What will become of Crawford? I'm thinking he's the more tradable piece between him and Ethier. I don't see Ethier moving at all. Maybe we'll buy half of Crawford's salary in a trade with another team willing to sell low on a decent starting pitcher. Maybe Guerrero can surprise us and be our SS of the future the way Dee did for us at 2B. Move Seager to third, problem solved. But also wishful thinking. I'd still like a better pitch-framing catcher, though, that can hit at least .240. Plus Greinke might be a free agent after this year. Dang, lots to worry about.
So we lost Colin Farrell. Meh. Didn't we just get another backup catcher? Seems like FedEx is gonna get cut loose as well. Too bad we missed out on Lester. Would have been perfect considering Greinke's early termination option next year. Who offers an ETO after just three years in a 6 year deal?? I guess that means we won't go for Scherzer and his $200M+ request...
Yeah I'm not sure what to make of the staff so far... They're incredibly secretive from everything I've heard. Media doesn't have much access to them. So far though, I'm unimpressed. Starting pitching is something we need almost as much as our pen. Shields is the guy that I think makes sense now, but I'm not super excited about him either.
Dodgers acquire Rollins from the Phillies for two pitching prospects that'll be figured out later. Now in deep talks to send Dee Gordon and Dan Haren for a pitching prospect in Miami.
Official trade: Dodgers out: Dee Gordon and Dan Haren Dodgers in: Andrew Heaney, Enrique Hernandez, Chris Hatcher, and Austin Barnes Heaney is a top pitching prospect although he struggled in the pros last season. Hernandez is a SS prospect. Barnes is a catching prospect. Hatcher is a bullpen pitcher.
So then we flipped Heaney to the Angels for Howie Kendricks... Wow. So our new infield: Howie Kendrick and Jimmy Rollins. Also close to a 4 year deal with Righty Brandon McCarthy. Things are happening!
Damn, I was getting excited about Heaney, but for Howie Kendrick? OK! We basically more than doubled our WAR at 2B for nothing! Loved Dee's surgence and ability to keep pitchers distracted, but seems like the FO thinks Dee's 1st half of 2014 was just a fluke. Rollins is a great addition, too. Solves our SS problem! Hooray! Whew, I can relax now... He may not hit well next season, but his veteran leadership will do wonders for our ballclub. Uribe, Rollins, Kendrick, and Gonzo... wow, that's a serious infield! Our other new pieces sound pretty nice, too. Hatcher is an excellent strikeout pitcher with a very good 2.56 FIP last season. We upgraded our bullpen!! Barnes is also a better catching prospect with great place discipline, so that's awesome.
Oh, and outside of our big 3 prospects plus Grant Holmes, I really don't care who else we traded away for Rollins. Maaaybe I'd like to give Zach Lee a chance again, but seeing as he doesn't even have a go-to pitch at this stage... eh...
boys in blue have been busy.... Im kinda torn on the Kemp trade thats being floated. Kemp soured me last season but got back to it late. He is the most tradeable of the outfielders though. I trust crawford more than Andre though. I'd like to see if Puig can show maturity and stay out of "stupid" to be a leader in the outfield. Sad to see Dee go I really like the kid but i was also a big fan of little Skip Schu. I think Dodgers did right by moving him at this time while his stock was high. I do think he finally found his niche at 2b and could of been our 2b moving forward.
The two pitchers that came along with it don't mean much to me. Grandal isn't my guy. Sure he's got power, but he's not a great defensive short stop and his average and on base percentage aren't all that impressive... I don't know man. Seems like a weak return for Kemp. We still need more starting pitching and I still don't trust our bullpen at all. Not to mention we're suddenly missing a LOT of offense. Like a ton.
So our new starting lineup is: LF: Crawford C: Puig RF: Ethier 3B: Uribe 2B: Rollins SS: Kendrick 1B: Gonzalez C: Grandal/Ellis Puig and Grandal/Ellis better start getting consistent man... Kemp and Hanley were pretty much key to our offense. Pitchers: Kershaw, Greinke, Ryu, McCarthy, ??? Bullpen: Wilson, League, Jansen, Peralta, Garcia, Rodriguez, Howell, Frias, Baez, Coulombe, and Withrow. The pen looks better, but I'm still not satisfied. I want more pitching. Always more pitching.
You know I understand the Kemp move. I don't know the pieces but he (and Hanley since you mentioned him) were so up and down. I still think Hanley was our most feared bat followed by Agon then Kemp. The problem with Kemp is his attitude when he didn't get his way. Remember that is what soured me on him in the first place. Outside of the personal reasons I think the Dodgers are trying for better balance at the plate cause the last two seasons we had the offensive fire power but rarely used it when it mattered. How many games did we loose because 3,4,5 couldn't get a hit in the clutch? We lost the playoffs this year partly because of pitching but I blame it mostly on offense. All that fire power and little production with exception of a few sporadic explosive innings. I think Puig can put up Matt numbers if they get his head right. Crawford started to make me a believer late last season and Andre has the skill but im still not sure of his killer instinct in the clutch. I was a fan of Fedo so that is a bit of a let down to see him go.
Ethier was super clutch a few seasons ago, but he's older now and his bat has been slowly declining. I'm not really excited about him being part of our regular rotation every game this season. If we're going to rebuild, then let's find a way to get rid of him and let's just get Pederson going now. I wasn't impressed with Pederson last season when he came up, but if we're in rebuild mode like all the pundits are saying then let's do it right.
I don't think we're rebuilding, but more like re-tooling. From Dee Gordon to Howie Kendrick is a massive upgrade any way you look at it. And Hanley to Rollins might be a step down on offense, but it's a major upgrade on defense, especially considering how important the SS position is. I bet all of our pitchers are loving this. There was zero reason for us to offer Hanley a $100M extension, so really we are upgrading (incredibly) over Rojas/Arruebarrena. The Kemp trade is still a head scratcher to me, but if it somehow lands us Cole Hamels, then we really hit the jackpot with it. At least Joc Pederson is ready to play, rendering Kemp/Crawford/Ethier expendable. If everyone in Dodger brass (both new and old management) believes he's the real deal, then I believe it, too.
Oh, and Ethier almost got traded to the D-Backs, so it's almost certain he'll be gone sooner or later (Friedman gets what he wants, right?), or he's an unhappy reserve (which he still did pretty well in last season, all things considered). Crawford would most certainly start in left field if he's not traded.
Interesting how Friedman and Co. are wheeling and dealing. He's doing the same thing he did with Tampa, except now that he has extra money to entice trades, he has so many more options here. Let's see how this whole ordeal plays out. Cole Hamels, Cole Hamels, Cole Hamels...
