Just a day after making the signing of Trevor Bauer official, the Los Angeles Dodgers remained active making moves.
The Dodgers acquired infielder Sheldon Neuse and minor league pitcher Gus Varland from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for left-handed reliever Adam Kolarek and minor league outfielder Cody Thomas.
Later in the afternoon, they sent reliever Dylan Floro to the Miami Marlins for reliever Alex Vesla and a prospect. Floro had been a key contributor the Dodgers bullpen. this past season he posted a 2.59 ERA in about 24 innings pitched. Floro got some crucial outs throughout the championship run and pitched in some big playoff games throughout the year.
Vesla, a left-handed reliever, made his Major League debut this season. He struggled, allowing nine runs in just 4.1 innings pitched. He still is only 24 years old and hadn’t pitched past the A level prior to the shortened season.
Neuse can play around the infield, but his primary position is third base, which he didn’t see much of in Oakland. For the Dodgers, it looks as if he’s an option to provide depth on the fringe. Still only 26 years old, he was a second-round pick in 2016 by the Nationals. Neuse made his major league debut in 2019, hitting .250 with seven RBI in 56 at-bats. He didn’t see the majors last season, but he hit 27 homers in Triple-A in 2019.
Varland hasn’t pitched past A-level ball, so he is a pitcher we may see in the big leagues a couple of seasons from now. The 24-year-old throughout 18 minor league games is 2-2 with a 1.54 ERA and 77 strikeouts. He was selected in the 18th round of the 2018 draft out of Concordia University.
The Dodgers parted ways with Kolarek, who was quite effective during his time in Los Angeles. Fans remember him exclusively being used against Juan Soto during the 2019 playoffs. He was used as a left-hander specialist most of the time. Due to MLB implementing the three-batter minimum rule for relievers, his appearances decreased, but he was still relatively efficient. Last season, Kolarek posted a 0.95 ERA with a 3-0 record in 20 appearances. With his exit the Dodgers now only have three left-handed relievers in Victor Gonzalez, Scott Alexander, and Garett Cleavinger.
Thomas, a 26-year-old outfielder, has shown to display power at Double-A Tulsa throughout his time in the minors. He was chosen in the 13th round by the Dodgers in the 2016 MLB draft out of the University of Oklahoma. Dodger fans may remember Thomas from last year’s Spring Training where he played pretty impressively, as he hit five homers and robbed a home run in the outfield.
The Dodgers also announced today that Kirsten Watson will join their broadcast team for Dodgers’ Sportsnet LA. She will do pre and postgame coverage as well as game broadcast and studio programming.
Spring Training is rapidly approaching, and the Dodgers do not seem to be done making additions. Obviously, Justin Turner still remains the big question, but I’d probably expect several more moves before the Dodgers hit Camelback Ranch.
Think Blue Planning Committee 
More stocking the Farm with guys who probably would not make the 26 man roster cut.
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Seeing some nice reports online from scouting-oriented sources on all four guys we got today. Not that any of them will necessarily contribute this year, but it’s not like we just gave away Kolarek and Floro. Maybe Neuse turns into another Taylor/Muncy discovery.
To me this also indicates that it’s more likely than not that May and Gonsolin are kept around to start the year in the bullpen rather than being sent to OKC as starters. Although there is no 13 man pitching staff rule this year, you can only squeeze so many pitchers on to a 26 man roster.
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If they have the DH< which is still up in the air, keeping more than 13 would be unwise. 3 bench players are just not enough. But if there is no DH, then they might keep 14 pitchers.
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You could also look at it the other way. If you have the DH he usually stays in the lineup for the whole game. If no DH and pitcher hits, you need extra bench players to pinch hit for pitchers during a game.
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That was my point, which I obviously did not make very well. Rich Hill signs with the Rays. Arrieta signs with the Cubs. And here in Canon City it is down to a frigid 1 degree. Supposed to drop below zero by Sunday. Got my second Covid shot today. Arm is sore, but that is about it.
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Glad to hear you’re just experiencing a sore arm. Hopefully that’s as bad as it will get. If the arm gets any more sore, just go out into the 1 degree weather and that should numb it nicely.
I’m due for my second one on the 24th, but there isn’t much vaccine in L.A. right now. Hopefully they get a good supply in the next couple of weeks.
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A guy I know who had the second shot said to put a heating pad on it. I did that and am going to put it on again when I go to bed. The soreness is really mild. You can go out in this if you want to. I am staying inside and having some cocoa. I was contacted by the VA on Wednesday and told I could get the shot there, but I was already scheduled so I told them I was ok.
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I don’t really get this one at all. Floro has been a quietly very good reliever for a couple years now and I figured him for a larger role with Baez gone. None of the guys we got back look all that exciting but I admittedly have very little knowledge of the players we acquired. He was only making $975K in a year where we need to save wherever we can.
