This article has 85 Comments

1. A well thought out trade proposal with Yankees and Marlins. I have never been a Stanton supporter, but he does have star power. What I do like about the line up is that most starters would start each day. I absolutely hate the mix and match line ups.

2. AC – Rudeness here, I think not… Especially from me… It’s all food for thought!! When I know you’re on a roll, I sneak in my PT, drop a med and dig in…
   We’ll see you Saturday for sure.. Rudy, keep the faith with the Chipster… When he gets to recruit, Katie bar the door…

3. I always enjoy the “out-of-the-box thinking” in this blog and I’d love to see the Stanton deal done, but I think this one is to ballsey for either Cashman or Friedman. Keep thinking folks! This is what makes the off-season bearable.

4. Some interesting food for thought! I wouldn’t mind having Stanton on the team, hometown boy and all. Will be interesting to see if the Dodgers acquire a right handed hitter that can mash.
   .
   Personally, I would like them to do as you suggested, acquire a true center fielder, move Bellinger back to First base and leave him there. Obtain a true lead off hitter (if he’s a center fielder or 2b, all the better). If we keep the team primarily as it is, I would have CT3 and Joc platoon in left. Kike and Muncy can platoon at 2nd (though not the preferred solution there) and I’m not sure how to construct the rest of the team. I’ll nominate you as GM for the interim and go and pull off the trades that are needed.

5. I said yesterday that Friedman has many decisions to make before ST and I have no idea what the Dodgers will do so your trade proposals make sense, but I’m hoping Taylor or Hernandez is traded, Muncy at first I don’t think will be an answer. If the Dodgers made the trade for Stanton then I would rather the Dodgers keep Puig and play him in CF were he has played 67 games, ( he is not as good as Bellinger but he moves Bellinger back to first) and move Verdugo to RF.
   Let’s see what happens.

6. And before I forget, which is prevalent these days, have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving and diets be damned…

7. When I saw the headline for yourpost AC, I assumed that Mark was going to be the author. You fooled me. Good one.
   .
   I want a power righty bat for the Dodgers and Stanton would qualify. But I think it is much more likely that Puig will be traded to Miami than Stanton to the Dodgers. Puig has reverse splits so he would serve as a needed lefty bat for Miami.
   .
   I suppose there is a chance that the Mets would be interested in Puig but I don’t think Puig would be happy there. I like trading Dodgers to places where they would like to play. The Mets may be willing to trade Noah Syndergaard
   and they need hitting and replacement pitching. Wood and Puig or Muncy, Wood , CT3, and White (since Puig is going to Miami) 😉 ) might start the conversation.
   .
   The three players I would like to trade are CT3, Puig, and Muncy.

   1. Where would Joc like to play?

      1. Now that’s funny. I believe SF.

         1. He is from Palo Alto.

8. AC

   What are your thoughts on Dombrowski and his tactics?

   As a big Sox fan, I wasn’t a big fan of his trading prospects. But who can argue with the results.

   1. Dombrowski has to be a GM for a high spending team. He likes veteran players who are proven and is willing to pay for them. It worked very well in Miami in 1997 with a bunch of high priced veterans. When he was told to tear it down the next year he sufferred for four years because he could not construct a team in his way. He tried in vain to get Mike Ilitch a WS championship by signing high priced FA. He got to two WS (2006 & 2012) but lost both.
      .
      He did the same in Boston, but this time did have some good young home grown talent to go with his FA and trades (veterans again). I especially applaud him with the Chris Sale trade. He did something the Dodgers were not willing to do. He won another WS. So Dombrowski has gone to 4 WS, winning 2. I think he can hold his head high.
      .
      If I were the Giants ownership, I would have tried to get Dombrowski who has proven he can put together a veteran team and win. Especially for a team that is willing to spend. As the Marlins were for Huizenga, Detroit with Ilitch, and Boston with Henry. Huizenga got his WS before the tear down, so he was willing to spend to get that WS championship.

