The Free Agents

Posted By on November 29, 2024

In getting Blake Snell, the Dodgers removed one of the main free agents from the board, but there are still plenty of others to consider. Some possibilities are longshots and others are more likely. Let’s consider a few:

Roki Sasaki: Some people say that the Padres are the favorites. I still believe the Dodgers make the most sense as Yu Darvish is at the end of his career while Yamamoto and Ohtani have much more longivity remaining. The only problem is that the Dodgers are a little short on signing bonus money. Mookie Betts is going to play 2B, so the Dodgers could easily trade Gavin Lux and another prospect or two for a few million of International Signing Bonus Money… maybe the White Sox or the Brewers!

Teoscar Hernandez: Other than the fact that the Dodgers are getting older if they sign him, I could see a three year/$75 million dollar deal to let him patrol LF. Still, you never know.

Cody Bellinger: Chris Taylor and a prospect in a salry dump for the Cubs. Belli still plays a solid CF and while his bat may not be MVP level, he is solid and (you never know) could bounce back like Christain Yelich did.

Those three moves would result ina lineup that would look like this:

  1. Ohtani DH
  2. Betts 2B
  3. Freeman 1B
  4. Teoscar LF
  5. Muncy 3B
  6. Smith C
  7. Edman SS
  8. Bellinger CF
  9. Pages/Outman RF

Bench: Kike, Rojas, Barnes

Rotation:

  1. Snell
  2. Glasnow
  3. Yamamoto
  4. Sasaki
  5. Gonsolin
  6. Knack
  7. Miller
  8. Sheehan
  9. Kershaw

I could live with that!

This article has 35 Comments

  1. I want Beuhler back. Guy is nails in October. and thats exactly what we need.

    We can navigate 162 easily…

      1. Buehler must have pissed off the Dodgers when he was struggling and went to Florida and wanted to rehab on his own with his own people.

        1. I think the Dodgers love him and are fine with the happy ending of a WS and a fresh start as a FA elsewhere.

  2. While I fondly remember 2019, Bellinger’s MVP season I also remember his terrible struggles after his shoulder injury. I think his “ship has sailed” as far as being a Dodger. Too bad because we once all thought he’d be a Dodger for life and wear Dodger blue in the Hall of Fame. Now it looks unlikely he earned his way there.

  3. We don’t need Bellinger and his weak left handed bat and salary. The Cubs aren’t taken on any of Taylor’s salary as a replacement for him.. Move on. We need Teo back or a right handed power bat in the outfield. Our outfield is very weak hitting wise with Mookie moving to the infield. AF and BG have some further work to do to strengthen this area of the roster.

    1. I would take Cody in a heartbeat. Put him in center field and keep Tommy Baseball in the infield. You want Walker (and so do I ) because he is clutch in the post season. Well Cody has proven that he is a guy we can count on in October. He strengthens our defense and our line up. Do it Andrew…..please.

  4. The way I look at it, there are 3 types of free agents. #1 are the mercenaries
    #2 are looking for money and comfort.
    #3 are the ones that want to be GOATS, kick ass in October and win a ring.
    Guggenheim’s business model seems to be leaps and bounds ahead of the other 29 owners. And that creates a reputation that the players are attracted to. Therefore making it easier for AF to sign guys from FA type #3. The guys in this category are few and far between. But AF knows who they are.
    This year we had Freddie ,Mookie, Tommy, Kike and Striker. Oh and Teo, Jack, Yoshi and Blake. And of course Shohei. Snell is destined for Oct. greatness too. The Dodger organization is on a role that is epic and unprecedented. I’m so glad I’m on the bandwagon. And to all the whiners, if your billionaire owner mirrored the Dodger model, you’d be a lot happier.
    Book em

    1. There are the free agents to consider… but there also guys on the market like Crochet.
      Even with Snell signed, mlb.coms’ Mark Feinsand is reporting that the Dodgers are competing against the Orioles and Red Sox to nab Crochet from the White Sox.
      Does this make sense?
      Snell, after all, fills the need for a lefty ace. Why go after Crochet?
      One plus is that he would be a five-years-younger lefty ace.
      And Sasaki would be younger still.
      Maybe all of this is nonsense.
      But then again…
      What if the brass is determined to pull off an impact trade to get a positive return on its aging prospect capital? What if the brass is convinced that the best trade target is Crochet? Perhaps the brass isn’t that impressed with Luis Robert Jr–or perhaps the ChiSox aren’t willing (yet) to deal him
      So the Dodgers make a big offer of players who simply don’t fit neatly into the team’s immediate plans–some selection of Lux, Rushing, Outman, Miller, Cartaya, Ward, Feduccia, Wrobleski, Ward, Gauthier…etc.
      And then the six-man rotation goes Ohtani, Snell, Yamamoto, Glasnow, Crochet, Sasaki. (Sasaki, Crochet and Yamamoto are all in their 20s.)
      Yeah, that’s just nuts.
      But not implausible.

    2. All I know is before the most recent post-season people were labelling most of the Dodgers stars as “playoff chokers”. Kicking very little ass in the playoffs. The playoffs are too variable to know which players will perform well.