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That was my thought about Floro also Alex. I’ve always felt he could be a real asset here and last here he actually did really contribute. My only conclusion is that the front office knows something about one or both of the guys we got back that we aren’t aware of. Vesia pitched 4 pretty terrible innings last year in Miami but the year before, across 3 levels of the minors he was pretty special. If he can keep his walks under control, we might just find out why they went out and got him at some point this year. If not, he’s still young and has plenty of options remaining and that alone may have contributed to the trade.
With the jump in games from last year’s 60 to hopefully a full schedule this year, AF is going to be moving guys back and forth between LA and OKC on a regular basis. Maybe he wanted a couple of new faces who have options remaining and some major potential instead of some of our guys who are now out of options.
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Here’s why Friedman traded 30 yr old Floro and 32 yr old Kolarek, too many guys competing for probably 13 pitching staff roster spots. Below is 14 guys still currently on the roster (and we have more major league ready possibilities in the system). Seems obvious, the Dodgers are either stuck with some of the guys below or value them more highly than Floro and Kolarek. We got three young pitchers with potential (oldest will be 25 this year), I think Friedman sold high on Floro and Kolarek.
Additionally, The oldest guy we got in return is 26 yr old Neuse, who might be either a Hernandez or Turner replacement as soon as this season. Another young, cheap option to grab a position player roster spot. Let the games begin.
Buehler
Bauer
Kershaw
Price
Urias
Gonsolin
May
Jansen
Kelley
Knebel
Treinen
Graterol
Gonzalez
Alexander
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I’m hoping to see Morrow or Nelson take Kelly’s spot. Not sure how we move Kelly but that’s why I pay AF the big bucks. It’s not that I don’t think Joe is any good. He has had moments of sheer brilliance, but they have been few and far between here. I think he’s a pretty tightly wound guy and I wonder if pitching here in front of his hometown folks is just adding more pressure. Probably a trade out of town would be good for him. Now, we just need to convince somebody to take him.
If, for example, we sub a healthy Morrow for Kelly and then add May and Gonso to the bp, we’ve got something pretty special. On the other hand, it wouldn’t be unheard of for Graterol or VGon to have some regression from last year. They’re both very young and fairly inexperienced and a step back before moving forward again wouldn’t be a huge surprise. And then, what if Morrow, Knebel and Nelson all get hit by injury again and Kenley goes farther down that slope he’s been on. Yikes, maybe we’d better sign Rosenthal and trade for Hader today. 🙂
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Barnes arbitration hearing is coming up this week. Flaherty beat the Cardinals in his. Barnes just might have a case.
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Who do y’all have winning the 5th starter spot? I’m conflicted. Part of me wants Urias to stay in the rotation and realize his potential there but then the other part of me has seen what he can do as a reliever. I’m actually in the minority here I’m sure but the more I see Dustin May pitch the more he screams dominant closer. He should get his chance to start but it was very obvious May would regress usually around the 60 pitch mark or after the 2nd time through the batting order. His delivery also looks a little taxing on the arm and his wiry build I’m just not sold on him slinging 99 fastballs for 200 innings a year. The dark horse who could beat them all is Tony Gonsulin. He doesn’t have either May or Urias’ pure stuff but you can’t dent he just always seems to stay steady and get the job done. I think this comes down to Urias vs Gonsulin and I’ll say Urias initially wins the job but if the bullpen falters I think the team could very well ask Julio to be the fireman of the bullpen.
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I think if you asked Andrew Friedman how the starters and bullpen would set up for opening day, he would say it’s all very fluid and before they make any definite decisions they’ll want to look at everyone in ST.
I would tend to agree with your last sentence, that being that Urias starts at #5 but if other options for closer don’t work out, they wouldn’t hesitate to call on him.
When you think of the possibilities, a lot of guys would have to fail before that might happen:
Kenley, Treinen, Knebel, Gonsolin, Morrow, Graterol, and maybe even VGon might be given a shot. I really think they would like to keep May as a starter, but nothing is written in stone.
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There was an interesting article in the Athletic today, pointing out the similarities between Neuse and Muncy. Both went to high school in the same town in Texas. Both play multiple positions, were traded here from Oakland and were 26 at the time of the trade. The one picture I saw of Neuse showed him with a beard and there is definitely a resemblance.
As Jose points out, probably his best position is third base and we definitely need a right handed hitting backup there just in case JT doesn’t return. Muncy and CT3 are not good options and are much better suited to play other spots.
To top it off, Neuse and Cody Thomas were teammates at the U of Oklahoma and have now been traded for each other.
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There’s just no scenario where I don’t see Turner coming back. I’m sure right now he says he wants 4 years but really is looking for 3 and the Dodgers are wanting a 1 year deal but in the end will go to 2. It’s just ago budges first. Sometime this week I think we see Turner comes back for 2 years $20 million.
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