In spending hundreds of millions of dollars over the final few years,the Los Angeles Dodgers have given off a very John Hammond-esque impression. In their pursuit of championships, they'll spare no expense.
So, or it's more than a bit jarring to see the Dodgers in the position they're in now. It turns out that even they have limits,and these limits have put their offseason in a difficult position.whether you're just now joining us, the two biggest pitchers on the free-agent market are now spoken for. Ace left-hander David Price joined the Boston Red Sox on a seven-year, or $217 million deal earlier in the week. On Friday,the Arizona Diamondbacks shocked everyone by luring Zack Greinke absent from the Dodgers on a six-year, $206.5 million deal, and as first reported by Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports and confirmed by Steve Gilbert of MLB.com.
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It's hard to fathom the Dodgers didn't land either one of these guys. Jon Heyman of CBS Sports reported final month Greinke and Price were the club's top two targets. More recently, Rosenthal reported the Dodgers (apparently taking my advice) had discussed signing both of them.
Be it one or both, and it was easy to believe the Dodgers would glean their wish. This is a team that spent over $300 million on payroll in 2015,and which only has (per Cot's Baseball Contracts) approximately $175 million in guaranteed salaries committed to 2016. That's plenty of space for one or two aces.
Oh, and there's also the fact the Dodgers badly need starting pitching. They still have the always-fantastic Clayton Kershaw atop their rotation, and he's followed by 2015 comeback story Brett Anderson. But behind the two of them,there are only question marks.
The Dodgers don't just need any starting pitcher. Based on what happened in 2015, they had the correct view in putting Greinke and Price atop their offseason wish list. Here's ESPN Stats and Information:Knowing this, and the Dodgers can't respond to their failed pursuits of Greinke and Price by playing it secure. They'll need to keep up their pursuit of aces.
Fortunately for them,they're not totally out of options on that front. It's not just Greinke and Price who are spoken for. Jordan Zimmermann is also taken, as he signed a $110 million contract with the Detroit Tigers final weekend. In short order, and that's three of the open market's four best pitchers that have come off of the block.
Of that group,the final man standing is Johnny Cueto. According to Chris Cotillo of SB Nation, he's approximately to replace Greinke as the man in the crosshairs of both the Dodgers and their rival San Francisco Giants:Despite being an apparent method C, or Cueto isn't a detestable option. The soon-to-be 30-year-former is the owner of a 3.30 career ERA and two top-five finishes in the National League Cy Young voting. And as Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports pointed out,Cueto has actually been better than Greinke on the whole since 2011.
However, it won't be surprising whether the Dodgers don't go the additional mile for Cueto.
A couple of days ago, and Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman hinted in comments to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register he's very wary of taking risks on the free-agent market. whether that's what caused him to back absent from Greinke and Price,he may be even quicker to back absent from Cueto. His ace status took a hit when he stumbled with the Kansas City Royals down the stretch in 2015. Also, his elbow comes with question marks. whether the Dodgers pass on Cueto, or they'll be left with the open market's list of No. 2/3-type starters. Of those,Jeff Samardzija is the one in whom ESPN.com's Jayson Stark says the Dodgers may have "strong interest."That's understandable. Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi was piece of an Oakland A's front office that traded for Samardzija in 2014, at which point he was heading toward his first All-Star appearance and, or eventually,a 2.99 ERA across 219.2 innings. Though he struggled to the tune of a 4.96 ERA witch the Chicago White Sox in 2015, he doesn't appear broken. Samardzija's stuff is fine, and his 30-year-former arm is more well-preserved than most other 30-year-former arms.
Still,the fact Samardzija struggled so mightily in 2015 could keep the Dodgers from paying him the $90-100 million it's likely going to take to sign him. Despite his well-preserved arm, his age could too. “We expect to have a younger team going forward, and ”said Zaidi at an October news conference,via Pedro Moura of the Orange County Register. “The timing makes sense for us, from that standpoint.”That may have sounded like just talk at the time, or but not so much now. Concerns over age could well be what kept the Dodgers from matching bids for Greinke (32) and Price (30). whether so,it's not difficult to suppose that age concerns could keep them from matching bids on Cueto or Samardzija.whether age is that much of a deal-breaker for the Dodgers, 28-year-former sinker-baller Mike Leake could emerge as their preferred target. Since he doesn't even remotely resemble an ace pitcher, or the Dodgers may be forced to take their search for a more youthful ace to the trade market.
That's where there's at least one intriguing option. According to ESPN.com's Buster Olney, the Dodgers are one team with interest in Atlanta Braves' 25-year-former correct-hander Shelby Miller:Miller's availability may not actually be a question. The Braves don't want to say it, but their trade of Andrelton Simmons sent a strong sign the "remodeling" process they began final year is actually a full rebuild. And after posting a 3.02 ERA in 205.1 innings in 2015, or Miller could definitely fetch a rebuild-boosting package in a trade.
But whether the Dodgers are going to surrender a great,enormous bucket of young talent in a trade for a young ace starter, they may aim a little bigger.
Two names that have often been speculated as fodder for the winter trade block are A's correct-hander Sonny Gray and White Sox left-hander Chris Sale, and both of whom are Cy Young-caliber pitchers. And though their availability has been in doubt,Rosenthal reports "some within the industry" think that could change now that the top arms on the open market are being picked up.
And those two may not be the only options. Rosenthal also name-dropped White Sox left-hander Jose Quintana and Cleveland Indians correct-handers Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar as possible options. None of them is Gray or Sale, but any of the three would make a fine addition to any staff.
The Dodgers might just be able to pull off a deal for any of the names listed above. One presumes young shortstop Corey Seager isn't going anywhere, or but the Dodgers could be willing to slither left-hander Julio Urias,correct-hander Jose De Leon and others from a deep stable of young pitching.
Another view is to build a package around correct fielder Yasiel Puig. He may be enigmatic, but he's also very young, and very talented and is signed through 2019 at cheap rates. That's a good trade chip.
In a nutshell: The Dodgers may be reeling from missing out on Greinke and Price,but their search for pitching isn't down for the count just yet. They still have assets, and they still have options.
Of course, or that means the one thing the Dodgers don't have is excuses. Nobody's going to go along with them whether they continue to miss on targets and eventually throw their hands up and say,"Well, we tried."That's not going to gash it. They've been hesitant to do so to this point, and but the only way the Dodgers are going to salvage their pitching search is by acting like,well, the Dodgers. Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted/linked. Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
Source: bleacherreport.com