9. I was in Palm Springs over the weekend for a wedding that was overrun with Trojan fans.
   Hopefully they enjoyed their dessert of humble pie. There is only one time in the year that I root for SC and that is when they play Notre Dame (sorry peterj). As far as Stanton coming to L.A,, I would be more than happy if that were the case. I think he would shine here and bring some real star power to an already star-filled L.A. sports scene.

10. If you think the Dodgers may have a tough contract battle ahead here is an excerpt from the Off season Outlook for the Giants from MLBTR.
    .
    Guaranteed Contracts
    .
    • Evan Longoria, 3B: $73.166MM through 2022 (includes $5MM buyout of $13MM club option for 2023)
    • Johnny Cueto, SP: $71MM through 2021 (includes $5MM buyout of $22M club option for 2022)
    • Buster Posey, C: $67.2MM through 2021 (includes $3MM buyout of $22MM club option for 2022)
    • Brandon Belt, 1B: $48MM through 2021
    • Brandon Crawford, SS: $45MM through 2021
    • Jeff Samardzija, SP: $39MM through 2020
    • Mark Melancon, RP: $28MM through 2020 (didn’t exercise opt-out clause)
    • Madison Bumgarner, SP: $12MM in 2019 (Giants exercised club option)
    • Tony Watson, RP: $6MM through 2020 (Watson can exercise player option for a $500K buyout to opt out of contract after 2019 season)
    • Pablo Sandoval, 3B: $555K through 2019 (Giants exercised club option; Red Sox responsible for the rest of the remaining $22.445MM owed on Sandoval’s contract through 2019)
    .
    Arbitration Eligible Players (service time in brackets; projections via MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz)
    .
    • Sam Dyson (4.142) – $5.4MM
    • Joe Panik (4.100) – $4.2MM
    • Will Smith (5.155) – $4.1MM
    • Hunter Strickland (3.163) – $2.5MM
    • Gorkys Hernandez (3.013) – $1.6MM
    • Non-tender candidates: Panik, Hernandez
    .
    The top eight names in the “guaranteed contracts” section (everyone except Tony Watson and Pablo Sandoval) are slated to earn approximately $135.84MM in 2019, coming off a season in which the octet generated a combined 8.3 fWAR. That’s a lower total fWAR than Mookie Betts, Mike Trout, and Jacob deGrom produced as individuals in 2018, which is indicative of the troubling situation in which San Francisco finds itself heading into this new season.
    .
    Good luck Farhan Zaidi.

11. Trade Wood, Pederson and Kike or Taylor for Abreu and Sign Harper. Kemp is your 4th Outfielder,. Done. One platoon at C only.

    This is a Championship worthy lineup and it’s L/R cuz apparently that’s important to some…

    Corey Seager – SS – L
    JT – 3B – R
    Harper – LF – L
    Abreu – 1B – R
    Bellinger – CF – L
    Puig – RF – R
    Muncy – 2B – L
    Barnes/Farmer – C (or a 1 year stop gap FA catcher).

    Bench – Other catcher, Kike or Taylor, Freese, Kemp, Toles. Verdugo rides the jet back and forth until Puig and Kemp are gone next year.

    One year over the cap, then you can dump Kemp and QO Puig and get that draft pick. The following year sign Arrenado, move Justin to 1B. Belli finally plays 1B the year after that.

    The only other move is to sign Hererra to setup Kenley. Now we have a complete team.

