NEWS/RUMORS/AROUND MLB Thread (Oct 2016 - Feb 2017)

Yeah, agreed for the most part, timing is on their side this go round because of the lack of FA options and the fact that they lead the way in trade assets, market sets up well for them while they continue to transition.
Doesn't mean they'll give kids away, but yeah, I could absolutely see them trying to shore up their double play ability up the middle.
They already tried to get Andrelton Simmons a couple times, I could see them making another run at Simmons and looking to move Corey moving to 3B, maybe try to get both Simmons and Yunel Escobar from the Halos and pair them up the middle.
Escobar is no spring chicken at 33/34 yrs old, but of course he's years younger than Utley, would be getting him in his contract year.
They'd lose some thump up the middle if they went that rout, but still have Joc/Yasmani/Trayce to slug and at least both Escobar and Simmons have handled a decent bat the last couple seasons, a good bat in Escobar's case.
JT re-signed to play LF, find some salary relief using Puig + McCarthy or Kazmir and another youngster or two from the farm to get Archer and to eventually line up CK/Archer/Julio/JDL.
Use the salary relief to add some true pop in the corner, get Cespedes on another creative contract.
VS RHP Turner LF/Corey 3B/Cespedes RF/Adrian 1B/Joc CF/Yaz C/Escobar 2B/Simmons SS
VS LHP Simmons SS/Escobar 2B/Corey 3B/Cespedes RF/Trayce LF/Adrian 1B/Ruiz C/Toles CF
Nothin too ridiculous, true thump in the OF overall and more dynamic with the glove up the middle.

 

I'm all in on the Keep JT campaign, but at his best position.....3B. It's not just his best position, he's very good at it.

He would be Howie-lite in LF.

 

Meaning LAD can still win the division with JT in LF, just as they did with Howie in LF.
Corey is coming for 3B at some point, if the FO had its way he'd probably already be there - seeing as how they've chased Andrelton Simmons a couple times over the last couple years.
And Corey will be as good at 3B more than likely.

 

I'm actually sorta torn on the whole bring Turner back. It has nothing to do with how good he is, cause he is great, it has all to do with the confidence I have lost with Seager up the middle. The metrics like him as he makes more than his fair share of the plays he should make, while his arm helps him make plays some guys wouldn't. My problem is the eye test. It never seemed that he made that "great" play and a lot of times when things were getting hairy, he'd make some sort of a mistake(that could also be blamed on Utley as the moments were on DP's a lot). We saw in the playoffs what a guy can do that makes the next tier up play and that would be really nice to see paired at SS. If the team were somehow able to land a young up and coming SS that should have somewhat of a bat with a + glove, I would like to see the team go that route. I don't really see a realistic option out there at this time, so retaining Turner is probably the best play.

 

Could someone with Insider post this entire article?
http://www.espn.com/blog/buster-olney/insider/post?id=14795

 

Its no secret that while Corey makes most of the plays he should and holds a plus arm to play deep and gun guys down, he's just big as fuck and doesn't have the greatest mobility to make the unbelievable/impossible defensive play on a routine basis like an Andrelton Simmons.
Not much different from Ripken.
It's way early, obviously, and options will reveal themselves as the off-season moves along..like Andrelton, the Halos will more than likely listen on him, they have to be open to just about everything.
But I mean who had Trea Turner (shortstop by trade), Andrelton Simmons, and Dansby Swanson moving last off-season?
And then of course Jonathon Villar's natural position is SS and MIL also has Arcia coming up, so they may be willing to part with 1 or the other for the right package.
JT still needs to prove himself from an everyday standpoint because the argument can be made, objectively, that they should've been looking for a way to replace him in the lineup VS LHP with the way he's struggled against them over the past 2 seasons.
At the very least, move him down in the order VS LHP, but gotta have legit plays on the bench to do that.

 

I would love to see them land Villar, but the chances of that happening have to be like .00001%. If they can play him at 2B/3B and Arcia at SS, that is what the Brewers are going to do. I also do not see the Angels selling off Simmons. I think Moreno is too much of a meddler and he wants to build around Trout. Which in his mind, means never tearing down the ship to building it back up.

 

We'll see.
Moving Simmons and/or Escobar doesn't really qualify as a " tear down ".
Moreno's let lesser guys go before in an effort to keep it fresh and find the right mix..Howie, Trumbo, etc.
Milwaukee's also not really in position to turn down righteous offers, as they're still a ways away and burried behind the CHI/STL/PIT.
Again, I'm pretty sure nobody predicted all of those high level/young shortstops would move from team to team last year, so we just wait and see, but no, I don't think the market will be w/o options..at least not for a team like LAD thats rich in assets.

 

One guy who could be an interesting target is Brian Dozier, but it would not come cheap. He is coming off another very good year and could be someone to plug in the IF for the next 4-5 years. One thing I would not mind the FO doing is considering going back to the "take on a bad contract route" and see if they offered to take on Phil Hughes and that shitacular contract, that they could pry Dozier out of Minnesota for a Calhoun led package and potentially someone like an Ethier or Ryu in return to offset some of the money. Dozier(2yrs,15mil remaining)/Perkins(7.2 Mil Remaining)/Hughes(3 yrs,39.6mil remaining) for Calhoun/Johnson/Oaks/Ethier(1yr, 20 mil remaining) and cash. Not sure if that is good enough to get him, but it could be interesting idea, especially if they move Hughes back to the pen. This would be the clubs way of getting Calhoun onto an AL club where he could potentially have the DH fallback option and the Twins get a potential middle-back of the rotation potential starter with a bunch of salary relief.

