Latest Dodgers Rumors Regarding Free Agency

Published on by Jose G. Quevedo

The rumor mill for this year’s offseason has been off to a hot start, and the Dodgers are involved in plenty of the speculation. Despite all the chatter, the only signing so far has been left-hander Andrew Heaney agreeing to a one-year deal.

The impending free agents the Dodgers have this offseason have been at the center of much of the talk. The Dodgers are bound to lose some important pieces, and the latest rumors have been swirling around.

Lately, Jon Heyman of MLB Network tweeted that Chris Taylor could be an option for the Red Sox.

Boston signed ex-Dodger Kike Hernandez last offseason, and that worked out quite well for them; so another former Dodger utility man is of their interest. Honestly, I can see more than 70% of rival teams being interested in the services of Taylor. The Tigers and the Yankees are also expected to pursue Taylor, who declined an $18.4 million qualifying offer, which was expected.

The Tigers appear ready to spend big this offseason, as they are rumored to be after Corey Seager, in addition to the Rangers. Texas manager Chris Woodard, as you may remember, was previously in the Dodgers organization as the third-base coach.

Taylor and Seager are the Dodgers who’ve had the most traction of all the Dodger free agents, and they have some big decisions coming up ahead for them this offseason.

It appears that teams to watch out for this offseason are the Tigers, Rangers, and Yankees as the ones who will be most aggressive. The Angels, who recently sighted right-handed pitcher Noah Syndergaard to a one year deal worth $21 million dollars, are expected to pursue right-hander Max Scherzer heavily.

Surely, this week and a half before December 1 will be quite critical as the collective bargaining agreement and other factors come into play.

As far as the other impending Dodger free agents, Clayton Kershaw is expected to have several suitors, including his hometown Rangers, as well as the Yankees. As far as Kenley Jansen, Corey Knebel, and others go, there has not been much out there, but it surely will pick up soon.

This week the Cy Young Award Winners and MVPs were announced. Some Dodgers found themselves within the top 10 in voting; but unfortunately, no Dodgers won the award. Scherzer finished third in Cy Young voting, while Walker Buehler was fourth and Julio Urias eighth.

For MVP voting, Trea Turner finished the highest of any Los Angeles player at 5th place, and Max Muncy finished 10th.

28 thoughts on “Latest Dodgers Rumors Regarding Free Agency”

  2. Regarding the AL MVP, honest question?
    Will Ohtani win the MVP every year that he throws 130 or so effective innings and hits 40 HRs?
    I would have voted for Vlad Guerrero

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  3. Dodgers have added 5 minor leaguers to the 40-man roster, in order to protect them from the Rule 5 draft next month.
    Amaya
    Outman
    Vivas
    Leonard
    Grove

    They had 3 spots open so have dfa’d McKinney and Reks to clear 2 other spaces.

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    1. It is interesting that the Dodgers decided to protect 5 players. The rules say they have to keep them on the 40 man roster for the year or cut them or trade them. I am not surprised they protected Outman and Leonard. I thought they might protect Michael Grove as he made some mechanical adjustments at the end of the year and was very effective. If you look at Grove’s numbers last year they were not impressive however the Dodgers must be looking at his very high ceiling if he does get control of his pitches. Amaya had a tough time offensively last year with his transition to AA. Outman is a legitimate centerfielder and Leonard makes contact and can play several positions. Read about these guys on Dodgers 2080.
      The 40 man roster is now full and that does not count free agents. If they re-sign Kershaw or any other player someone will have to be released or traded. I would guess Raley is on thin ice along with Nunez and a couple of other marginal bullpen guys.
      Does this mean the Dodgers believe there is a possibility they are going to lose Seager and Taylor? Outman could be your reserve outfielder and Leonard could be a utility guy.

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      1. Vivas is another one who is very similar to Leonard in age and stats. I thought they were both well worth protecting.

