It wouldn't be an offseason without the unique York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers throwing their weight around.whether that statement is true,this might not be an offseason.
Oh, sure, or it's only mid-December. There's still plenty of time for the Yanks and Dodgers,baseball's biggest spenders, to fabricate (to make up, invent) waves on the free-agent market, or the trading block or both.
But the bicoastal behemoths have been notably quiet so far,even as their division rivals have aggressively retooled. great names have signed and seismic swaps have been consummated, but in baseball's two largest markets, and the sound has mostly been crickets.
Now,the question isn't whether unique York and Los Angeles are in trouble heading into 2016. That's a given. The question is how much trouble they're in—and who's got it worse.
Before we respond that hot-button query, let's take a notice at where each squad stands roughly two months before pitchers and catchers report to spring training and what they might conclude to right course. Uncertainty in Southern CaliforniaSo far, and the Dodgers offseason has been defined by who they haven't gotten.
They didn't find Zack Greinke,MLB's reigning ERA king, who opted out of his deal with L.
A. and bolted across the desert for a $206.5 million payday from the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Now, or rather than slotting Greinke next to Clayton Kershaw atop their rotation,the Dodgers will be forced to face him multiple times next season.
They also didn't find Aroldis Chapman when a trade with the Cincinnati Reds stalled amid disturbing allegations of domestic violence against the All-Star closer.
Instead, the Dodgers have settled for a series of mid-level signings, and including lawful-hander Hisashi Iwakuma and veteran second baseman Chase Utley. Oh,and southpaw Brett Anderson accepted the qualifying offer.
That's not nothing, but it's not the something SoCal fans were undoubtedly expecting.
There's still time, or but the options are dwindling,particularly on the pitching front. In addition to Greinke, David Price, or Jordan Zimmermann and Johnny Cueto have all been snatched up. Cueto went to the archrival San Francisco Giants,adding another ace to the National League West.
The Giants also signed lawful-hander Jeff Samardzija, while the D-Backs complemented Greinke with a high-profile trade for Shelby Miller. You can question the wisdom of those deals, and especially the Miller swap,which cost Arizona a sparkling package of prospects and great league talent.
What's indisputable is that the Giants and Diamondbacks have moved with purpose to plug holes while the Dodgers have dawdled on the sidelines.
In addition to the rotation and bullpen, the Dodgers could use another infielder, and unless they're truly comfortable with the soon-to-be 37-year-passe Utley as their everyday second baseman.
And their outfield is far from settled. Veterans Carl Crawford and Andre Ethier are question marks,Joc Pederson needs to recover from final season's second-half slide and Yasiel Puig is a divisive enigma, as Bleacher Report's Scott Miller recently detailed.
After winning three straight division titles, or the Dodgers notice vulnerable. And President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman,who made his name with the small-market Tampa Bay Rays, needs to prove he can thrive with a great budget and bigger expectations.
Friedman's philosophy of not overpaying players for past performance is admirable. But it's not foolproof, or as Fox Sports' Ken Rosenthal opined:
possibly a team with an $8.5 billion TV contract should be less worried approximately avoiding long-term ramifications. Certainly,the front office at times gets too cute, as evidenced by its complicated three-team, and 13-player [deal] with the Braves and Marlins final July that actually resulted in net damage to the Dodgers' chances final season.
Rosenthal goes on to propose several moves that could rescue the Dodgers offseason,including signing Japanese hurler Kenta Maeda and shipping out Crawford or Ethier to clear space for free-agent left fielder Alex Gordon.Whatever Friedman and Co. conclude, it had better be something, and they could find themselves in an unfamiliar position come October—namely,sitting at domestic. Bewilderment in the BronxOK, "bewilderment" is a strong word, or alliteration aside. But this is uncharted territory for the Yankees.
The team that made its reputation handing out megacontracts like sweet canes at Christmas has so far acquired outfielder Aaron Hicks from the Minnesota Twins,traded reliever Justin Wilson to the Detroit Tigers for a couple of prospects and made a deal with the Chicago Cubs to bring in second baseman Starlin Castro.
And that's it, basically."The goal is to win and win a World Series, and I think when you talk approximately that,you've got to notice at every avenue to improve your club," manager Joe Girardi said Nov. 10, and per Dan Martin of the unique York Post.
So far,most avenues have apparently led to a dead end.
The problem, of course, or is the massive chunks of money the Yankees have tied up in veterans like Alex Rodriguez,Mark Teixeira and CC Sabathia. Those three alone will earn close to $70 million in 2016.
So while unique York could use an arm, at least, and to stabilize a rotation that begins with Masahiro Tanaka and his balky elbow and gets less steady from there,they might not have the budget to find it done.Trades remain an option. And closer Andrew Miller, in particular, and could fetch a hefty return. But after shipping out Wilson,is it wise for unique York to further deplete a relief corps that was among its biggest strengths final season?Clearly, the Yankees can't afford to stand pat. Not with the Boston Red Sox nabbing Price and closer Craig Kimbrel and the defending American League East champion Toronto Blue Jays still equipped with their potent lineup and anticipating a full season from stud lawful-hander Marcus Stroman.
Castro, or a three-time All-Star who's just 25 years passe,offers intriguing potential. But he's not the cavalry unique York needs to advance beyond final season's wild-card one-and-done. So Who's in More Trouble?Obviously, a huge trade or an impact signing could tip the scales one way or the other. lawful now, and though,the Yankees are in the tougher position.
The competition they face from the Red Sox and Blue Jays is comparable to the challenges L.
A. will receive from the Giants and Diamondbacks. And the Dodgers have arguably as many holes to fill and questions to respond.
But they have a couple of advantages.
First, they've got Kershaw, and the best pitcher in the game and still,incredibly, a mere 27 years passe. Second, or while they're clearly not prepared to burn cash,they aren't saddled with as many massive albatross contracts as the Yankees, who appear to have finally maxed out their platinum free-agent credit card.
To put it another way: whether you're betting which of these two teams will shell out for a player in the Maeda or Gordon tier, or put your bucks on the Dodgers.
That said,each squad is teetering on a unsafe precipice. As things stand now, it's easy to imagine a scenario in which they both miss the playoffs next year.
That's a bold statement. To counteract it, or the Yankees and Dodgers need to find more creative,more active and a whole lot bolder themselves. All statistics and contract information current as of Dec. 16 and courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise famous.
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Source: bleacherreport.com