Dope Fiend Moves

Posted By on December 8, 2025

As baseball fans, we like to make up trades – it’s in our DNA! We can’t help it – it’s a form of BOCD (Baseball Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and is the root cause of “dope-fiend moves.” Andrew Friedman was a “recovering dope fiend”… that was until he signed Michael Conforto. That was a classic example of a dope-fiend move. He is now back in recovery, and I am hoping that he is back on the wagon. No Harrison Bader, No Kyle Tucker, No Steven Kwan, No Cody Bellinger, and No Jaren Duran. I can make a good case that the Dodgers should stand pat and ride with what they have.

  1. Shohei Ohtain DH
  2. Mookie Betts SS
  3. Will Smith C (Dalton Rushing catches twice a week)
  4. Freddie Freeman 1B (Dalton Rushing catches twice a week)
  5. Andy Pages RF (He’s the #5 hitter… I expect more progress)
  6. Max Muncy 3B (with Miggy Ro playing against tough LHP)
  7. Teoscar Hernandez LF (with Dalton Rushing playing against some RHP)
  8. Tommy Edman CF (after surgery, he should be much better)
  9. Hyeseong Kim 2B (let’s see what he has)

Bench: Alex Call, Kike Hernandez, Rushing, MiggyRo

The Dodgers have plenty of bullpen arms. Keep the farm intact, and maybe someone will be ready by the All-Star Break. There’s also Alex Freeland.

Stand Down!

Here’s a new group that really like:

This article has 57 Comments

      1. A dope fiend might say that….
        An OF of Teo-Bader-Pages would free Edman for his utility role.
        Meanwhile, the Skubal chatter is heating up….

  3. Mark, I agree, unless Brandon Donovan can be had for a fair exchange . His OBP would have a major impact on the 2026 lineup

  6. I like it, Mark. A principled approach. We might he able to trade an extra arm for a young position player. At least to throw in the mix.

  7. Kike Hernandez does not make the Dodgers better. He is 34 now, hit right at the Mendoza line and he supplies no power off of the bench, in the case of the Dodgers, a serious problem. They have no real batting threats on that bench.

    1. Clearly Kike’s injury to his arm affected his batting. Kiké Hernández’s left arm injury was a torn elbow extension muscle, which eventually detached from the bone. He also had a partial UCL tear, but surgery was focused on the extensor muscle. The injury significantly affected his performance at the plate, making it difficult to hold the bat or catch up to fastballs, and led to a down year statistically (hitting just .203 in the regular season).

      After several non-surgical procedures (including multiple injections) provided only temporary relief, he underwent surgery in November 2025 to repair the torn muscle. The recovery from the surgery is expected to cause him to miss the 2026 World Baseball Classic and potentially the start of the 2026 MLB season. The injury was to his non-throwing arm, which may aid his recovery timeline.

      Most likely, this injury has been coming on for a couple of years. Kike has trouble catching up to fastballs, and now we know why. Kike hit 5 HR is April of last year and was hitting .300 with a .824 OPS in May when the injury occurred. I am not writing Kike off, just yet!

    1. Edman, Kike, Mookie all had injury (illness) reasons for down year. I look for all three to rebound in 2026. For Kike and Edman when they are eventually ready. For Kike, he can just be an afterthought. No other team would be signing him.
      Max and Freddie also with age and injury issues. It will be interesting to see who can remain healthy, and which, if any, ‘youngsters’, can step up.
      And will there be a ‘surprise’ OF signing or trade

      1. I’m still thinking the Dodgers and Red Sox match up so well that a trade is likely.
        I’d be happy with this OF: Teo-Duran-Pages
        Or this one: Teo-Pages-Abreu

  9. Wow, a common sense approach to next season. Don’t buy youth, promote it as necessary.
    Putting Kim and Edman at the bottom essentially puts speed on and base possibilities in front of the power hitters after the first pass through the lineup. Both of them deserve a chance to get steady playing time.
    What a strong showing by the Dodgers giving Miggy Ro a dignified finish and a chance to be a Dodger for life.

    Only suggestion would be trade Teo for a strong catching prospect , something we don’t have currently. Not saying Ward or other prospects would be better in LF but they would be cheaper.

    Other than that, Mark’s lineup is something we can live with until you he trade deadline or beyond.

  10. The Skubal situation reminds me a bit of Mason Miller’s.
    Detroit has more $$$ than the Athletics (Sacramento? Vegas? a city to be named later?) but it still seems unlikely the Tigers organization will be willing to meet his eventual salary demands, likely to exceed $400m.
    I wanted the Dodgers to pursue Miller because he is a rare talent and at some point the A’s were certain to deal him. The Padres met their price, and It will be interesting to see if Miller goes back to starting.
    Skubal is also a rare talent. The Dodgers are among a small number of teams that could pull off Skubal deal–and also afford a contract to keep him.
    The Dodgers have engineered three massive $300m+ deals: for Mookie, Shohei and Yamamoto.
    It may seem like overkill…. but getting Skubal would really ruin baseball.

