Here we are again, adding another name to the rumor mill that the Los Angeles Dodgers may or may not be interested in.
We can take DJ LeMahieu out of the rumor rotation, as he has now re-signed with the New York Yankees. He signed a six-year, $90MM contract to stay with the Bronx Bombers. The Dodgers were never going to give him that many years, although Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic says they were involved in the bidding for the versatile infielder.
Last week, we talked about how the Dodgers were also looking at Marcell Ozuna. That signing looks to only make sense if the DH is in fact coming to the National League.
Rosenthal also stated in his article that the Dodgers are now turning some attention towards Marcus Semien. Most recently with the Oakland Athletics, Semien has played mostly shortstop but could play both third and second base also.
Semien, 30, would play third base or multiple positions for the Dodgers rather than displace Corey Seager at shortstop, though if he signed a multi-year deal he might be an option to return to short in 2022 if Seager departed as a free agent. Fansided’s Robert Murray reported last month that Semien, a Gold Glove finalist at short in 2019, is drawing interest at both second and third.
Ken Rosenthal in The Athletic
Semien is a right handed bat, which we all know the Dodgers have been looking to acquire. Last season, he slashed just .223/.305/.384/.679 with seven home runs. But in 2019, he played in all 162 games and swatted 33 long balls. He also has a career .371 batting average in the postseason.
With his versatility and hitting right handed, he could prove to be a good fallback option should the Dodgers not re-sign Justin Turner. There is no new news on that front aside from the fact that both sides would apparently like a reunion.
The Dodgers spent most of their offseason working on revamping their bullpen. They are reportedly still in on both Brad Hand and Kirby Yates. Now we can add one more name to the mix.
On Monday, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com tweeted that the Dodgers are one of a few teams checking in with Jeremy Jeffress.
The righty reliever last pitched with the Chicago Cubs in the 2020 season after a down year with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2019. He ended the year with a 4-1 record and a 1.54 ERA, 0.94 WHIP and 17 strikeouts over 23.1 innings.
Dodger fans will recall when the Boys in Blue faced the Brewers in the 2018 NLCS. After Jeffress gave up the go-ahead home run to Justin Turner in Game 2, Jeffress remarked that the Dodgers had just gotten “lucky.” Jeffress then gave up the infamous three-run homer to Yasiel Puig in Game 7, which sent the Dodgers to the World Series.
We’re now under a month away from pitchers and catchers reporting to spring camp, so hopefully some news about a signing or two will happen soon.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
Let me begin by saying that Andrew Friedman couldn’t care less what I think.
Secondly, just because the Dodgers are tied together in a sentence with a certain player doesn’t mean that any of it is true.
That said, I vote a resounding “no thank you” on both of those guys.
Jeffress blows hot and cold and you never know what kind of year he’ll have. I don’t see him as an upgrade to what we now have in our bullpen.
Semien has had exactly one good year in MLB and it wasn’t last year. Again, no thank you.
I think the floating of Semien’s name might just be telling JT that just because LeMahieu isn’t available any longer, AF still has options.
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I agree. 2019 is probably outlier for Semien. He is career .250 hitter with a bellow average OBA. Unlikely to come close to 2019.
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Rios ever play 2nd base?
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Too big and thick to be a second baseman. He has played 1st and 3rd. And a little outfield.
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Actually he played all over in college including a fair amount at both 2nd and short, but since he was drafted by AF he’s only been used at 1st, 3rd and some outfield.
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He was always rated as very slow afoot as a prospect. No way he plays any 2B.
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Padres close to getting Joe Musgrove from the Pirates
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Rosenthal announcing that it is an agreement. So, Pads add another starter. Their BP is still weak though.
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You know that Preller isn’t done with his bullpen yet. Just a matter of finding out whether he’ll be adding Hand, Rosenthal, Yates, Hader or all of them.
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Pads out on Yates according to sources, he might be signed by the weekend. Hand is in talks with other teams not the Pads. He would have to trade for Hader, and he will not be cheap. Getting a little fed up with our friend E. But still keeping it civil, although it is hard to do so.
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Eno Sarris has now moved the Padres rotation to #1 in the NL
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You can’t deny the Pads have made a huge effort to up grade their starting staff, give them credit for not being afraid to challenge the Dodgers for the division, this year. It won’t surprise me if Sarris isn’t the only writer/ expert that ranks them #1.
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Pads are still chasing the dream. Preller has kept active and made some dynamic changes to the franchise. But games are won on the field. And the Pads core is still a very young group. Their veteran leadership consists of Machado and Hosmer. Machado is a showboat and a loudmouth. But Hosmer is a better influence. The pitching staff now features some vets with experience, not kids. But the pen as it stands is almost entirely kids. So, we will see how it all shakes out on the diamond. Porter fired immediately after admitting he sent unsolicited texts to a female reporter. Works for me. That kind of behavior is despicable.
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About a month ago I said the pads had too many holes in their lineup and the pitching staff was a big problem.
Thats changed substantially except the bullpen which they may also resolve. But number one staff. I don’t quite believe that. But I’m impressed how preller was able to build a pitching staff by trading non prospects. We’ve got a farm of non prospects, you’d think we could find a 2nd baseman or even 3rd baseman.
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Yeah, but we’re the Dodgers, nobody wants to help us.
How come nobody asked or commented on the price for Semien and Jeffress? Is it, don’t want them at any price? Me I’d take Semien, he has his warts, but he also fits in a lot of ways, versatile and right handed batter and he did have that one HUGE season. What’s the price?
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Don’t want them at any price (per my comment above yesterday afternoon). Mlbtr.com has Semien at 1 year/14 mil. Not worth it as far as I’m concerned, considering he’s only had one good year in his career.
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Don’t worry, Friedman would never do one yr at $14M. But how about one or more yrs at $8M/yr, about the same as Kiki Hernandez or Chris Taylor? Still not interested?
Here’s an interesting article on Semien, at $8M/yr he could be a huge bargain. Probably wouldn’t happen, but worth checking in on, in my opinion.
https://www.mlb.com/news/breaking-down-marcus-semien-s-free-agency
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Reality check. These are the facts. The Padres new rotation with the addition of Snell, Darvish and Musgrove has a career record of 2-8 with 2 no decisions against the Dodgers. That rotation includes Lamet, and Paddack, who combined are 2-5 against LA. All the no decisions belong to Darvish and Snell who have one apiece. Musgrove is 0-3 against LA in his career and they have hit over 300 against him. Paddack has given up 8 homers to LA. So on paper, they are not as close as one might think since Kersh and Buehler between them are 25-7. With Buehler part of a no hitter.
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