Dodgers News, Notes and Rumors

Published on by Andy Lane Chapman

The 2021-2022 Hot Stove season is heating up for other teams, but not so much for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

After signing Andrew Heaney to a one year, $8M deal, not much else has been happening for the Dodgers as far as free agent signings.

As a team, L.A. has quite a few free agents that most fans would like for them to re-sign. At the top of most fans’ wish lists would be for them to welcome back Clayton Kershaw and Corey Seager.

President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman was on MLB Network on Wednesday, where he stated that the Dodgers are being aggressive in regards to bringing back Seager.

If the Dodgers are successful in re-signing the shortstop, they will have to figure out what to do with Trea Turner. Turner was amenable to moving to second base to help the team after his trade from the Washington Nationals, but he may balk at staying there the whole next season.

Some have suggested that the Dodgers use Trea as a trade piece, possibly to a team like the Cincinnati Reds for some of their stellar pitching arms.

Also in an interview on MLB Network, Texas Rangers’ manager Chris Woodward said that the team has been in contact with Kershaw, and are interested in bringing him to Arlington.

I know we’ve been in contact with him. … Kersh and I are obviously really good friends. We believe in the same things as far as how to play the game; how to prepare. I’ve been honored to be around him for the three years I was in L.A. If he wants to come back to Texas, I’m pretty sure we’re gonna welcome him here. It’s home for him. I know he’d love to take his kids to school then go pitch a game that night. But it’s up to him. He’s had a tremendous legacy. I can’t speak enough just about the man himself after watching him for three years and being around him. It’d be a tremendous asset for us, especially with a young rotation. We’ve got a ton of talent on the starting staff, but they’re all young. His leadership and his guidance—honestly, he wouldn’t have to say a word. I would just ask those guys to just watch him—watch him prepare and watch how he goes about his business—and they’re going to naturally get better.”

Kershaw has been rumored to be considering joining the Rangers at every one of this free agencies, and so far has chosen to return to the Dodgers each time. But who knows what this one will bring. Kershaw seem content to take his time on his decision, even with the looming probable MLB lockout.

Two former Dodgers did just join the Rangers, however. Both Zach Reks and Billy McKinney were traded to Texas in exchange for cash considerations. They will join other former Dodgers who are now in the Rangers organization, like Josh Sborz, Dennis Santana and DJ Peters.

Dustin May has started working out at Camelback Ranch in Arizona. The pitcher had Tommy John surgery on May 11th, and is working his way back to full health. Both May and the team are hopeful he can return to pitching sometime after the All-Star break.

28 thoughts on “Dodgers News, Notes and Rumors”

  1. For those who have suggested that if we bring back Seager we should consider trading Trea to the Reds for pitching, keep this in mind:
    1) The Reds are considering the trading of Gray and possibly Castillo to cut their payroll.
    2) Turner is eligible for arbitration this winter and will probably wind up making more in 2022 than both Gray and Castillo combined.
    3) Why would a team that will be very unlikely to make the playoffs trade for an expensive player that they could only control for one year?

    If we do re-sign Corey, I think Andrew has to have a long conversation with Trea to see how ready he would be to play second base again. If he really isn’t happy with that thought, they definitely need to explore a trade, but who would take him for just one year? A team that expects to contend, needs a shortstop but wants only a short-term commitment. Possibilities would include the Yankees, Astros, Phillies, Cardinals and Angels. Some of these teams have good shortstop prospects who are close to ready but for the others, they can always try to extend Trea if all goes well.

    So, for you folks who like to come up with trade scenarios, any thoughts on what we could get back for Turner from any of the above teams?

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  2. Jeff, I’m looking at this from a different perspective. I don’t understand why we would ask Trea to move to second, when he is one of the better short stops in the league. I thought he didn’t look that comfortable at 2nd, but did what he was asked to do.

    What Andrew should be doing is asking Cory if moving to third is a deal breaker. Cory is probably an average defensive SS. He makes the plays he should, but I think he benefits from a team that is very good at defensive positioning, there are balls that get by him that T. Turner would get to, and I think he could be above average defensively, at third base.

    As much as I feel like a rat for saying this, I thought JT looked like he got old real fast towards the end of the season, and in the playoffs. Seager should be the 2022 third baseman, and JT needs to start sliding into that spot that Utley held for the team, in his last year.

    This brings Lux into the equation, with TT, and Cory sliding to their right one spot, it opens up second for Lux. Lux should be almost equal to TT at second, TT would be an upgraded at SS, and Seager should be better at third, than an aging JT.

