DODGERS NEWS/RUMORS Thread

Completely out on quibbling over player value when in comes to big impact/elite additions, have been that way since LAD cleared themselves of the luxury tax. Can understand bowing out of that collectively bargained luxury tax fuckery, but at this point, free of the tax and loaded on the farm, you step to the table to win the services or you really just don't give a damn. As Plunkett and other talking heads have stated, the timing is right to pull the trigger on major impact deals - not just work on deals, gather info and then pull out. Time to show us the baby, fuck dem labor pains.

We all have a pretty good idea of what a player is worth, but it just becomes less about that and more about winning the services when the rubber meets the road and the bidding gets underway. LAD going into these things looking for a discount, or looking to pay @ baseline value is corny. Win the services. Same goes in the trade world. Is Lindor worth all the team control that comes with Lux? Maybe, maybe not. But you have to win the services..other teams are bidding and they're not going to just give him away. Or don't and do nothing, and be " fine ", whatever that is.

We're too far into the rebuild of the org to be fretting over this stuff - be willing to win the services or just stay out of it and save the corny speeches about fans preferring homegrown stars. I want to know who the Dodgers have been offered for Gavin Lux, arguably the best prospect in MiLB. I demand that shit. One of these rat bastard reporters needs to unhand that info and let fans warm up the torches and sharpen the pitchforks.

 

These two points are nice sentiment, but guys over 30 don't regain speed or improve steps - at that age you are just working hard to keep what you got.

 

Unless they play for other teams

 

Ehh... you can start to regain some speed and conditioning still in your 30's with the right kind of training. Like if you have never really been into stretching and yoga type exercises, it could open some things back up. No it is not easy, but it is definitely possible for some people.

 

• Heyman reporting that the Angels are now getting in on the Rendon sweepstakes. Man, if they get him(which will put them into the tax) they're gonna have the best offense ever for a sub-.500 team. They need to be all over the pitching market and stop thinking about their fucking offense. They should have been trying for 3 of Ryu, Wheeler, Keuchel, Hamels and Bumgarner to pair with Ohtani, Bundy and Heaney and then bolstering their bullpen instead of focusing on these big name dudes. They are not a player away from contending, they already have the stars, now they need to put the pieces around them.

• Feelings are that the Nats had to way overbid on the services for Strasburg with their heavy deferrals. Feelings are that the second highest bidder wasn't even in the 200's.

• The Giants are seen as the clear favorite for Nick Castellanos. They have been the strongest pursuers of his and feel he can take steps forward in the OF. Not sure about that one, but ok....

• It seems that the Cubs are very serious about trading Kris Bryant this offseason. They are going to wait to move him until after Rendon and Donaldson sign. They may try to trade him before his case is closed to see if they can take a chance on a team willing to roll the dice, but that is unlikely. The case is expected to go on for a couple more weeks. My guess is that they are expecting a rough relationship after this thing is settled and don't want it to get uglier. The Dodgers are one of the teams that are presumed to have checked in on him. Bryant is a Las Vegas native and original belief was that him and best friend Bryce Harper would try to play together for one of the close to home California teams. Obviously those plans have changed.

• The Pirates Adam Frazier has been attracting the most interest of all of their players. Dodgers are not a fit here.

• Not sure if any of you have been paying attention to the Padres/Rays deal, but holy shit this thing has become a soap opera. Apparently Pham had offseason knee surgery that he is not 100% back from. The Pad's are saying that the terms of the deal are not complete, even after announcing it last week. There is a decent chance this thing falls apart, so that would be pretty wild. The Pad's are said to be nearly capped financially.

• The Diamondbacks have jumped into the Madison Bumgarner sweepstakes. MadBum apparently has horses in the area and MAYBE a home as well. I'd prefer to be done with the dude in the division, but who knows. The Braves have also gotten back involved as well, but this seems a little far-fetched. Their ownership is said to be wary of big deals right now and if the rumors are true that he is likely to get over $100M, he doesn't seem like he would be their type.

• Didi Gregarious is supposedly considering a 1 year prove it deal as the multi-year deals are pretty, meh... He was never much more than a 4 WAR player even in his prime and has some rough LH/RH splits that make him a so-so player. A team on the bottom end of contention with room to spend would be a good gamble in case he does have a solid season where they could attach the QO to him next winter and maybe get something in return. Reds are believed to be the favorite for his services.