    1. For this exercise, we will ignore that you have 13 position players leaving 12 pitchers. Maybe for the first month, but if history teaches us anything about the future, from May on it is going to be 12 position players and 13 pitchers.
       .
       Jose Abreu is projected to earn $16MM in arbitration. MLBTR projects Kelvin Herrera to sign a 1 year deal for $8MM (coincidentally to LAD). Bryce Harper is not going to accept a less than Miggy Cabrera AAV, so the least he will take will be $32MM AAV. But for this exercise, let’s consider the max for Harper to be $30MM. With those three additions and your proposed exclusions via trade, the projected payroll will be $226M, or $20MM over the CBT threshold. This also will require the Dodgers to keep Barnes/Farmer as the catcher as even a 1 year stop gap will cost at least another $2MM to $4MM. It also does not allow for any trade deadline flexibility. Not going to happen. No matter how many Dodger fans complain about how cheap the Dodgers are or how wealthy the owners are, they will not go over the CBT by $20MM. That is not why Andrew Friedman is there.
       .
       I recognize that my proposal is a pipe dream, as are all trade proposals without any inside knowledge (of which I have ZERO), but I am staying within the stipulated contract parameters that have been leaked. The Dodgers cannot take on a big contract without ridding themselves of the Matt Kemp contract. I think it is highly unlikely that NYY will do it, but if they want to get out of the Stanton contract, they are going to need to take on the Kemp contract. It is rumored that Stanton will only waive his no trade to either the Dodgers or Angels. The Angels will not do it unless NYY takes Pujols. Not happening.
       .
       I have updated the article with the projected payroll after my proposal. It shows a way to add Stanton, Chad Green, and Jose Urena and stay well below the CBT threshold. It gives the Dodgers the ability to add a catcher other than Farmer; it theoretically will allow them to sign Herrera to a one year deal; and it gives them room for a trade deadline acquisition.
       .
       If the Dodgers agreed to go to $230MM + then yes your ideas would work.

       1. I don’t agree that the Dodgers will avoid the salary cap at all costs. After all, they’ve only been under exactly one year since Guggenheim took over. I think they will go over so long as they can reset every 2-4 years depending on circumstances. Everyone thought last year that they would stay under for one year, then go hard after Harper or Machado. All that changed because of one non-binding investor relations plan? I think not. I hardly think it’s unreasonable to think they won’t pursue Hererra and Harper because of the tax, not when they jacked up prices and went to the World Series two years in a row. Not when they’re charging $16 a beer during the post season. They felt some heat from MLB to get under last year because of the debt service rule. That’s their only driving factor. Every year they sit atop attendance while raising prices and playing many post season games, they take a big hit out of their debt/asset ratio. So. what was necessary last year, probably isn’t this year. As a result, I don’t think going over by 20 million is unreasonable if they have the chance to add a generational talent and a back-end arm.

12. Nats have agreed to a two year contract with Kurt Suzuki. Terms not yet disclosed.

13. PROJECTED PAYROLL UPDATE ABOVE.

14. Okay, I just traded for Noah Syndergaard and gave up Wood among others.
    .
    Now why not try to trade Hill for Chad Green. Yanks and Dodgers can figure out any other players needed to make this happen without having to keep some of Hill’s payroll which would make this proposal much less attractive.
    .
    Kershaw, Buehler, Syndergaard, Ryu, Maeda with depth coming from May, Urias, Stewart, Santana.
    .
    Jansen, Green, Fergussen, Cingrani, Baez, Fioro. Stripling, Alexander
    .
    Dodgers reduce payroll by Puig, Wood, Hill or about $36M.
    .
    Might augment the 2019 season with mid-season call-ups including Will Smith and Lux.
    .
    Go with pitching and defense. It’s not like Seager, Turner, Bellinger, Pederson, Kemp, Verdugo, Toles (although I suspect that he will be included in a trade with Puig), won’t score enough runs.

    1. I think I will trade Mattingly to Baltimore. Appears they want an experienced Manager and not that Jeffrey Loria is gone, Mattingly no longer has an owner that coveted him. While that makes it easier to trade Puig, I have decided to keep him and move him to third base. Still need a power righty bat though.
       .
       Infield: Turner, Hernandez, Puig, Seager with Lux by July
       Outfield: Pederson/Kemp, Bellinger, Verdugo
       Catcher: Barnes, Farmer with Smith by July.