    It doesn’t make sense to me to bring Cory back to play short, leave TT at second, have an aging JT play third, and leave Lux without a position. Let me know if you think I’m completely off base, and I’ll start looking at those teams you mentioned for trade possibilities.

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  3. Ah, nothing like a good baseball conversation Keith. I totally agree that we would be much better off with Trea at short and Corey at third, but I honestly don’t think Corey will sign with a team that would move him to third in the early years of his new contract. I believe he really wants to play short and I think there are teams that will give him good money to do just that. It would be great if I was totally wrong about that and would solve the problem. The Yanks need a shortstop but Joel Sherman says they want to wait for their hot shot young ss prospects and don’t want to spend all that money on a free agent this year when they have other needs. If Sherman is right, that cuts down on a good landing spot for Seager and might just leave him with a team like the Rangers who aren’t yet competitive. I don’t think any of the teams I mentioned above are going to give out a 10/300 type contract or anything close to that. If he’s going to hold out for something even close to that I think it’s the Dodgers, Rangers or Yanks. I happen to think that Corey will sign before the lockout so we may have an answer very shortly.

    With regard to JT, he won’t have to slide into an Utley role because we’ll have the DH. I don’t think he got old at the end of the year, just tired. Part of that is his age, but remember, they had a short season last year so that also made a difference. For most of the year, as I remember it, he was quite productive.

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  4. Well lets settle this once and for all. Seager consider’s himself a SS. It is the only position he has ever played in the majors. And he is not as bad defensively as you think. Who had a better dWAR last season, Tatis or Seager? Tatis had a negative dWAR. Corey’s was 0.5 on the plus side. Most of his errors have come on throws he should not have made. Usually when he gets to the ball he makes the play. Turner’s dWAR last year was 0.3. I have never seen a story where the Dodgers have even suggested to Seager that he move to third. Also, he would have only spring games to get ready to play the position on an everyday basis. 20 or so games are not going to make him into Arenado or Chapman. As for JT, yeah, he had a bad post season. First time ever. But he also played 151 games. Only the second time in his career he has reached that mark. He also battled a stiff neck and leg injury’s almost all year, yet his dWAR was the best it has been in 3 years. The guy is going to be 37, he is no longer an everyday 3rd baseman. But the way the Dodgers work he does not need to be. Beaty and Rios and Muncy have all spent time there. You can bet AF is going to pick up some player who has played third. Neuse played 20 games there this season at OKC. The universal DH is coming. So, on days Roberts does not want JT on the field he can DH. But I would almost bet JT gets at least 100 starts at 3rd if he feels up to it. DH is going to be a revolving door on the Dodgers with all of the player seeing time there.

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    1. I think we will need a legitimate designated hitter. Outside of JT we have nobody. DH should be one of your best hitters no someone left on your bench. Most teams will see this as a opportunity to strengthen their offense. We better as well. God knows our offence has always lacked a big offensive threat, who can knock in runs. This is our chance, along with the rest of the national league.
      And it’s probably time to get over Seager and solve the shortstop situation.

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  5. We’ve known this for a while. But according to press reports Seager doesn’t want to play third. So maybe like Machado it was just a ploy to get a higher offer in free agency. But maybe it’s his foolish ego getting in the way. Yes he might be an average defensive shortstop. But more likely he’s a bit below average.

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  6. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

    I’d like to give my annual thanks to Andy and Dennis for keeping this thing running. And also to Jose for all of his articles throughout the year. This site is a pleasant oasis for me, somewhere to hide from everything that’s going on in the real world these days. Just want you to know your work is very much appreciated.

    As for you folks who read here but never or rarely comment, please put in your two cents worth. The site is better when we have more people commenting. Unlike some other Dodger sites, we’ve managed to keep this one almost entirely free of non-baseball discussions. I hope we’ll continue to do so. So anyway, if you’re lurking out there, please make your presence known to the rest of us. As you can see, we often disagree but we’re always (or at least almost always) civil about it. Come join in the fun.

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  8. “And he is not as bad defensively as you think“

    Yes he is.

    But the Dodgers will do everything they can to sign him. Personally I think it may be time to move on. Extend Turner and put him at short. Lux at second, Turner at third, and I still want to know if Rios is coming back. I see him projecting .800 OPS.

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      1. They are both offensive players. I believe Tatis is the better athlete and if he worked at it could be a better than average defensive shortstop. Neither need to be. They both get paid to hit.

