DODGERS NEWS/RUMORS thread

Oh I know who you are talking about then. I wouldn’t trust her as far as I could throw her

 

Fixed

 

Not too severely. Taylor is better suited in the OF anyway.
Not saying I trust Muncy to handle 2B. I'm good with Kike there though, personally
But Muncy could be gone over the Tribe or elsewhere in this scenario so..

 

They're all keeping Lux's spot warm anyway. The way he is advancing is a beautiful thing

 

I think Taylor and Hernandez have a lot of IF ahead of them this season. One of them is going to be the primary second baseman no matter how badly we want Muncy to play it or Lux up, then the other guy is going to be expected to play a decent bit of SS and 3B unless Rios or Beaty really shows out this spring. Having both as options for the OF is certainly nice, but any injury to Turner or especially Seager and suddenly the OF depth takes a giant hit due to their abilities to man the IF. If the impossible happens and we sign Harper, all my money is on at least Pederson being shown the door since he makes the most money and maybe Verdugo, but I think Muncy stays. The guy put up one of the best slash lines in baseball last year, if they have any hint of him coming close to repeating that, they are not going to trade Muncy for the "ehh" return they would get.

 

There was a lot of speculation that Arenado would wait until Harper signed to lock a deal down, which could also have caused another staring contest with Boras. Him finalizing his deal now could finally be the last domino needed to fall for Boras and Harper to set the bar, Arenado's AAV + Machado's years and maybe over Stanton's total... So I would not be shocked if Harper is looking for 327,500,000 over 10 years for and AAV of $32.75M.

 

Some Harper notes from the morning

• Just now Morosi is saying "Bryce Harper update: Some #Phillies officials have grown concerned Harper will sign with the #Dodgers if they make an offer that comes close to Philly’s. The ability to play close to home and train in Arizona both appeal to Harper, who is a @Lakers fan." This was a growing sentiment in the baseball community over the last 24 hours from more than one writer. A bit more "More on #Dodgers as possible Bryce Harper destination: As a wise baseball friend reminded me, the Dodgers’ front office was known to admire Nolan Arenado, who as of today is no longer an option. Suddenly, there is more room in the team’s future budget." This really can't be ignored either.

• Smashmouth is reporting that they have been told that the Giants owners and Farhan Zaidi are not seeing eye to eye in the Bryce negotiations. Owners want a long term deal and Zaidi is only offering a short term. Smashmouth is not happy about this.

• As earlier noted, some random former professional honkbaler is reporting that the Dodgers and Harper have agreed to a deal. Many other no namers are confirming this random report from the now profession E-sporter.

• On a more serious note, there are some rumblings that the Dodgers are likely circling with 10+ year offer and maybe longer for AAV purposes. Going back to my first note in regards to the Phillies, this was something that was floating around late last night that growing speculation is the Dodgers are now very serious about Harper. Something that should be considered is they may hold off on a Harper announcement to first move some players as to not necessarily take a hit on the return for the guys they would consider sending out. Some other speculation is that the news on Kershaw is worse than they are letting on and want to get ahead of this as well as a potent offense may be that much more important now.

 

Would not be surprised if Kershaw gets surgery and is shut down for the year.

 

I don't want Muncy to play 2B at all, personally. I'd like to turn 2 on some tough plays every now and then and just can't see that body doing it consistently enough. I was just saying, in the event that LAD lands Harp and decides to move both Verdugo and Joc, that Taylor could serve well as the 4th OF when needed. I see what you're saying about the wide scope trickle down effect it could have, but we can't forget Mr. Freese either who can hold 1st and 3rd, so CT/Kike/Rios/Beatty aren't alone. Somehow, Freese is always the forgotten man.

The thing about Joc, yeah, we'd like to send him out in the scenario where we land Harp, but because of the money he makes and the money he's going to be due in short order..does he alone bring what we want in return? The team control that Verdugo has is a nice thing, so yeah, I'm with you there..I could see both going.

 

I'd be pretty upset, and frankly confused if their response to losing Kershaw for an extended period (speculation) was to trade a starter, probably Hill, (and probably an additional player) and sign Harper.

Rick Honeycutt is a miracle worker, but I don't know if even he can do it with this:

Buehler
Ryu
Maeda
Stripling
Stewart/Ferguson/Urias/Santana

 

BTW, anybody have a pouting update on Joc and Verdugo since its out that they could be replaced by a star? Or does that just happen with the Lakers?

 

Nolan Arenado is so much less desirable than Harper or Machado, what a dumb move lol

 

Gotta wait till Verdugo hits .220/.310/.350 for three years and Laker fans crown him as the next Mickey Mantle first

 

I've got to spruce up on my sources. You've already hit me with " Turtleneck " and now a Smashmouth? I'm dead Lol

 

Oddly enough, that is still probably the second best rotation in the NL West with the best pitching prospects in the division on their way.

 

It was literally from the band Smashmouth's twitter account, it was more of a joke than anything.

 

Lol Who in the hell was the Turtleneck guy?

 

• So this is something I missed, but MLB Radio is saying that the Phillies owner gave Harper/Boras a deadline of some unspecified time this afternoon to take the Phillies offer or it is off the board. This has not been widely reported based on my brief search, but that certainly would make things interesting and gives the feeling that the Phillies feel they are losing this race.

• Another report is that Harper and Boras have turned down MULTIPLE 10+ year 300+M offers from teams not on the west coast and the growing feeling is that unless someone comes along and blows the roof off the place, he will sign with either the Giants or Dodgers if they can even get in the neighborhood of the Phillies currently standing offer.

 

Duarte from NBC LA. Dude's twitter pic is him trying to look al suave in chair and turtleneck.