       1. Oh, I forgot, the trades of Hill and Wood more than pay for Segura. Dodgers take on all of Segura’s $14,250 annual contract in each of the next 3 years of its existence plus Toles, Locastro, and Stewart could land the Dodgers a second baseman.

          1. $14,250,000 annual contract that is.

             1. 2B Segura
                SS Seager
                1B Turner
                CF Bellinger
                LF Pederson
                3B Puig
                C Barnes
                RF Verdugo
                .
                Kershaw, Buehler, Syndergaard, Ryu, Maeda with depth coming from May, Urias, Gonsolin, Santana.
                .
                Jansen, Green, Fergussen, Cingrani, Baez, Fioro. Stripling, Alexander
                .
                Maeda would be a good fit for Seattle if he were needed to help get Segura plus save the Dodgers additional payroll.

15. Interesting about Suzuki; that’s 1 less option for us and 1 less option for Grandal

    As far as Stanton, I’ve also thought we could get him from NY, but on the cheap. We have the leverage, so have them pay some of his salary every year, like we had to do for Kemp and so many others. BUT, I put Stanton in LF, and keep Puig. Not sure why everyone is ready to run him out of town, but Puig learned how to come up big in the postseason, much more so than most of his choking teammates. I think Puig showed growth and maturity, and I’d predict he has a really good 2019. I’m not ready to see that happen in someone else’s uniform.

    Stanton, Verdugo, Puig is my outfield in this scenario. Belly, Muncy/CT3/Kike/Steve Sax , Seager, Turner is my infield.

    1. Why do to the Yankees want to trade Stanton to sign Harper for 10M more per year when they can sign Machado?

       1. I think for the left handed power bat vs Stanton’s right handed bat.

          1. That is exactly what NYY diehards are clamoring for. Who knows what Cashman is thinking.

       2. 59

          Because the short fence in right, and the Yankees are to right hand dominate.

16. AC

    It is definitely the coach with USC!

    That team doesn’t seem like it is organized well.

    At least this loss won’t be in vain, because that coach has to go!

17. Interesting read on Joc https://dodgers.mlblogs.com/joc-pedersons-2018-improvement-might-be-even-better-than-you-remember-789c5d6273c0

    1. It is really easy to have such a big improvement from one year to the next, if a player had a terrible year the year before, like Joc did.

       Check out Joc’s numbers from his 2016 season the year before.

       His numbers didn’t really go up much from 2016, in fact his OPS and OBP went down in 2018, from 2016.

       The only really significant improvement Joc had in 2018, was his slugging percentage.

       And that is probably more because Joc got much better pitches to hit, in the lead off position in 2018.

    2. Pederson’s numbers and 2018 performance is directly an endorsement of platoons.
       `
       The guy just can’t hit lefties.

       1. Bluto

          Joc has almost been strictly platooned since he was called up.

          And because of that, his numbers from 2016 are a fair comparison, to his numbers in 2018.

          And lead off hitters do get much better pitches to hit, then a hitter, hitting 6th, through 8th.

          But you are right about his big disparity against righties, versus lefties.

18. Update on Suzuki – 2 years $10MM. $4MM in 2019 and $6MM in 2020. Typical Nats contract…push as much back as possible. That is a lot for a 35 year old catcher with no real defensive or framing skills. It would appear that Ramos is asking for much much more. It looks like Spencer Kieboom now has a mentor.
    .
    As far as Grandal, I still think that the potential teams in play will be Atlanta, Houston, LAA, NYM. Lucroy may now be heading back to Oakland. It was a good situation for both, and Lucroy will help Oakland bring Sean Murphy along slowly.

    1. There is also the possibility he could come back to LA…

       1. Even with Ramos’s issues with framing, he appears to be the best all around catcher, of that bunch.

          I think it is pretty impressive how well Ramos hit in a new league, last year.

          It is to bad he will be out of our league.

          I think framing may be a little over rated, when it comes to one of the most important defensive positions, in baseball.

          I understand it is better to give an umpire the best presentation of a pitch, or best view.