• The Dodgers apparently are NOT shopping Corey Seager. The team considered his return from TJ a success and see's him being closer to the superstar he was prior to that injury in the upcoming season.

• The over/under on Cole's new contract is $330M.

• Dodgers prospects RHP Jordan Sheffield(#26) and 3B Cristian Santana(#23) are expected to be picked in the upcoming Rule 5 draft.

 

First of all, screw Moreno. He is the antithesis of the Dodgers in the way he talks. He just likes to be in the news and he has become a punchline in doing so. Just a troll.

Funny how the Padres are now victims or potential victims of their own injury, trade game.

 

Here's our guy..

Jon Heyman‏Verified account@JonHeyman 15m15 minutes ago
Free agent Matt Kemp just showed up at the meetings.

 

Kris Bryant is heading for Seattle. See it coming like a Kershaw fastball. Cubs gonna shoot him off into relative obscurity, but he'll get his money. They have plenty of it to spend and he can slide right into 1B

 

He's just there for the buffets

 

• Whoa, Angels just did a move that you do not do unless you NEED to free up some payroll pretty quick. They traded Zack Cozart and the last year of his $12.65M AAV contract as well as their #4 prospect to the Giants for Cash Considerations and PTBNL. Zaidi following Dodgers on the fly rebuild very closely. Angels are now about 70M under the tax and an opening at 3rd base... This feels like one of those first domino things for them.

• Phillies are signing Didi Gregorius. Solid move on their part as while he is no star, he is a decent upgrade with a much higher upside to what they pushed out there last year.

• Kevin Gausman signing with the Giants. Fuck... I kinda wanted to see what we could do with him.

 

Zack Cozart hit about .200 in like 90 games in 2 years for the Angels. He was bad, fwiw.

 

Oh, not saying that the Giants are adding a good piece in Cozart, it was that they were basically buying a decent piece, in this case Will Wilson, while taking on bad salary in exchange.

 

I was more alluding to the Angels dumping Cozart on them doesn't necessarily open any position that was previously closed.

 

So in doing so the Angels are strengthening the Giants future while heavily competing against the Dodgers for Rendon.

Double tap

 

An Angels redditor posted this earlier today
"Cole is out. Cozart is getting traded. We’re gonna trade for David Price. Rendon and Ryu are our top targets."
Followed up by
"And cozart is most likely going to the giants"

Interesting couple of comments here.

 

well shit. Angels need about 4 starters and they're gonna go get David Price and blow their load on more offense? ouch

 

They definitely have a different way of going about things. No depth, no bullpen and a garbage rotation outside of Ohtani and he will be questionable this year.... but let's keep trying to pay outlandish money for one or two guys instead of filling in around the stars we already have with a more complete roster. Right on cue, the Red Sox are getting interest in David Price, lol.

 

No infielder with an above average OPS+ and they DFA'd one of the 4 regulars with an above average OPS+.
One starting pitcher with an above average ERA+ and... well, he's dead...
They have one of the worst farm systems in baseball and they just depleted it even more with their trade today. Though they do have one of the best prospects in the game that is almost ready to contribute.

They are not going to suddenly be good with one addition. This team has some major problems.

 

Dave Roberts interview:

• He says the FO has been more aggressive with FA's than they have been since he joined the org.

• He says that if the Astros were using tech to steal signs, then "a line was crossed".

• He has talked to AJ Hinch about it, but he will not delve into what they talked about.

• Dylan Hernandez continues to be a major D-Bag.

• Mark Walters has been at the center of Dodgers FA negotiations.... THIS IS NEW

• Whoa, he said that he is predicting the roster will turnover this offseason more than it has then at any point since he's become manager of the club. The club has not done much with him in charge, but that is definitely something.

• Gavin Lux is in the mix for the OF.

*Just updating from the twitter comments now*

 

As many problems as the Halos have, if they get Rendon it'll be another guy they've added that LAD had eyes for. LAD wanted Ohtani..nope. LAD had designs on making a run at Trout..nope.

If all they do is set fire to LAD's plans - and the 30+ year WS title drought rolls on - I'm gonna find it hard to do a touchdown dance over their problems. The town is big enough for 2 losers.