• Offseason - NEWS/RUMORS

with kiké re-signing, someone has to go
here are the four most likely candidates:

• hyseong kim — probably won’t be sent down (since he was just signed), but he does have that option. can play 2b, ss and 3b. zero chance he’ll be traded

• james outman — finished 2nd for roy in ‘23, then took a shyte last year. like kim, still has minor league options. could be traded but has limited value due to his falloff and only plays outfield and maybe 1b

• andy pages — solid rookie year. has only one option to the minors left. good trade value, but hard to let go of such a good bench option. solely an outfielder

• chris taylor — would probably be the easiest choice, but has extremely limited value and would still be owed roughly $17m if released. like kiké, can play multiple positions. but unlike kiké his bat disappeared. appeared to show life late last season, so could be given a shot this spring. somewhat of a dilemma if he weren’t to start raking… his trade value would increase, but might be harder to let go because of his versatility

vote bkitches

 

easy pick for me
dodgers didn’t sign kim to play in the minors, pages is too valuable a reserve outfield option and taylor has too little value and is owed too much
outman starts the season in aaa

 

With Lux traded, it all but assures that Kim is the opening day starting second baseman. The only way that doesn't happen is by injury, or if the Dodgers acquire a new third baseman - Arenado? Bregman? - and Muncy moves to second. Would probably mean that Kim then is the utility infielder or possibly goes to SS and bumps Betts to RF.

I've resigned to the fact that we have CT for one more year, and I'll hope for his sake that his new swing is effective and extends his career. I think if the Dodgers were to eat the final year of his contract, they would have done so already.

That leaves Pages and Outman, and between the two, I think Pages is more in the team's long term plans. Honestly don't know what they're going to do with Outman, but at this point, barring injuries, I don't see what role he could possibly have on this roster. Especially because I fully believe that they want to bring Rushing up at some point this year and see how he looks in the OF. So I could see Outman getting traded for a mid/low level prospect or released outright, and out of the four poll options, that's my vote.

That said, I could also see none of the above happening and instead the IL is used to open spots. We already know that Brusdar is headed there.

 

Yeah, not to beat a dead horse, but IMO right now Outman is the eighth option in the OF. Three starters, then Kike is 4, Pages is 5, CT is 6, and I'd put Rushing 7. Only after all that would Outman be called back up. And if Betts ends up going back to RF, that bumps Outman to 9th. Might as well see if they can get anything back for him before he has zero value.

 

Kenley back in LA with the Angels. Good for him - not sure if he can get 32 saves with that team, but if he does, he moves past Lee Smith for #3 all-time.

 

• After batting .170/.281/.263 through 70 games, Taylor hit .333 the final month of the season with an .822 on-base plus slugging percentage.

 

True, and in that same month Kike hit .308 with a .821 OPS and Barnes went .350/.731. I guess that gives us hope that all three can carry that over to 2025. Unfortunately, they're all on the wrong side of 30 and battling not just Father Time, but also the law of averages which demands a reversion to the mean. At least Kike has the new eye wear and Taylor the new swing, so who knows, maybe each can string together 5-6 good months. Barnes is playing out his contract, and I expect this is his last hurrah. Feduccia is likely the Dodgers backup catcher in '26, if not sooner.

 

I like Outman too, but after finishing 3rd (behind Carroll and Senga) in ROY voting in '23, he had an atrocious '24. I think they've figured out how to pitch him. He's either got to make some serious adjustments or he's going to be looking for a new career soon. He did go back down and slug a .933 OPS in OKC last year, so maybe there is a glimmer of hope. Like I said in the other thread, perhaps the Dodgers should see if they can parlay that into some prospect trade value, because I just don't see where he fits on the major league roster, unless there are a few injuries among the outfielders.

 

all this crying by aaron boone about the dodgers being unprofessional
a couple of thoughts…
grow a fucken pair
complaining about someone talking shit by talking shit is childish
now to be fair, the guys talking shit (kelly and taylor) were barely part of the team and have no business opening their mouths
i’m sure i could come up with more but idrgaf

 

So it sounds like the plan, at least right now, is to start the season with a six-man rotation consisting of Snell, Yamamoto, Glasnow, Sasaki, Gonsolin, and May. Injuries are inevitable, and when that happens, Ohtani and later, Kershaw would fill the openings, with Sheehan conceivably ready even later. Unless the need arises before May, in which case my guess is that Knack would get called up. And at some point Miller is bound to get another shot as well. Sound about right?

In any event, I'm still in awe that the front office was able to amass this arsenal.

 

I don't know what was said. But Kelly will always Kelly, and he's not on the team anymore so who cares? I'm surprised to hear that Taylor was shit-talking - seems out of character for him, especially considering he wasn't an integral part of the team's success last year. But in general, I'm going to reference Kershaw. When he was asked if it bothers him when guys pimp HRs hit off him, his answer, paraphrasing, was no - that it's his own fault for not preventing the home run from happening in the first place. Same thing here, Boone. You don't want to hear gloating? Then don't lose.