          But we see umpires call bad pitches all of the time, so how much influence can a catcher really have, in these situations in games, when it comes to framing?

          I know catchers do influence umpires, because some catchers know how to manipulate umpires, better then other catchers.

          But ultimately the call is on the umpire.

19. Creative thinking – thank you for stirring the pot!

    Thinking about moving pieces is fun until something moves and then we can then say, “yay or boo!”

20. A lot of Yankee fans want Stanton to go, because he didn’t do much in the post season, except strike out.

    Does that sound familiar?

    I think the Yankees may have to add more balance to their line up like we need to do too, in order to keep up with the Red Sox, and the Astro’s.

    Because decent pitching can shut the Yankee’s lineup down much like our line up, although the Yankees have far more talented players then we do in our line up, at this time.

    I think Stanton would probably do a lot better in the National League.

    But if we added Stanton, we would have to eliminate more then one all or nothing hitter, in our line up.

    And that should be at second base.

    Kike is not good when runners are in scoring position, and we can’t depend on Taylor in these situations, because he strikes out way way, to much.

    I wrote way twice, because Taylor struck out almost as much as Stanton did this year, and that is obscene, even in this strike out period in baseball today.

    We can’t depend on either Taylor or Kike in these situations in games, let alone, in high leverage situations.

    And that has been an ongoing problem with this team, and that is why we can’t continue to have this same lineup of players on this team.

    Because it isn’t bright to have an offense that depends on HRs so much to score, because even subpar pitchers have good days on the mound, at times.

    And that is enough to stop our current lineup of players, let alone a top pitcher, that isn’t having a good day, but knows how to pitch, when they don’t have their good stuff.

    We hit a lot of HRs, but we are terrible when runners are in scoring position.

    And hitters have more instances in games, that it is easier to just put the ball in play, or get a single to score a run, then hit one out.

    Because almost all pitchers pitch much tougher, when runners are on base, and especially in scoring position.

21. Stanton’s contact is so awful, I can’t imagine a front office with any value-weighting would take it on.

    1. No doubt it is a bad bad bad contract. 10 years at $240MM cost to NYY or LAD. But do you really think that Harper’s or Machado’s is going to be any better? Harper is who most on this site want, and he is going to be $326MM plus. Stanton’s contract is $325MM and Harper is not going to take less, and more importantly, Scott Boras is not going to take less. To sign Harper, they would have to exceed the CBT threshold, and they have said over and over that they are not going to exceed that threshold. Maybe they will rethink their position and sign Harper to 10 years $330MM.
       .
       I guess Dodger fans can continue to wait for someone like DJ Peters to make it, if he ever does. He might strike out 250-300 times by the time he gets to MLB.
       .
       I guess the safest thing Friedman can do is trade Wood for two 100-200 level prospects, and save $9MM. Andrew can probably find a couple more super utility players at that level. Non tender Tom Koehler, Yimi Garcia, Erik Goeddel, and Zac Rosscup and save another $4.7MM. And use that $13.7MM to sign a FA catcher and FA reliever or two, and wait for next year…again. They waited too long to get anything for Brock Stewart, so he will undoubtedly be DFA, and maybe he would be willing to sign a minor league contract with LAD. Not likely.
       .
       Of course, there will still be a logjam in the OF and Verdugo and Toles will go back to OKC. There will be a logjam with starting pitching and we can hear again how our bullpen is going to be so much better with all of the starting pitchers going to the pen. leaving no room for legit relievers. In other words, 2018 all over again. Of course, Atlanta, Milwaukee, Chicago, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Colorado, and NY Mets are all going to spend and will get better.
       .
       Oh, and after the season, the Dodgers will lose RH bats, Kemp, Puig, and Freese, and nobody to replace them…except DJ Peters.

