DODGERS 2017 NEWS/RUMORS/AROUND MLB Thread

It's a wish list not based upon a desire reported by the press but the thought that an impact pitcher to go with Kershaw to me is worth going for this year. Kenta, Ryu, MehCarthy is not going to scare any opponent. Alex has been FANTASTIC but do we expect him to sustain this kind of performance throughout the playoffs? In the case of Buehler I've been hyping him ever since he was in single A and even took the time to go see him pitch but I'm not crazy enough to think he's going to be as dominant in the majors right off the bat as a starter. I'm looking for him to be a reliever on this team. I'm all for getting stronger in BOTH parts of the pitching staff. Let's get greedy!!!!!!!!!!!

 

From Rosenthal
DODGERS: HEAVY LIFTING ALREADY DONE

The Dodgers spent a combined $192 million to retain closer Kenley Jansen, left-hander Rich Hill and third baseman Justin Turner last offseason in part because their top executive, Andrew Friedman, loathes paying high acquisition costs in July trades.

Friedman relented last season, sending three pitching prospects to the Athletics for two rentals, Hill and outfielder Josh Reddick. But the Dodgers, leading the NL West by 10½ games entering Tuesday, are in a much stronger position now.

They want a top left-handed reliever, someone such as the Orioles’ Zach Britton, Tigers’ Justin Wilson or Padres’ Brad Hand. But they’re wary of overpaying for 15-20 innings of a pitcher who will have zero impact on them winning the division. And they’re not about to go nuts on a starter such as the Athletics’ Sonny Gray, not when they signed Hill precisely to avoid getting sucked into such a move.

Hill, as it turns out, is outperforming Gray by a slight margin, and Dodgers lefty Alex Wood is outperforming both of them by a larger amount. Friedman and Co. are reluctant to disrupt the chemistry of a team that took the field Tuesday sporting a 65-29 record. And the two prospects they get asked about most, outfielder Alex Verdugo and right-hander Walker Buehler, well, the Dodgers believe that both are ready to play in the majors right now.

The Dodgers are one injury to an outfielder away from Verdugo entering the outfield mix. Buehler is a candidate to join the bullpen in September. The Dodgers would rather trade prospects with comparable ceilings who are further away from the majors, major-league sources say.

They’re going to do something, maybe even something surprising — Friedman, when he pursues moves in July, always aims high. But truth be told, the Dodgers did most of their work last winter. Anything now is a bonus.

 

Mentions nothing about the play-offs. Regular season be damned we want a WS TITLE!!!!! Hill will be 37 next year, Sonny will be 28 AND pitches in the AL Why not supplement instead of stand pat like we have done for the last 4 years IF there is an opportunity to do so for a young guy.

CAVEAT: Don't do it for Buehler/Verdugo.
NOTE: Gray pitches tomorrow

 

I have a feeling that he is being viewed as a potential K-Rod type for the club when September rolls around. He is probably going to get a few more starts in OKC and then I could see in the second week of August, the org transition him into a bullpen roll. That should be around 90-95 innings on the year for him and I could see him getting capped at 110-120 innings. The bullpen may consist of a lot of converted starters with Ryu, Maeda, Stewart and Buehler all vying for a spot in the bullpen. The first 3 have all looked great in those rolls thus far.

 

Get it together bkitch!

 

Your handle is lastatman. You tell us.

 

True.
And McCutchen would definitely boost revenue. Kool Aid

The "W" is a team stat, dependant on offense, defense, etc...things that are out of the pitcher's control.

 

Have to think the market for Martinez wasn't as strong due to his defensive woes and rental status.
Talking about a guy with a worse WAR than Chris Taylor right now.
So nice offensive addition for sure, but like you said, doesn't make them better than LAD, part of that because Martinez and Tomas in the corners are so bad defensively.
I actually hope they keep Martinez after this season because while LAD will more than likely still smoke their ass, AZ would clearly be out in front of SFG moving forward

 

Have to agree.
Said similar earlier today when LAD's situation was compared to the Cubs' and Indians' situations last year, similar was said by yourself as well a week or so ago, IIRC.
This isn't like last year where the Cubs and Indians needed big chip closers and what not at the deadline.
LAD's big chips are already in place thanks to prior work and their willingness to turn to their youth ( Bellinger).

" Something surprising ", as Rosenthal put it, would be for LAD to flex their financial muscle and swap out Puig for Stanton.
Would be considered a luxury move and not a pressing need.
Something like that would just be like, " awww gotdamn they gonna add Stanton to that machine!?! "
But a move like that is right up their alley since it'd mainly be about taking on Stanton's contract and not sending a monster prospect haul to Miami.
Stanton's sitting on a 2.7 WAR right now and Puig a 1.2, so that'd essentially double our fun in RF and give LAD a Top 5 RF..solid defensive player in RF, but a middle of the order caliber offensive piece in the OF to match all the offense that's coming from the infield.
Now, I doubt DBB would be happy to have to deal with Puig again, so maybe LAD would surprise and pull out one of their 3-team trades again.
Doubt it happens, but yeah, that'd qualify as a shocker and probably have the rest of MLB bending the knee to King LAD

 

Brewers and Astros are in heavy pursuit of Gray, brodie, and the Yankees are probably in there as well
All armed with impressive farm pieces, all in need of a name guy they can dress up as an ace ( he's not an ace)
Gray to LAD may be the longest shot at this point
We'll see

 

That's a good question. Scherzer being that far ahead of Kershaw doesn't make sense and Gio being ahead of Kershaw is baffling. Another component of WAR is adjusting for park factor. I'm still confused because looking at park factor on ESPN, Dodger Stadium and DC are right next to each other - in addition the NL East parks as a whole look to be more pitcher friendly than the NL West.

This is still my guess, the park factor being used on MLB.com and baseball-reference might be oddly skewed, in fact that would explain why both Scherzer and Gio have artificially high WAR numbers.

 

Another question, how does Marcus Stroman have a higher WAR than Kershaw? His stats don't look to be in the same league, not even close. Something very weird going on with WAR numbers.

 

I've read that WAR for pitchers isn't quite as reliable as that for position players, but I would look at the pitchers' FIPs for a better explanation. Kershaw is typically one of the few pitchers in MLB that continually outperforms his FIP; but that hurts his total WAR value.

Btw, idk where you guys are looking, but I have it as:

1.) Sale - 5.8
2.) Scherzer - 4.7
3.) Kersh - 4

Stroman - 2.1

I always use Fangraphs.

 

Not that it really matters, but I'm pretty annoyed that Sam Dyson has a 2.9 ERA since moving to SF. If they just bumbled upon a solid reliever for a couple years I'm gonna be even more pissed.