        Amaya had a pretty poor year offensively this year but his defense is great and he totally turned things around in the Az fall league. That could have made the difference.

        Grove was also very mediocre until the last part of the season when he seemed to really find himself.

        Considering that they had 3 spots available and wound up dfa’ing McKinney and Reks to make room for the other two, I think they made the right choices. As you point out though, for every free agent they sign, they’ll have to get rid of someone else. That’s why I think we may see some trade activity.

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      2. Yes, that is what I think. AF always has a plan. The Dodgers had a problem with the talent on their bench last year. I think they may lose Seager and Taylor. Grove has a plus-rated sinking fastball that could be used in the bullpen. I am not a fan of Raley or Neuse although they started to hit better at OKC. Interesting to see what happens next although it may be a while as we are all waiting for a decision on Bauer and the CBA.

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      3. I don’t think any of these guys being protected now, are likely to be Dodgers in 2022. So your scenario of signing a free agent and then trading or releasing someone is the more likely scenario.

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      4. I think you are right. But Outman has a chance if Taylor leaves. Outman is 24 for so he needs to make it soon. I think he, Amaya, and Leonard are a year away. Grove depending on his continued progress could make the team as he has a big upside. Vargas is probably a year away also and he is the position player I think has the most potential except for the young Dodger catchers. Vargas has made contact at every level and is growing into his frame and will get more power as he is only 22. I think White is a legitimate major leaguer with the Dodgers or elsewhere. I think Pepiot, Miller, Beeter, Knack, and others will be in contention in 2022.
        That they added Leonard and Vivas both barely in their 20’s tells you they are valued. The Dodgers need to start using some of the young talents coming up or trade them as it’s only a 40 man roster!

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  4. I’ve always thought Seager was a great player but with the acquisition of T. Turner, I figured Seager was done with the Dodgers after the season. I’m surprised to see the AF is supposedly trying hard to get Seager back. It’s not my money, so I’ll be happy to see him come back next season, if Andrew can pull it off.

    For defensive purposes I’d like to see Cory moved to third, Trea at SS, Lux at second, and JT,
    at the new DH position, that we all know will be part of the next CBA. Of course Muncy would be at first for me.

    Since it’s coming up on the Xmas season, which is the time for miracles, I’m going to ask Santa Friedman to bring back Kersh, Scherzer, Jansen, and Taylor also. I can dream, can’t I?

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    1. Bear I agree. The Dodgers might use one or two of these Rule 5 guys plus others to trade for someone like Castillo.
      It’s always difficult for us to know what AF and the Dodger Org are thinking as we do not have enough data. The Bauer situation is the elephant in the room. I am sure they have a better idea of how it’s all going to play out as they are working with the MLB.
      The other issue is what happens with the CBA and the spending penalties and the ceiling number. I know you insist it’s NOT A CAP!!! But primarily functions as one.
      So with the CBA not in force soon and the Dodger payroll usually being high and with pending free-agent signings payroll could explode , the question of trading for someone that is very good and still under control like a Castillo makes sense.
      Does anybody have any thoughts? The 5 guys added surprised me as a couple of them were young (barely 20) and at the A level. I thought Outman, Grove, and maybe Leonard might be added. Leonard and Vivas are potential Taylor types in a year or two.

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      1. Reds more likely to deal Gray than Castillo. They want him as the center piece of their rotation. The CBT is a tax, not a cap. If there was a hard cap in the MLB, the players would never sign a CBA. If the Dodgers are so willing to blow by the high point of the CBT and not worry about the tax they have to pay, why would we as fans think there are limits to what they will spend? I do not know what financial restraints AF might be facing and in his last press meeting, he said he had at that point not been given any financial guidelines. MLB is finally providing housing support to the minor leagues. The players are not going to sign anything that reduces the gains they have made over the last couple of negotiations. I personally think teams should be fined for tanking. You have the A’s trying to get their payroll even lower than it is. All of their best players are on the market. The elephant in the room for the Dodgers is Bauer. And until some sort of a decision is made on his case, they are really in financial limbo. But that does not mean they won’t bring back a couple of their own free agents. Word is that Seager wants to sign before Dec 1st. Yanks are saying they do not want to spend on a high end FA SS. Doesn’t mean they won’t, just makes it less likely. But Seag’s is getting some nibbles from Texas. Myself, I think they are more likely to resign Taylor than Seager. But then again the opposite could be true. We won’t know for a while.