       1. AC, isn’t the first to float this idea because of the reasons AC mentioned above. He would wave his no-trade to get to LA and that’s about it. The Dodgers are really the only team that’s feasible unless the Phillies can offload Santana to them, but he probably doesn’t want to go there. The Dodgers could use a RH bat and if the Yankees truly wanted Harper they would be very motivated to deal. Just taking Kemp in the deal knocks Stanton down to 10/$220 million. I think the Dodgers could get them to take a little more money back too if the Yankees wanted Harper that bad.
          ~
          There’s going to be at least $ 5million in non-tenders.

22. AC, if the Dodgers need a CF and right-handed slugger why not trade for Trout? Trade Urias, Keibert Ruiz, Dennis Santana, Puig, and Alex Wood for Trout. Seems fair.
    –
    Anaheim isn’t a contender. They’re considering a rebuild.

    1. LAA is not going to trade Trout, and if they ever do, it will not be to LAD. Can you imagine how Angels fans would feel if they traded Trout to LAD. There would be so many empty seats. If they want to trade Trout, they should look to see what they could get from Philly.

       1. Right, however trading across town isn’t as verboten as it once was. I would think Trout (through his agent) would push for this. I’m sure Friedman has a back channel to the agent. Trout could play for a contender and not even have to relocate. It’s a good return for the Angels, too. The Angels fans I know are resigned to trading Trout in order to become a contender again.

          1. Trout is a Philly guy, but would the Phillies deal from their prospects when they could wait 2 years and sign him. The Angels would want Nola.

23. Dodgers aren’t going to trade for Stanton and the Yanks aren’t going to trade him.
    –
    Puig isn’t ever going to play 3B.
    –
    Angels aren’t going to trade Trout and if they do it won’t be to the Dodgers.
    –
    Mets aren’t going to trade Syndergaard for spare parts.
    –
    If you wouldn’t do it if you were the other team’s GM, why would they do it?

    1. Puig playing third, while doubtful, doesn’t mean he couldn’t be a good third baseman. He likes to take infield practice there. He would love it. He would be a happy camper there and his ego would be nourished. Russell never played short stop and learned the position with the Dodgers and not in the minor leagues. Reggie Smith played some third base but I would guess Puig would play it much better.
       .
       Syndergaard is a health risk and the Mets are rumored to be willing to trade him and don’t want a bunch of porspects that may or may not ever do much in the MLB much less make the MLB. Muncy, Wood , CT3, and White was proposed to start the conversation and later I offered up Maeda.
       .
       Some people love Muncy. He did hit 37 home runs last year. Is he only a spare part?

24. I am of the firm belief that Friedman will not sign a catcher who is not a good framer!
    –
    PERIOD!
    –
    I was all in for Trading Puig for Stanton BEFORE Stanton’s big deal. If the Yanks take Kemp and Wood, that covers Stanton for 2019 and there are 8 more years at $30 million per.
    –
    If the Yankees trade Stanton they can afford Harper. I would trade Kemp, Wood and Maeda Straightup for Stanton. I could live with that!

    1. You can sweeten the deal with Joc, since the Yankees need more left handed batch for the short porch and all. Maybe you can get them to throw in a reliever…
       .
       I’ll have a cup of tea and tell you of my dreamin’
       Dreamin’ is free
       Dreamin’, dreaming is free
       .
       Can’t wait for something to happen because all these silly scenarios are driving me nuts.

       1. Join the club of silly proposas. The Yankees do not need another outfielder regardless of which side of the plate they swing.

25. No new outfielders please, we need to trade at least 2 (for value) as is, plus move Kemp (at a loss). If we can do that perhaps Stanton, with a major Yankee discount.

26. IDK about a trade for Stanton, but in any event, Dodgers NEED to do something to be better against LHP. While we all remember 2016, when the Dodgers were the worst in all of MLB against LHP in almost all offensive stats, they were not quite as bad in 2018 but notice how the elite LHP of Boston and how they handled Dodgers with ease in the WS. But then again, FWI, in the past 2 WS combined (12 games total) our wonderful pitching staff gave up 23 HR’s! Besides other factors such as a lack of total offense, it didn’t help that pitching could not keep the ball in the yard and was a huge reason, among others for those WS losses.

