NEWS/RUMORS/DISCUSSION Thread

nah
ned would have signed lincecum for 3 years/$90MM

 

Will Dodgers trade Ethier before he earns 10/5 rights in April?
by Steve Dilbeck | Los Angeles Times — 4 hours ago



Andre Ethier, still here.

What’s an exciting Dodgers’ off-season without some Ethier trade speculation? Predictable as packed health clubs after New Year’s Day.

Only this year, it is a tad different. This year, the cries to unload Ethier are less because he was unproductive and looked headed toward the twilight of his career, and more like whispers his tenure will come into play.

No one can really complain about Ethier’s output last year. After becoming a reserve the previous season and making it clear going into spring training he had no interest in repeating that role in 2015, Ethier had a fairly terrific comeback.

Used almost exclusively against right-handers — a role many had suggested for years — Ethier put up a .294/.366/.486 line, with 14 home runs, 20 doubles and 53 RBIs in 395 plate appearances. He became the Dodgers’ most productive and dependable outfielder. His .852 OPS was second on the team among regulars to Justin Turner (.861).

So why would the Dodgers trade him now? Maybe because they feel like they almost have to.

Ethier will be 34 on April 10, and 11 days later, he will earn his 10-and-five rights (10 years of major league service, the last five with the same team) and can refuse any trade.

And that’s a problem for the Dodgers. His trade value may have increased after his productive 2015, but not enough to draw significant interest at a player his age and still owed $38 million on the final two years of his contract. If a slight number of teams do express interest — no doubt with a caveat that the Dodgers absorb a significant amount of contract — the Dodgers would not want Ethier to be able to nix a potential deal because he has no interest in playing there.

It would behoove the Dodgers to move him now, while whatever limited options they have available cannot be further reduced by Ethier. Yet if there has been any Ethier trade discussion going on, it has been remarkably quiet. Particularly for a player who has been involved in off-season trade rumors on an almost annual basis.

Camp opens next month, and the Dodgers still have too many starting outfielders — Yasiel Puig, Joc Pederson, Carl Crawford and Ethier. And all but Puig bat left-handed. But Pederson is coming off a miserable rookie second half, and Puig and Crawford had disappointing and injury-filled seasons. Somewhat ironically, the Dodgers now almost need the solid Ethier.

Enough to gamble he stays healthy and pay the final $38 million? The only way Ethier is likely to approve a trade after April 21 is if it meant significantly improved playing time on a contender. That could prove a tough combo.

For now, even with additional motivation to move him, Ethier is still here. He could be for the next two years, too, making him one of the most discussed trade pieces the Dodgers never moved.

 

Pretty sure his offensive numbers last year woulda made him one of the worst DH's in the league

He didn't hit well enough to DH and doesn't defend well enough to have a position. I'm expecting a DFA and will be ecstatic if they receive a breathing human for him

 

not sure if the blanton signing precludes us from this...

Latest on Antonio Bastardo
by Steve Adams | MLB Trade Rumors — 10 minutes ago

The market for left-hander Antonio Bastardo — arguably the top remaining free agent reliever on the market — has begun to pick up this week, per Baseball Essential’s Robert Murray. The Dodgers, Orioles, Mets and Blue Jays are all interested in Bastardo’s services, according to the report, which also notes that the Cubs met with Bastardo’s reps from the Legacy Agency at last month’s Winter Meetings.

Bastardo has reportedly been seeking a contract similar to the one secured by fellow free-agent lefty Tony Sipp this offseason. The 32-year-old Sipp landed a three-year, $18MM contract to return to Houston back in December, but the market for Bastardo’s services hasn’t been as aggressive despite the fact that he’s two years younger. While Murray notes that the intensifying market could potentially lead to a three-year pact, it’s difficult to see either the Mets or Blue Jays doling out that type of contract. The Mets are reportedly only interested in one-year deals with the remaining free agent relievers on the market, and the Blue Jays are said to be working with budgetary restrictions as their payroll is set to exceed last year’s mark as it is. The Orioles have been aggressive of late, but the $161MM they recently spent on Chris Davis (plus the $31MM given to Darren O’Day, the $7MM allotted to Korean outfielder Hyun Soo Kim and the $16.1MM going to Matt Wieters via the qualifying offer) calls into question how much more they’ll spend. (It’s also worth noting that with Brian Matusz, T.J. McFarland and closer Zach Britton, the team already has three lefties in the ’pen.)

The Dodgers, to be sure, have virtually unlimited spending capacity, but they’ve taken a surprisingly measured approach to their bullpen shopping this winter. The Cubs, theoretically, could issue that kind of deal, though Murray notes that it’s not clear when the last contact between the two sides even was, and they, too, have three lefties in the ’pen (Travis Wood, Clayton Richard, Rex Brothers).

Bastardo, 30, has been a somewhat quietly excellent performer across the past three seasons with the Phillies and Pirates. In that time, Bastardo has logged a 3.18 ERA with 10.5 K/9, 4.4 BB/9 and a 30.8 percent ground-ball rate. He’s also been effective against both left- and right-handed batters, holding same-handed opponents to a .167/.273/.295 batting line while surrendering just a .204/.310/.314 batting line even when his opponents hold the platoon advantage. Of course, control has been a persistent problem for Bastardo, too, as he’s only averaged less than four walks per nine innings in one season of his career — his debut campaign in 2009, when he tossed just 23 2/3 innings.​