  11. i like Kim’s speed. i love donovan’s entire game! if kike isn’t ready until may or June, bring in donovan , then decide on Kim. if he hits, trade Call. if kike still not ready, hang on to him.

    Be interesting to see where Bichette goes. Could the dodgers really be a player in his future? Cubs, red sox, blue jays all kicking the tires on him. If jays get tucker, will they have enough left for Bichette?
    Bellinger supposedly waiting on Tucker to sign. The market for Tucker isn’t quite what he may have hoped. Rumors are dodgers aren’t in on him. you never know!

  12. I would be down with Bader but only for 1 year. It’s being reported that he wants 3 years and there is zero chance Friedman goes for that.

    1. Yesssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!!! Unbelievable!!!!! We now have the best closer in the game on a short term 3 year deal. Who cares how much the annual salary is. Great job AF and BG. Thank Ohtoni also for his deferred salary . Three peat is looking more realistic.

  16. Lost a good friend yesterday, former drummer for the Desert Rose Band, Steve Duncan. Raul Malo, lead singer for the Mavericks also passed away yesterday. RIP

    1. Bear –
      Sorry for your loss.
      Unfortunately for the majority of us – this is becoming a familiar theme.
      That said – it is still another hole in the soul.

  18. Don’t like the Diaz signing at all. Too much $ on a high variance position and the team loses draft picks and International money.

    Padres not moving MM to the rotation

      1. per the Mets’ beat reporter:

        I’m told the Mets offered Edwin Díaz three years and $66 million (with slight deferrals) and indicated they had some room to improve that figure. Díaz chose the Dodgers’ offer of three years and $69 million instead.

        Diaz did not, reportedly, offer the Mets a chance to match

        1. Diaz choose a better organization, better weather, and a chance to win a World Series every year he signed for.

          1. Given the dysfunctional nature of the Mets clubhouse, I can see where Diaz would seek something more normal. Not to mention, quoting Glasnow, “ if you can’t beat them, join them”.

            The Ohtani contract keeps on giving.

          2. I agree…
            He’s been there, done that with the Mets. A nice run, but…
            Now Edwin gets to join Shohei, Mookie and Da Champs.
            And maybe his PR pal Kike will be back…

            Actually, not sure how well Kike and Edwin know each other. But I assume players talk to each other…

  19. Diaz? ok. what’s next? Jake Myers from houston? excellent center fielder, not a great hitter, but really boosts outfield defense. that would surely mean Teo goes to left. better defender than Bader, the hit tool? i’m sure more surprises will come.

  20. Another big Dodgers offseason addition: Former Twins manager Rocco Baldelli is joining their front office, linking up again with Andrew Friedman.

  21. I too am sick n tired of AF making dope fiend moves and winning WS titles. Now please don’t make any moves with our offense that was awful the second half of the year and through October.

  22. I am somewhat surprised that the Dodgers were willing to lose a draft pick and international signing bonus money, but I am sure they know better than I do.

    I do expect Scott to bounce back, so this should give the Dodgers a devestating closing duo,

    The only trepidation I have is that over the past 2 years, Diaz has lost about 2 MPH on his fastball, but it’s still 97.8 MPH.

    2. We’ve lost draft picks in the past for Ohtoni and Freeman. Are we are better team with those two players than the draft picks? I would say definiely yes. Draft picks are prospects and ultimately suspects. Love the Diaz move for the term of the contract and he fulfills a glaring need. 26 blown saves last year by the bullpen. AF and BG are the best and we are the best run organization in all sports. Also we have a top minor league system with an International signing period with a bonus pool of around 6 million dollars on January 15,2026 to stock the farm.

    4. Conversely, could this signify something is going on with Scott? We’re definitely a better team with Diaz than without him, but he’s yet another aging player.

      My guess is that the Dodgers are going all out for that back to back to back title.

      The Scott signing last year and the Diaz deal this free agency seem a bit uncharacteristic for this regime. Bullpens arms are fickle; see Scott.

  24. I think we are getting to the point where upgrades will be of the significant variety. Need a closer? Here’s the best one. Can’t wait to see the OF next!

  25. I have a Segway NinebotMax that I use for tooling around our 100,000 sq/ft plant. Well, today the floor was slick and I took a nasty fall. I’m OK, but damn sore!

  26. If Rushing slides to third and 1B backup, maybe we need to pick up a few catcher prospects. We have nothing in the minors right now. Maybe an old pro with a few years left with some pop as a backup for Will. Framing will fade away next year with the challenges starting so it’s back to the pitch blocking and steal defense skills the way the Baseball Gods intended.

    I’m saying this because we really don’t need much else since we got Diaz to close.

  28. Per Dennis Lin:

    According to people in the room, Logan White announced his retirement tonight while accepting his award as one of MLB’s Scouts of the Year recipients. White, the former Dodgers scouting director, has been with San Diego since 2014.

  29. The Rule 5 Draft is being held today in Orlando Florida at the MLB Winter Meetings at 2PM ET.

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