27. If Puig can play 3B, maybe Kemp can!

    1. Silly comment.

28. All I have hope is that Harper is signed for a better deal.
    `
    But at least I have hope?
    `
    WAIT.
    `
    I haven’t seen the team say “over and over” they are going to exceed the CBT threshold. Have I missed something? I don’t think I even saw them say they were trying to get under it, when it was obvious they were.
    `
    PS: Totally agree with your Dombroski take above.

    1. They are NOT going over the CBT threshold. 2 years ago, one of the owners Todd Boehly said that the Dodgers needed to get to $200MM and stay there. They could sustain that.
       .
       Last week Bill Shaikin reported there was a document leaked saying the Dodgers would not go over the threshold for the next four years. It was never denied. People can choose to believe it or not. Coupled with Boehly’s comment a couple years ago, I choose to believe it. I know others do not. I know some believe that it is just a red herring to get teams believing they are not going in on the FA. We will not know until ST.

       1. Thanks!
          `
          I did read that Shaikin piece, but thought he was referring to an investment pitch deck, not anything more. I don’t think the Dodgers will ever return to the wild spending of before, but I can’t imagine they’ll be over the CBT this year.
          `
          That DOES NOT mean I think they’ll sign Harper, which I am hoping for.

          1. Bluto

             Harper?

             Negative 26 DRS in the outfield last year.

             I am just surprised.

             1. Bluto

                But I agree, Harper would be more exciting to watch!

             2. He should play LF when Joc gets dealt to Miami or SF.

29. Paxton to Yankee’s. How do the Yank’s do it all the time and we are the freaking Dodger’s shopping in the discount aisle?

    1. Because the Dodgers look to get the Scott Alexanders.

    2. How’s it the Dodgers keep getting to the World Series while the freaking Yankees keep trading assets?
       `
       Here’s Passan on a player involved.
       This dovetails with what I’ve heard from a number of evaluators. Sheffield’s upside, they believe, is mitigated by his ability to consistently throw strikes.
       `
       Erik Swanson, they believe, is a swingman type. He’s 25. And Dom Thompson-Williams, an OF, is seen as an org type.

       1. This is interesting too…
          `
          Source: The Astros’ refusal to include Forrest Whitley in their offer for James Paxton precipitated Seattle’s decision to trade Paxton to the Yankees. Via MLBNetwork

       2. Two things. 1 – The Dodgers made it to the WS last year because the NL was horrid compared to the AL. The Yankees won 100 games and ran into what some consider one of the best teams of all time. There is no doubt in my mind that had the Yankees been in the NL they would have made it to the WS. The Red Sox, NYY, Houston, and probably Cleveland all would have been favored over any NL team.
          .
          2 – I am not sure what assets NYY has traded away. In 2016 they did trade Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller for a huge haul, including Gleybar Torres, Billy McKinney, Clint Frazier and Justus Sheffield. Torres and Frazier are on the MLB team and McKinney was probably the headline for JA Happ, and Sheffield was the headline for Paxton. They re-signed Chapman, and are rumored to be a favorite to re-sign Miller. I think the only trade that may come back to bite them will be the Sonny Gray trade for Jorge Mateo (A’s #6), Dustin Fowler, and James Kaprelian (A’s #9). Fowler may never be the same, and Kap still has not pitched since his TJ surgery. But those are three good prospects. While I do not think they will regret the trade for Todd Frazier, David Robertson & Tommy Kahnle, losing OF Blake Rutherford had to hurt a bit.
          .
          This year they made additional trades, but did not give up anybody special, but may have found a 1B from the Cards…Luke Voit.
          .
          If NYY gets anything out of Paxton, and can pick up another LHSP (Patrick Corbin/Dallas Keuchel), they will challenge Boston for the top team in the AL. But don’t expect Boston to not get involved.