 

Seems like 1 potential option if LAD continues to be creative with their $$$.
This off-season sets up to be a wild one in terms of trades, hell of a market for a team with depth and assets all over the place.
You look at a guy like Toles, would love to keep him, but his value has gotta be pretty damn decent at this point and just maybe he'll play a part in a trade that significantly impacts another area.

 

This post from Dodgers Digest also helps show how it is realistic that this is a very busy off season for the club
http://dodgersdigest.com/2016/10/24...roster-for-what-could-be-an-active-offseason/

 

Maybe it's not "Official" yet but for us it is so I'll go on record as saying if these FUCKTARDS don't resign Turner, despite all of the BLATANTLY OBVIOUS REASONS they should, they will have sunken from being the dumb fux they already are to somewhere below the deepest layer of prehistoric frog shit at the bottom of a New Jersey Scum Swamp!

 

It would be nice to get the same type of defense we're getting from CF and C at SS+2B, but it's not likely. I think Turner is too good of a third baseman to move him. Seager is so young that he might actually improve at SS before he gets worse...and his bat+good-enough-glove still plays big there.

We need to get more right-handed, and find more volume hitters. Someone like Villar, who can switch hit, get on-base, hit for average and XBH with speed...that's gotta be our target. The guy did .285/.369/.457 and played 157 games this year. I hate the cliche of "the guy shows up to the ballpark everyday"...but we actually do need guys who can play every day by virtue of health and ability to hit both LHP/RHP.

Then a RH bat in the OF. Cecepedes or Braun preferably.

We're going to have to ride Gonzalez to the end most likely. Longoria to 1B is an idea I actually like, because we'd be getting him at age 31, which when you swap him for Gonzalez is buying us a few prime seasons. But who knows how many chips we have deal in the offseason when we need pitching too. And where would Gonzo go?

Pitching I can't even think about right now or my head will hurt.

 

Agree with most of what they have there.
Definitely bring Chooch back and I think they'll bring Utley back in a bench/spot starter type of role if he wants to be back, both of those old fellas can still impact the game positively and they're great to have around a young core.
Howie, I think they could look to move on the strength of him asking for a better opportunity in another contract year for himself..he's from the JAX area, so maybe the Rays are right up his alley and would give him a shot to start some place on the diamond, would definitely be a good pro for them to have around their youngsters.
Find the right mix for a Rays/LAD/Archer/Logan Forsythe deal, could go a long way.
Just find a way to get it done w/o losing JDL or Bellinger...or if taking on Longoria's contract is the key to a deal getting done, perhaps they do include Bellinger and Longoria eventually becomes Adrian's replacement at 1B.
Something like Utley, Chooch, Forsythe, Toles, and Trayce for the bench covers all positions, righties and lefties, youth and older/experienced leader types, done and done.
Kenley's post season run ( late HR given up in the Nats series aside) probably did a lot for his campaign to stay with LAD..I know he pissed me off all year with not only his choking in big spots, but his attitude as well, but he probably sticks as priority #1 like they said there.
What's a Longo/Archer/Forsythe deal look like? Lol
While we're spitballing...maybe Bellinger to start out + Yadier Alvarez + Puig + Kazmir + Howie going to Tampa

 

Now that I think of it, Longoria at 1B might not play that much better for us than just riding Gonzo for the next couple years. Might only be a marginal difference when you factor in the cost. idk. OBP .318 last season. Still a good Wrc+ overall though.

 

Why it gotta be a New Jersey Scum Swamp, surfer Ferrari boy?

 

I can't see the club going after Cespedes this season after he could have been had last year without the pick getting lost. I know he had a good season, but I don't understand how teams don't just pitch him up out of the zone every AB. It seems like when somebody needs to get him out, they pitch him up and it's over. I do think that they take a long look at Braun since they were apparently close enough to a deal that key names were agreed to, they just ran out of time. He is the type of bat that would do well with this team and may not cost an arm and a leg due to his past. If they were to land a Braun for LF, I could then see the club selling high on Toles and seeing if they can't get a return of a good IF prospect and the team go into next season with a platoon of Thompson and Ethier in RF.

 

Some things have cleared up in the OF since last off-season tho, at least financially..no more Crawford is the biggest thing.
I wanted them to go after Cespedes last year, but admittedly felt it was a long shot because of the money owed to Crawford and Ethier..and then Cespedes' deal came to fruition and it made me wonder if they were ever even in contact with his reps.
Giving up the draft pick makes it a bit unclear, but they have been willing to give it up under the right circumstances, perhaps one of those is if they're letting a guy go and collecting one as well.
That guy probably being JT before Kenley.
Another one is Puig pretty much being done with us ATP.
Agree that Ethier is probably sticking, I think they said the same in that Digest link.
Make a move for Longo to step in at 3B, sign Cespedes, and deal for Villar or Escobar...
Still a good looking lineup if it's Villar 2B/Corey SS/Longo 3B/Cespedes RF/Adrian 1B/Ethier LF/Joc CF/ Yaz C
Far better against LHP for sure

 

just get rid of Kike for starters

 

Lol May not happen if they use Toles and/or Trayce in a trade.
Probably a solid chance that Kike is this off-season's Chris Heisey tho