, teams will pivot and look elsewhere and realmuto's stock will drop

 

nosler, posted last night...


What if the Dodgers don’t land Harper, Kluber or Realmuto?
by Dustin Nosler | Dodgers Digest — 2 January 2019

We’ve written many a word about potential roster moves we’d like to see this offseason. So far, things have been relatively quiet outside of trading away Yasiel Puig and Alex Wood (and Matt Kemp and Kyle Farmer) and signing Joe Kelly.

The Dodgers have been linked to some of the biggest names on the market — specifically, Bryce Harper, Corey Kluber and J.T. Realmuto. We (fans) want two of them when one of them might be more realistic. But what if the Dodgers don’t get any of them? What happens then?

Well, I’d be kinda mad online if they failed to land at least one of the trio above. And in only one scenario would it truly be the Dodgers’ fault (signing Harper).

Here’s what the Dodgers still need to sort out this winter:

CATCHER

If Realmuto isn’t attainable, the Dodgers have to do something. Austin Barnes could still part of the solution, even after struggling mightily in 2018. But there would need to be another decent catcher brought in. Rocky Gale just isn’t gonna cut it and Keibert Ruiz and Will Smith won’t be ready until late-2019 at the earliest (and more likely 2020).

Francisco Cervelli has been linked to the Dodgers and was, reportedly, almost traded to LA at the Winter Meetings for Ross Stripling. There hasn’t been much in the way of extra details with that rumor, but I’d think the Dodgers wouldn’t have to give up four years of team control for one year of Cervelli (at $11.5 million). Plus, Cervelli has a history of dealing with concussions, which is something to be a bit concerned about.

Then there’s Yasmani Grandal. Recency bias will have folks not liking him as an option at all, but he’s one of the best all-around catchers in the game and is, somewhat remarkably, still a free agent. There was a report that he turned down a 4-year, $60 million deal from the Mets. I’m extremely skeptical this is true. If it is, then he really doesn’t want to play for the Mets, because there’s no other reason his agent would advise him to turn down that deal. So, if Grandal comes back on, say, a 1-year deal at a rate both he and the Dodgers could agree on, he’d go back into the free agent market without the qualifying offer attached to him, making him a more attractive option. I also don’t think teams are fretting over losing their second-highest (2nd-rounder for most teams) and $500,000 of international signing money to sign a Top 5 catcher. I really think most are being swayed by Grandal’s poor postseason performance. If that’s the case, the Dodgers could benefit by getting him back for another season.

SECOND BASE

Yes, the Dodgers have Enrique Hernandez, Max Muncy and Chris Taylor who can play second base (some better than others). Yet, the Dodgers could still be looking for a more permanent option. DJ LeMahieu is a guy I’ve liked all offseason and the Dodgers continue to be attached to him. If they were to bring in LeMahieu, they could shift Hernandez and Taylor to true utility roles, thus making them more valuable overall. Muncy wouldn’t be forced to play a position that doesn’t suit him very well and the Dodgers would add a high-contact player to their batting order — something they’ve been missing in recent years.

Jed Lowrie is coming off a near 5-win season and, frankly, I’m surprised he hasn’t signed anywhere yet. He could be a strong alternative to LeMahieu. He’s better against right-handed pitching than lefties, so I’m not sure he fits exactly what the Dodgers are looking for in that regard. Brian Dozier has also been rumored, but I’m all-out on him. His time with the Dodgers last season was less-than-impressive.

OUTFIELD

If the Dodgers don’t land Harper, they don’t need another outfielder. It could be argued they don’t need Harper, but at the same time, they do. Just read anything I’ve written about Harper this offseason.

Here’s the outfield depth chart as it stands today:

• Joc Pederson LF
• Cody Bellinger CF
• Alex Verdugo RF
• Chris Taylor CF/LF
• Enrique Hernandez OF
• Andrew Toles OF

That’s not too bad. It’s a bit left-handed with guys who have trouble hitting lefties, but defensively it’s solid and Verdugo would finally have a chance to play. It’d look a hell of a lot better with Harper, but it’s fine as is. I don’t think the Dodgers should go after A.J. Pollock (a player they’ve been linked to) in this scenario.

PITCHING

There isn’t a ton left to do in regard to pitching. In the rotation, there isn’t a real upgrade outside Kluber (or Trevor Bauer) available at present. Yusei Kikuchi signed with the Mariners a couple days ago, so he’s off the board. Marcus Stroman is interesting, but he’s not a great present-day upgrade over what the Dodgers have now.

In the bullpen, the addition of Kelly helps. Tony Cingrani is back and the only arbitration-eligible Dodger to avoid the process thus far. Pedro Baez, Yimi Garcia and Josh Fields were all tendered deals. Along with that quintet, the Dodgers still have Scott Alexander, JT Chargois, Caleb Ferguson, Dylan Floro and Kenley Jansen. That’s 10 relievers, and that doesn’t even include the likes of Kenta Maeda and/or Stripling. It also doesn’t account for other 40-man roster guys like Yadier Alvarez, Adam McCreery, Dennis Santana, Josh Sborz and Brock Stewart.