          1. The AL was top heavy. They had 7 bad teams too. A few that were just plain awful.

             1. Agreed about the bad AL teams. Then I will just say that IMO none of the top NL teams were as good as the top 4 AL teams. And I know it is early, but it is the AL that is making the personnel changes, primarily the stacked AL East.

    3. Hawkeye

       I would love that to happen!

30. How did the Yankees do it? They surrendered their top pitching prospect, Justus Sheffield, plus two other prospects. Is that something the Dodgers would be willing to do?
    –
    Paxton has been good, but by no means is he a star. I haven’t seen him pitch, but nothing about his career jumps out at me. I’d be wary about giving up top shelf talent to get him.

31. I watched Paxton a lot on the tube up here in Oregon and see him as a good #2/#3. Which piece of the Mariners is next to be dealt?

    1. Edwin Diaz?

    2. Or….
       `
       According to another MLB Network Source: The Yankees mentioned SS Jean Segura in trade talks before decision was made to focus on Paxton alone. Segura’s inclusion in the deal would have all but eliminated Yankees as possible destination for Manny Machado.

32. It has been rumored that Gregorius could be non-tendered.

    1. It is also rumored that NYY is considering extending him over a longer term.

33. I love reading Yankee fans comments. Last week Sheffield was an untouchable. Today he is overrated.
    .
    Dodger comp – Dustin May/Jordan Sheffield/Donovan Casey. Even with that, NYY was still higher ranked. Justus Sheffield was NYY #1, MLB #4 LH pitching prospect, and #31 overall prospect. Dustin May is Dodgers #3 (#1 pitcher), and not in the top ten, but is #71 overall.
    .
    I do not blame Houston for not including Forest Whitley. He is considered a can’t miss untouchable #1 in the rotation starting pitcher. The same was said about Julio Urias. Time will tell.

    1. Good move for yankees. Paxton has huge upside and getting him for two years at a fair price is ideal. Who ever they dealt was the price and no more.

34. Regarding the Trout trade proposal above, I suppose the Angels might trade Trout and Pujols to the Dodgers for Urias and Bellinger if Harper already agreed to sign with them. I wouldn’t make that trade and i don’t think the Dodgers would either.

35. Interesting article about the Dodgers’ payroll
    https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/11/projecting-payrolls-los-angeles-dodgers.html

    1. First of all, the author started out with an incorrect premise. In the chart in the Historical Payrolls Section, it states what the team spent in the last 14 years. That is incorrect. That chart is what the opening day 25 man payroll was. Cots currently fixes the 2019 payroll at $199MM and the CBT payroll at $195MM, which is $11MM below the threshold. Not much you can do with $11MM.
       .
       Most on here have said they would not want to trade Puig. And most have said they were fine with a Joc/Kemp LF platoon. That leaves Alex Wood as the only consensus trade possibility from this site. I have no idea if Andrew agrees with that consensus. With Wood’s projected $9MM and the $4.7M of potential non-tenders, that provides $25MM below the threshold. The team needs a catcher. Based on Suzuki’s $5MM AAV that would leave $20MM, and no new reliever. Forget about Harper. You will be disappointed if you believe that to be a possibility.

       I do agree with their summation. The Dodgers will not go above the CBT threshold. The 2018 roster will be just about the 2019 roster with Corey replacing Machado. Where that leaves Verdugo and Toles, I have no idea.

       1. AC

          Set them straight!

          1. AC

             I am not so sure that they will trade Wood, myself.

             You know how they value depth, especially with starting pitchers.

36. I think AC wrote about Gomes. The Indians starters are equally enticing….
    `
    Indians drawing significant trade interest in catcher Yan Gomes as well as SPs, sources tell The Athletic. Gomes earning $7M in 2019 with $9M club option for ‘20, $11M opt for ‘21. Rival exec says CLE “scrambling to get young players.” Perez and Haase only other Cs on roster.

    1. Gomes a top pitch framer, decent on offense, has managed/caught a top staff. Makes sense to me.

37. When exactly is the deadline tomorrow? Is there a time?

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