      Let’s not go overboard, players are after the money. To a near extreme majority, and rightfully so. Everybody should be paid at the top of his/her market.

    3. Hi Folks–Been a Dodger fan since 1953 and love this team. Epic is a good word to describe this all-star team. With any luck we should win at least 5 championships during the next 10 years. Hope I am still around for most of them. Its great to be a Dodger fan. Just watched a 40 minute replay of the Dodgers 4 game sweep over the Yankees in 1963. I was there sitting in the right field bleachers for games 3 and 4. This year’s world series was just as good!

  5. When you have the starpower in the starting lineup, you can afford the luxury of great fielding and less hitting from the bench (i.e., Kike, CT3, Rojas, Barnsie). They are placeholders who need to play solid defense when a regular is down or rests.

  6. I’m sure the Blake Snell signing sent shock waves across MLB.

    Juan Soto? Some indication the Dodgers are still pursuing him. We’ll see. You could make a case with the right deal. The bidding between the Yankees and Mets will be fierce. But you can never count out the Dodgers.

    Still, it probably makes more sense to pursue Teoscar Hernandez. I don’t see the Dodgers bringing Cody Bellinger back. I do expect them to pursue an outfielder in a trade. Possibly a pitcher too. Some of that may be determined by what happens to Roki Sasaki. I do believe the Dodgers are the favorites. They’ve been on him for several years and hey they obviously have a strong connection with Japan. Most teams in baseball think that will happen.

    I like Walker Buehler, but which Buehler will you get. I think the Dodgers might be interested in a short term deal. Again, some of that may be determined by what happens with Sasaki.

    I do expect the Dodgers to be active in the bullpen. Nothing like a great bullpen to help win a World Series.

  7. A Lux trade seems likely, unless we play him sparingly at SS.

    Lux for Robert?

    Add a pitcher like Knack?

  9. 70 days or 10 weeks till Dodger pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training on February 7th, earlier than all MLB clubs except the Cubs because of their early opening of the season in Japan. Now that the Holidays are upon us,time will fly by.

  11. So, this is the lineup?

    1. Ohtani DH
    2. Betts 3B
    3. Freeman 1B
    4. Smith C
    5. Bellinger CF
    6. Edman SS
    7. Rushing LF
    8. Pages RF
    9. Lux 2B

    1. The Dodgers and super-utility man Tommy Edman have agreed to a five-year $74MM extension that runs from 2025 to 2029 and contains a club option for the 2030 season, the team has announced. ESPN’s Jeff Passan was first with the agreement. Passan adds that Edman’s contract includes a $17MM signing bonus, and that some of the money in the deal is deferred. The club was reportedly in the midst of “preliminary” discussions regarding an extension with Edman’s camp last week, and those talks have now come to fruition.

  15. Chris Taylor at 4/60 with a 12m club option for the age 31 season.

    Edman at 5/74 with a 14.8m club option when he is 30.

    Taylor fWAR/600 in season before extension: 2.8
    Edman fWAR/600 in season before extension: 3.5

    Let’s hope Edman’s contact ages better.

  16. With this Edman deal there’s less (but still significant) $$$ coming off the books after next season.

    This is just one of the reasons Soto won’t happen, but a superstar acquisition (looking at SS) is probable for next off-season.

    This is also why the “Dodgers HAVE to get younger ASAP” crap was crap.

    Muncy ($10M club option for ‘26, no buyout) – GONE
    Taylor ($12M club option, $4M buyout) – GONE
    Barnes ($3.5M) – GONE
    Rojas ($5M) – GONE
    Brasier ($4.5M) – GONE
    Banda (does have arb)
    Kopech ($5.2M)- Shrug
    May – Shrug

    1. 2027:

      Ohtani – 33
      Betts – 35
      Freeman – 38
      Smith – 32
      Edman – 32
      Glasnow – 34
      Snell – 34

      Those are some significant players who are aging come 2027!

      1. And that will be Freeman’s last year and maybe Glasnow’s too.

        I think?

        Maybe?

        If not they both are expiring right around then.

    2. Adames can happen now.
      Is there a “superstar SS” who will be available next season? I can’t think of one. In a few years, Gunnar Henderson might become a free agent. (And let’s not even think about Bo Bichette…)
      Four of the Dodgers’ top ten prospects–Alex Freeland, Jeondry Vargas, Emil Morales and 2024 No. 1 pick Kellon Lindsay–are all shortstops. At least one of them might turn out to be good.
      So Adames could take the SS job now and slide over to 3B in a few years.
      If not, an Edman/Rojas job share should be fine.

  17. So Tommy Edman, at 29, is now locked up for the next five years on a $74 million contract, with a team option for a sixth. He joins Taylor and Rojas in UT roles, but he seems the most likely to be an everyday player.
    He’ll probably start at SS or CF this season–or have a job share at both positions, with Rojas at SS and Outman/Pages/Taylor at CF. He’s a switch hitter who hits best against lefties, so he could also give Max some days off.

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