Depending on how you look at it, the Dodgers either missed out or dodged a financial mess in not signing Bryce Harper. The Dodgers flew to Vegas to meet with the well-coiffed free agent, reportedly offering him $45 million per year for either three or four years.
When it came down to it, Harper wanted to be with one team for the rest of his career, and that’s his prerogative, and good for him for achieving that. The Dodgers were never going to offer 13 years, and as such, Harper was never going to be a Dodger, regardless of how many reports there were that Los Angeles was where he really wanted to play.
It will be debated for awhile whether the Dodgers should have bit the bullet and offered the years to Bryce, but the fact that they didn’t leaves the door open for a multitude of other players and scenarios for the future. Not for Nolan Arenado, who chose to sign an extension with the Colorado Rockies, but there are many very good players down the line who will soon be free agents, not to mention the players that are already Dodgers that they would like to keep.
But are there any free agents still available that the Dodgers front office should be interested in? Perhaps a staring pitcher in case Kershaw’s shoulder is worse than reported. Or another back end reliever to lighten the load for Kenley?
The Dodgers are built to handle an injury to a starting pitcher, Kershaw or otherwise. But should they feel they would like another arm, the two best available are Dallas Kuechel and Gio Gonzalez. Kuechel was 12-11 last season with a 3.74 ERA, and a 1.314 WHIP. He could be a good innings eater, coming in last season with 204.2 innings pitched. Gonzalez for his part has seen his stuff diminish over the last few seasons, and went 10-11 with a 4.21 ERA last season. The Dodgers last saw him in the NLCS when they chased him from the game after three innings of work. Kuechel is a former Cy Young winner, and Gonzalez was a finalist. Possibly a little Honey working with them could help?
Craig Kimbrel is the biggest name out there for relievers. The Dodgers last faced him in the postseason, when he allowed a two-run homer to Enrique Hernandez in the World Series and was famously mocked by Mary Hart behind home plate. He wants to be a closer, but maybe could be talked into an eighth inning guy ahead of Jansen with some closing opportunities.
So no, when you look at the numbers and think about the current makeup of the team, there aren’t really any free agents that the Dodgers front office should be pursuing. Unless. Unless players are tired of not having signed with a team yet, and the Dodgers get creative. I’m all for another reliever, especially since that has been the Dodgers’ weakness in the playoffs (besides that pesky not hitting thing). I don’t see the Dodgers doing any more moves, but I also won’t be surprised if they do.
Has Realmuto signed yet?
Realmuto was traded to the Phillies awhile ago
I think Rich was kidding Andy.
Keuchel yes, Gonzalez no.
After reading that article I posted on the other thread it’s my belief the Harper signing makes sense for both team and player. It’s not that expensive for a guy with Harper’s ability. If we were willing to pay $40M for a few years what the Phillies get for years 26-30 might really pay off for them. They are a contender now. And what they did has nothing to do with us. There will be a multitude of ways we can improve our club going forward. We are still expected to win the Division and do it with a week to spare.
Not unless Kimbrel would take a one year deal. Besides that we are set. I like this team. I’d still love to have Puig but Pollack is going to be a stud and watching the dogfight between Joc and Verdugo for LF is going to be interesting.
I was kidding! Alex you do remember what Puig recently said about playing hard. Besides being selfish he’s incredibly stupid. Who the hell would want to give him another guaranteed contrct after saying that! Now we get a picture of what everyone was dealing with in the clubhouse. Good ridence. It’s Verdugo’s time now!
If he hits .275 with 30HR for Cincy this year his comments won’t matter, someone will take a chance. He won’t get $100 million which is what he’s shooting for I’m sure but someone will give him $15 million a year for 3-4 years.
I absolutely agree! If he’s not willing to work hard in a non-contract year, why ever sign him to more than 1 year? It also speaks to lousy character. If he was still a jerk in the clubhouse, there are probably a lot of guys who are happy to see him go. Verdugo’s minor league numbers are good, he just hasn’t proven anything yet.
Well it looks like the Giants owner was so mad he didn’t get Harper that he felt he needed to attack his wife in public.
It was embarrassing for both of them but it didn’t look like an attack to me. He tried to take her cell phone and she fell out of a chair. They both looked ridiculous.
I thought it was his cell phone, she didn’t want to give it back to him and he was forcefully taking it from her. I think it probably looked a lot worse than it really was. The screaming was uncalled for. I wonder why she wanted to keep it. To see if he is cheating?:)
I have a question I’m hoping someone can answer. What happened to Yasiel Sierra? Did he fall off the face of the earth?
That’s correct Alex. He got a little too close to the edge and fell off. Hasn’t been seen since. We know that the earth is flat because Kyrie Irving told us so. Just checked the stats and apparently he didn’t pitch in organized ball last year. Last sign of him was 2017.
