NEWS/RUMORS/PROSPECTS Thread

isn’t this more your style?

 

guessing huh?
so how far behind the padres do you guess we finish andy?

Jim Bowden@JimBowdenGM
Andrew Friedman #Dodgers told us that if he had to guess now he sees Muncy at 3B Lux at SS Vargas at 2B Taylor in OF...Rojas utility...but team has a lot of positional flexibility and open to competition @MLBNetworkRadio @FantasyAlarm
9:47 AM · Jan 29, 2023 · 54.5K Views
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Jeff J. Snider@snidog
Looks like the #Dodgers signed Matt Andriese to a minor-league contract. Local kid, went to high school in Redlands and college at UC Riverside. Has decent stuff but has never totally put it together, but he's spent seven years in the big leagues.
11:34 AM · Jan 31, 2023​

 

One thing I'd put money on if I was a betting man... Dodgers must be setting some kind of record this offseason with most players signed to a minor league contract.

 

from BSPN’s rookie/prospects article…

DIEGO CARTAYA (C):
Will be the next Will Smith — or better
By the end of the year, it'll be fair to wonder whether Cartaya can be just as good -- if not better -- than Smith, the current catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Smith, 27, is already one of the sport's greatest catchers. But Cartaya's combination of on-base ability and power, along with his plus arm strength and steadily improving defense, will soon make industry executives wonder if Smith might actually be expendable. "Will is an All-Star," one longtime scout said. "Cartaya has a chance to be a cornerstone." — Alden Gonzalez​

MIGUEL VARGAS (3B):
Will earn top rookie honors
Vargas would've helped the Dodgers last season had they only let him. While he has typically played third base, he's their starting second baseman this year and his combination of power, patience and speed (let's project .280/.360/.475, with 15 home runs, 15 stolen bases, 75 runs) earns him top NL rookie honors. -- Eric Karabell​

 

Vargas lol


At least he had a hot wife.

 

Well, shit.

This whole time my understanding was that this atrocity of an offseason was something we had to undergo, in order to get below the luxury tax threshold and reset the rate, with the validation being a serious run at Ohtani next year. I knew the reduction of Bauer's suspension was significant for the Dodgers, but I thought that just meant no big dollar deals this year which would still keep us under the threshold. Well now I'm learning that - if the numbers in this article are accurate - Bauer puts us $5M over the threshold... so there will be no resetting. As we all know, every consecutive year over the threshold adds to the penalty rate. Given that, there's no way I can see us being serious contenders for Ohtani next winter. Might as well prepare ourselves for one of those "pretend" attempts to sign him, with an "Oh well, we gave it a shot" as we watch another competitor get even stronger.

And the bottom line is, all this would be so much easier to swallow if we had cashed in on some of the missed opportunities in the Roberts Era.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ml...sedgntp&cvid=f1e51f5e13524804aff639418179229c

 

Yeah, I like CT and hope that last year was a fluke, but it would make sense to sacrifice him for the good of the team in the longer run. Doubt it happens though. We don't have the outfield depth or utility depth of past seasons, and CT fits both.

 

thought crossed my mind as well
#2 ranked catcher by mlb.com (fwiw), blocking a guy who projects to be even better… possibly far better
hate the thought of trading will as well, but his value may never be higher
i’m sure mgmt plans to bring cartaya up at some point this season, but what if he blows minds at spring training and forces their hand?
good problem to have, i guess

 

I agree. He needs more time. The potential is there, but he's not ready. Anyhow, trading Will should never be about making room for Cartaya or getting under the cap. It should be about getting a great haul in return, because he will improve another team at Catcher tremendously. But yeah, that's once Cartaya is ready.

Besides, it wouldn't make sense to do this and barely get under the cap, and then waste the whole effort later in the season when we sign someone for the stretch run. We need to be sufficiently below with a buffer to still make acquisitions as needed.

 

The whole Bauer thing just really bugs me. Dodgers are on the hook for his salary - I get that. But there should be an adjustment made to the cap calculations in cases like this. The Dodgers handled this whole thing by the book to help minimize backlash for both the team and the league. They could've said fuck you to MLB and kept him on the roster, but they were team players and took the woke route and still have to pay him a lot of money out of pocket for services they're not going to receive. You can say that's the penalty for signing him in the first place. But the whole purpose of the luxury tax is to help bring down the competitive advantage the big-market teams have over the smaller-market ones. Well, paying Bauer's salary is not giving the Dodgers any advantage whatsoever, so why should his portion count towards the luxury tax threshold?

Bad enough that we got screwed by the Houston Asterisks and the league did nothing (nothing that mattered). Now we're getting screwed by the Bauer thing and again MLB is sitting by. It all stinks, if you ask me.

 

completely agree
problem is...

 

Eric Stephen@ericstephen
The Dodgers have also signed outfielder Yusniel Diaz to a minor league deal. He was signed out of Cuba in 2015 for $15.5 million, then traded to the Orioles in the Manny Machado deal in 2018.
1:56 PM · Feb 3, 2023 · 3,213 Views