Three weeks before pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report, and the free agent market is still in slow motion. MLBTR listed 50 top free agents. Of those 50, 25 remain unsigned, including eight of the top ten. Of those eight, only Darvish is rumored close to signing. What’s to become of the other seven; JDM, Hosmer, Arrieta, Moustakas, Cain, Lynn, & Holland? There are no fresh rumors. Four of…
You may think that the Dodgers WANT to get under the Luxury Tax Threshold purely to save money and that is absolutely true, but there’s another aspect to getting under the $197 million number: If they don’t, they will likely be in violation of baseball’s “Debt Service Rule.” Major League Teams must comply with certain debt to asset ratios, and while the Dodger assets are high, so is their debt….
Buster Olney recently listed his TOP 10 SUPER UNITS. Now, this will likely change as more players sign contracts or more trades are made. In fact, Gerrit Cole being traded to the Astros arguably changes the Starting Rotation Power Ratings. Here’s where the Dodgers landed on Olney’s lists: Top 10 Rotations Nationals Dodgers Indians The Astros could now be #1 on paper. Top 10 Lineups Astros Yankees Dodgers were #10….
The Hot Stove is Cold… We are all going stir-crazy! OK, let’s get really crazy: The Dodgers trade Matt Kemp, Pedro Baez and Clayton Kershaw to Texas for Cole Hamels and Jose Leclerc. That frees up $35 million in 2018. Next, they sign Yu Darvish as a Free Agent and trade Yadier Alvarez, Yusneil Diaz, Jordon Sheffield and Kenta Maeda to Pittsburgh for Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole. Rotation: Hamels…
If you have not checked out www.TheAtheletic.com (it’s a pay site), you should. It’s got some great writing. As an example, Peter Gammons wrote a great piece yesterday: “Want a parade? The surest way to get one is to rebuild the right way. Here’s how it’s done” I can’t reproduce the whole article here, because of the paid content, but Gammons starts here: When baseball unraveled the draft and international…
What’s happening to this year’s crop of free agents? This is December 27, and out of the top 50 MLB TradeRumors free agent predictions, only 19 have signed new contracts, and one decided not to opt out (Masahiro Tanaka). Of the 30 unsigned players, none of the top 11 have signed new contracts (excluding Tanaka not opting out), and 15 of the top 20 are still unsigned. Of the…
I am not sure why there is such an affinity by so many Dodgers fans to trade Joc Pederson, or for some to simply dump him. He is a 26 year old immature little kid who still thinks he is playing little league for fun. He loves the game. Maybe it is because of his brother Champ that he does not take the game as seriously as some would like. …
If the Dodgers do nothing, this is what I would expect come Spring Training. 1B – Bellinger 2B – Forsythe 3B – JT SS – Seager LF – Kike’ and Joc/Toles CF – Taylor RF – Puig C – Barnes Rotation: Kershaw, Hill, Wood, Maeda, Ryu Bullpen: Jansen, Baez, Fields, Garcia, Koehler, Stripling, Avilan, Cingrani Bench: Grandal, 2 of Kike’/Joc/Toles, and Locastro Grandal and JT can relieve Bellinger…
Figures don’t lie, but liars figure… and sometimes they are not even liars – they are just using unreliable figures. There are several websites that keep track of teams salaries. In this instant case, I am speaking about the salary obligations of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the 2018 season. You would think stuff like this would be cut and dried, but it’s evidently not. Let’s look at a couple…
Well this has been some Hot Stove League for the Dodgers thus far, right? The Winter Meetings went just about as most expected…the current 40 man roster is the same as before the meetings started. I don’t count Koehler because he was post Winter Meetings, and the signing is still pending physical. I never thought Stanton was an option, but it was fun to fantasize. My only disappointment is that…