Strange that they want to develop him as a starter if he's MLB ready. The only open spot available for him is in the BP as far as I can see.
He's fringe MLB ready as a reliever, not MLB ready as a starter. He's too inconsistent with his slider and command to be in a competitive MLB bullpen right now, IMHO. All reports are that he has the stuff to be a serviceable big league pitcher, but the questions are whether he can harness that ability. He's been inconsistent in the past with his mechanics, so working with professional instructors could be big for him. The rumor is, since he came over he's done much better sticking to one arm slot and has looked a bit more consistent around the zone. I've read multiple reports on him and I think the reason for so much disparity is that some scouts/teams saw him when he first came out and others have followed him throughout the process(you could probably say this about every player, but likely more so Int'l guys). Time will tell with this guy, but I probably have more confidence in our organizations ability to develop players now than just about any other team in the league.
Just wondering, maybe it would have been cheaper by now to just have the GG's buy the whole island...
And if he impresses and harnasses his stuff who's to say he ever actually plays for the Dodgers? Could be a piece to flip later ala Hector Olivera. Keep an eye on the Cubs and Marlins in the future in terms of the Dodgers being trade partners with one of them, both having significant interest in Sierra. Braves had major interest in Olivera before the Dodgers signed him.
Yeah, this ownership isn't tied to any one person I am sure. It's been brought up, but with so many signings at about the same time, there are going to be some serious 40 man issues in the next couple of years. So watching how the organization maneuvers around that will be interesting.
Probably better with RISP as the other Yasiel. Can he play right and stay healthy? Because having a great arm is the only requirement out there.
So then, the eventual, present day cost for the Olivera/ Braves trade was the cost of Olivera, plus whatever they are paying the players we got from Atlanta? Am I connecting those dots correctly?
Yeah that slide piece is pretty dirty. I'll take that with his 98 cheese setting up Kenley... Thank you FO for getting it done on the international level all year.. Max it out bkitches...some of these dudes will surely punch their ticket! Depth...
This one is a bit of a head scratcher to me. If he can become a starter (doesn't sound very likely), then it is awesome. But if he is a BP arm that is totally unproven in the majors, it seems like a very bad or, better yet, unnecessary deal. We could get a very good, not great reliever, for the same price, granted only for about 3-4 years. I do trust the FO, though, so we'll see what comes of it.
These Cuban signees remind me a lot of lottery tickets. If you notice, even the best aren't raved about by scouts. They laughed at the Puig signing, and even the Cespedes or Abreu signings weren't highly talked about as well. Just seems to me like the Dodgers are stocking up on all of these guys and hoping a few turn into good to great players.
Honestly it's one of the most complicated trades to date. There are articles to read on it but I can't spend the actual effort to explain it here. I'm just way too lazy. But you can read up on it here. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/08/dodgers-nearing-deal-to-acquire-mat-latos-michael-morse.html
I think that is exactly what they are doing. Hit on Puig, missed on Guerrero and Arruberrena, turned Olivera into 2 solid players and a good 1.5 prospects. That's still a better success rate than your average drafted prospect. People see the money flying around and say the team is being irresponsible when truthfully they are doing a good job adding high upside players at the expense of roster fillers in the form of lifetime MiLB'ers. If they hit on one in every 4-5 of these guys, I will be very happy.
That was the 1st thing I thought about when I saw he'd signed for 30MM. Wonder how much the Cubs really liked Sierra... Wonder if the nerds wouldn't mind getting their hands on Javier Baez since he's now picking up multiple positions, they do love their versatility and exit velo and the Cubs signing Zobrist sort of puts Baez in a suspended state going forward. Sierra would likely need to do some proving before that kind of deal, but you still have to wonder how much money the Cubs were offering Sierra if they were going toe to toe with LAD for his services.