It seems like all the Cubans are head cases.
What has happened to Andrew Toles? Personal problems?
According to the Dodgers, Toles is working on a PERSONAL MATTER…he has not reported to camp and there has been no indication of when he will. There have been rumors of what the personal matter is, but no real explanation. He is still on the 40 man, but each day he is gone diminishes his chances of making the team. I am of a mind he will either be released or wind up on the restricted list.
Yeah Alex, we haven’t had much luck with our Cuban signings, even with Puig, there was a lot of bad to go with all the good.
We should have signed Castro years ago. I hear he was a pretty good ballplayer before he got involved in politics and revolution.
Most of the relievers left are in their 30’s. Liberatore is still out there. But i see no reliever that is better than what we have save Kimbrel. Gonzalez and Kuechel the best starters. None of the infielders look worth signing. If we had not signed Pollock, I would have been down with Adam Jones who is also still out there. But Austin Jackson is still out there. I think he would be a great replacement if someone gets hurt. He is a tremendous defender.
The Brad Miller signing is interesting. Left hand hitting utility guy. Does that mean one of our two RH hitting utility guys could be traded? Or is this simply another example of Friedman’s obsession with utility guys?
I thought Harper wanted to play for the Dodgers. Nope. It was more important to him to obtain a record breaking contract. That drivel about wanting long term security and a home for his family is bullsh*t. You want to raise a family in a nice, safe location you don’t pick Philadelphia. Also, he could have put his family up nicely in a place like Flintridge for 4 years and if after making $180 million you wanted to stay another 4 years, provided you actually earned your money, I’m sure the Dodgers would extend your contract another 5 years as a DH. This was not about where he wanted to play, nor was this about his wife and kids. Wife and kids move all the time. We did 5 times before I moved out. My wife was a military brat. No, this was about Harper’s ego and getting the largest contract ever. Hope Philadelphia is all that Philadelphia is known to be and Harper gets a face full of it for the next decade. My early prediction is he will ok a trade out of there long before that contract is up.
Every time I hear Friedman interviewed I get this feeling that he’s still working on something that hasn’t been finalized yet so I was thinking along the same lines as you when I heard about the Miller signing. On the other hand, maybe he just wants to have him around for a July trade. I can certainly imagine that both Kike and CT3 have significant trade value and one or the other might be included in a deal this year. I really don’t see anyone on the market or available in trade at this moment whom I would particularly want to bring in right now. July is a different story.
You got that right. If he was so dead set on playing here, he would have signed here and it was not a lack of effort by the FO that kept him away. I knew all along that he and Boras both wanted the longest and largest contract they could get. The Giants offered 12 years by all accounts. Over 300 mil too.
It seems dumb to me, he would have had a record yearly salary (how about that for the ego?), he would have been able to play close to home on a winning team in LA rather than Philadelphia and he could have been a free agent again at 30. He apparently had no faith in himself to be good 4 years from now and was willing to sacrifice lifestyle for security. The first time he underperforms there they will boo him off the field and probably threaten him and his family. It’s freaking Philadelphia! Maybe the fans are so nasty there because they have to live in Philadelphia.😏Dumb!
Listening to the Dodgers they can win the divion and make a strong run at the WS because they have the likes of Barnes and Martin.
I know it is only spring and these stats mean zippo, but the at bats I saw by Joc yesterday looked like the Joc who was striking out so much in 2017. Beaty can rake. But I was really surprised by Errol Robinson. A triple and a double in his first 2 spring at bats. And the double went over the right fielders head. Kid just flicked the bat and hit the ball to the wall. He is a SS, so he will need to play more positions, or move.
Robinson is a real treat to watch. I saw him play a game when he was at Rancho in 2017 and, although I don’t know what the official word is on him as a fielder, he made a couple of spectacular plays that night. I think it’s pretty much assumed that anyone who can play short can play second and his speed probably makes him a candidate for center field as well. He just needs to work on his hitting, last night’s results aside.
The kid definitely has some wheels. It was exciting just watching him run.
Even though Harper could have gotten 180 million from the dodgers, it’s pretty hard to turn down an extra 150 million, none of us would have. If what bear says is true, about the SF offer, I’m surprised he didn’t take that offer. Harper never seemed to want to go to Philadelphia.
It’s not as though he turned down the extra 150 million. It’s just that he turned down a GUARANTEED extra 150 million. He apparently didn’t want to bet on himself. After the fourth year, at age 30, if he would have signed a 9 year/20 mil per year contract (very do-able) he would have wound up with a total of 360 instead of 330. Winning is apparently important enough to him that he didn’t want to stick around to see how long it would be until the Giants are competitive again.