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      3. The fact that Leonard and Vivas were both added and are both so young tells you what management thinks of them. Normally you wouldn’t protect a guy that young because teams are usually not likely to want to keep someone like that on the major league roster all year…………………………except if they are viewed as having major potential. Then it would certainly be worth a roster spot for a non-competitive team like the O’s or D’backs because they know they aren’t going anywhere in 2022 anyway. I think that’s what Andrew was afraid of.

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      4. Yes, add the Rockies to that list and several others. The Rockies will probably lose Story so they could use a young infielder. Amaya, Leonard, or Vivas would fit well and have lots of time to grow into the role.

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  6. Gary, they are paying only half of Price’s salary. They are on the hook for 16 mil, not 30. And he is one pitcher they might get their money’s worth out of. If he is stretched out in spring, and used as a starter, not the role he was in last season, he could easily be their # 5. I am not saying that is what they will do, but unless they ate more than half of that 16 mil, I do not think he could be traded. Of course they can do the same thing they did with Carl Crawford in the last year of his deal and just release him and eat the money. Do not think that is going to happen.

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    1. Thanks for the correction on their salary commitment for Price. Long way to go before we know what the rotation looks like going into spring training. Price was not very good last season in the role he was in.

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      1. Actually he was pretty good. 5-2 with a save, his ERA was a little high at 4.08, but with as few innings as he pitched, that was to be expected. He did exactly what was asked of him. Open some games, come in in the middle of others. He did give up 8 HR’s in 73.2 innings. But Bauer gave up 19 in 107 innings.

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      2. I was thinking of his WHIP of 1.43 and BAA of .272 as not very good as well as homers allowed. Maybe our standards for pretty good are different.

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      3. Well I prefer winning records I care less about the WHIP of a guy who is not used that often. ERA is skewed too because of the lack of innings. You cannot judge him like you normally would since he filled so many roles. And his HR’s allowed pales when you compare him to the pace Bauer was on. Bauer was giving them up in bunches. In fact in one game at Coors he almost blew a Dodger win giving up 4.

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  7. Worst numbers of his long career. I doubt he was proud of his season. The HRs not that bad considering everyone including the batboys can hit homers now a days.

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    1. He was probably pretty happy considering. Had he been a full time starter, I am sure he would have not been very happy at all. But he was the consumate TEAM player.

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      1. Being a Team player is great. But his overall performance was mediocre at best.
        WHIP and BAA are much better indicators of quality than ERA and record for someone used like Price was.

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  8. I expected some Bauer news by now.

    If Price takes it seriously, there’s no reason he can’t be effective a few innings at a time. He hasn’t pitched much in the last 5 years so he should be a well rested 36 year old. His WHIP has been up for two years, but get in shape and throw strikes and he should be fine. No excuse. You’re getting paid $32 million. Get to work.

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    1. Exactly and he was far from being the worst pitcher on the team or in the majors. Had they stretched him out he would have been fine.

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      1. He could be the #5, and should be able to go 150 innings. Other former Cy winners his age are doing it. He had “an unspecified arm injury”. WTF does that mean and if he goes Cross Fit ninja this winter can he start 25 and go 150 of 3.5-4.00 ERA? Like I said, he’s had a lot of rest since throwing 176 innings in ‘18. What are his intentions?

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  9. He is still on the roster. Have not seen any inclination by the Dodgers to change that. I think he can be of significant value if used right.

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