Some folks want another addition, and while a guy like Adam Ottavino would be great, he hasn’t been linked to LA at all. David Robertson has, but I doubt the Dodgers give out another multi-year, multi-million deal to a reliever, even if he’s a good one. Kelvin Herrera has been mentioned, but he struggled last season, doesn’t miss as many bats as a guy with his stuff should and is coming off a torn Lisfranc ligament in his foot. He also missed two weeks in August with shoulder tightness. Finally, he saw his velocity drop 1 MPH from the previous season (and the lowest full-season velo of his career). Those are all pretty significant warning signs. If the Dodgers could get him on the cheap, then perhaps there’s a good investment there. Otherwise, they’ll probably go into the season with what they have on the roster right now. Also, there will be some non-roster invitees who will have a chance to win a job in Spring Training. Unless they get an established guy on the cheap, I’m not sure there’s another bullpen addition coming.

————————————————————————————————————————

The Dodgers could go into the 2019 season and win the NL West with their current roster. The only true contender for the division title would be the Rockies, as the Diamondbacks and Giants are in the midst of a rebuild and the Padres’ youngsters haven’t yet gotten to the MLB level. But the goal is to win the World Series — especially after back-to-back Series losses. Not adding at least one of the — let’s lazily call them the “Big 3” — would hamper their chances to make it back to October, especially after teams like the Braves, Cardinals and yes, even the Mets, have improved dramatically this winter.

If they don’t add Harper, Kluber or Realmuto, there’s still a chance to land an impact player at the trade deadline (as they have for the last four years), but the farm will eventually run dry if that’s the game plan every season.

Signing Harper remains the biggest and best move they could make. Bringing in Kluber is second, but arguably the biggest luxury. Realmuto is third, but would fill the biggest need, though the alternatives to Realmuto are solid if Cervelli and Grandal are indeed those guys.

There’s still a lot of winter left, so I don’t necessarily want to think “what if” they don’t land one of the Big 3 yet, but the odds seem to be better that they won’t than they will at the moment.

 

latest on britton
4 years is absurd imo
but hard to ever underestimate boras
still, think he'd ultimately settle for something similar to robertson


Yankees reportedly focused on Zach Britton
by Steve Adams | MLB Trade Rumors — 43 minutes ago

2:45pm: Fancred’s Jon Heyman tweets that the Yankees “seem focused” on Britton in their pursuit of bullpen upgrades, though he adds that the lefty is “believed” to have multiple offers in hand.

2:08pm: Today’s agreement between the Phillies and David Robertson could accelerate the market for lefty Zach Britton, as ESPN’s Jeff Passan tweets that Britton “looks like the next reliever to go.” Britton was a known target of the Phillies before they signed Robertson and of the Cardinals before they signed Andrew Miller, and Passan adds that Britton has “been in discussions” with the Yankees recently. The Athletic’s Jayson Stark tweeted this morning, too, that the Yankees are “heavily focused” on the bullpen market at the moment and listed Britton as a target.

As with any free agent, the asking price is a key, however, and Stark tweets that Britton and agent Scott Boras have been holding out for a four-year guarantee. That’s a huge ask for any reliever but particularly for one with Britton’s recent track record. Though there was a strong argument to be made that as recently as 2016, Britton was baseball’s premier reliever, the past two seasons have been decidedly less successful. Britton missed significant time in 2017 due to forearm issues and missed the first half of the 2018 campaign while recovering from surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon suffered in offseason workouts.

Because of those injuries, Britton has been limited to just 78 innings across the past two seasons and has had decidedly mixed results along the way. He’s registered a sharp 3.00 ERA in that time but also had diminished strikeout and walk numbers (7.3 K/9, 4.5 BB/9). Britton’s swinging-strike rate is down nearly five percent from its 17.2 percent peak in 2016, and his chase rate on pitches outside the strike zone has plummeted from a career-high 38.7 percent in 2015 to 29.5 percent last season. Velocity, too, has served as a red flag. Though Britton’s infamous sinker gained some speed as the 2018 season wore on and he distanced himself from that Achilles surgery, even his end-of-season velocity was well south of the 97.1 mph he averaged on his sinker in 2016.

None of that is to say that Britton is no longer a quality bullpen option. Even with diminished results, he’s still elite in terms of inducing ground-balls, limiting hard contact and avoiding the long ball. Given that he only just turned 31, it’s certainly plausible that a full offseason of rest and regular workouts could allow Britton to return to the pre-injury form he displayed from 2014-16 when he posted an unthinkable 1.38 ERA with a nearly 80 percent ground-ball rate, better than a strikeout per inning (9.3 K/9) and strong control (2.4 BB/9) through a span of 209 innings.

In that sense, Britton possesses a higher ceiling than any available reliever. However, his two most recent seasons should create some real cause for concern. Relievers with red flags can certainly still get paid — Miller secured a $25MM guarantee over two years from the Cardinals on the heels of an injury-marred season of his own — but a four-year pact would be a particularly strong outcome for a pitcher whose recent performance simply hasn’t aligned with his name value.