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  9. The Dodgers have one of the best stat departments in the game, And they seem to always have Seager in the right position on the field. He catches all the balls that come to him, but he can’t go far for the balls that aren’t hit to him. I guess I’m trying to say I don’t think they should Pay him $300 mil to play short stop.

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    1. Thanks for the shoutout Keith. Hope to be able to contribute more going forward.

      https://www.fangraphs.com/leaders.aspx?pos=ss&stats=fld&lg=all&qual=y&type=1&season=2021&month=0&season1=2021&ind=0&team=0&rost=0&age=0&filter=&players=0&startdate=2021-01-01&enddate=2021-12-31&page=1_20

      Seager. Find him.

      I don’t know that Turner will score any better at short but if he’s there every day I think he has a chance to. As Seager ages he won’t get more agile as a position player. His value is oWAR. No matter where he ends up two things will likely happen. 1. He will hit and 2. he will probably need time off to heal from something. In 7 years with the Dodgers he has played 636 games. All the free agent shortstops hitting the market have played more, some a lot more. It isn’t my money but I don’t think he’s worth $300 million. But then, I don’t know who is worth $300 million.

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      1. I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that none of the free agent shortstops will get a 300 mil contract this winter. They might get a pretty high AAV but I don’t think anyone gets 300 mil.

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  12. Well we will find out soon enough. AF thinks there will be movement this weekend. Me, sign him, don’t sign him. I have no control over it. Not my problem.

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  13. No Dodger shortstop ever has put up the kind of numbers Seager has. Ramirez had one really great year in LA where he hit .345, but he only played in 86 games. That was 2013. He was a .289 career hitter and a disaster with a glove. Seager has the most HR’s in one season by a Dodger shortstop 26, and he hit 22 once. He has hit 50 over the last 3 seasons. He has in reality only had one really great post season and that was last year. Over all he has hit .236 in playoff ball with 13 HR’s tying him with Turner for the most in Dodger history.

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    1. Pee Wee Reese put up better WAR numbers than Seager has, and he missed 3 prime years to military service. Maury Wills put up 5.2 and 6 WAR years and was obviously a better defensive shortstop.

      If Seager can stay on the field for 150 games a year he would no doubt put up HOF numbers. But he’s 28 in April and so far his best years were age 22-23. In 7 seasons he’s been an All Star only twice. Is he the answer at short? I don’t know, but if some team offers him $300 million I think he’s gone. I just don’t see Friedman doing that. We’ve got Trea Turner. He’s the better baseball player.

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      1. I was just confirming that he is paid to hit. Reese was always my favorite Dodger SS. WIlls had other skills. SS today are more like Seager and less like guys like Wills and Ozzie Smith

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      2. That’s true. 6’4” shortstops were hard to find 60 years ago. It’s a different game for sure, but we are looking for pitchers with exceptional spin rate, and with the exception of the four seamer all pitches spin down, the more violently the better. The goal of those pitches is either a swing and miss or a ground ball. You have a pitching staff of high ground ball rate pitchers you want a team of infielders that turn those ground balls into outs. I think DRS is an evolving science but as a former infielder I appreciate nothing more than a slick fielding up the middle defense. I remain old school in in that respect.

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      3. I’m not an ex-infielder, but I too appreciate a slick fielding up the middle defense. Actually I very much appreciate a slick fielding team period.

        As I look at our current infield and up and coming prospects, with the exception of Amaya whom I’m guessing is never going to be a Dodger starter at shortstop, we really have some fairly sad pickings at most of the infield positions. With the exception of Mookie and Belli, we seem to have evolved into an offense first team.

        I wonder how many groundball pitchers think about that when they review offers in their free agency years. It probably factors in slightly but I imagine that money always wins out in the long run.

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  14. In the Trea Turner vs Seager conversation I believe TT’s value to the Dodgers is grossly understated. Here are some statistics of team performance with and without TT. In the 2019 season when TT missed 40 games with a broken finger the Nationals won 16 and lost24 – a .400 win percentage.. When he returned the won 24 and lost 16 of their nest 40 games – a .600 winning percentage. In 2021 before TT the Dodgers won 65 and lost 44 – a .596 win percentage. They proceeded to win 41 and lose 12 of the 53 games with TT – a .774 winning percentage. This cannot be happenstance or coincidence. A 77..4% win percentage is above and beyond. TT’s value cannot be overstated.
    Jim Johnson

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    1. Welcome Jim.
      I happen to be a major TT fan, but I’m not sure that what you are showing in the way of stats isn’t at least partially coincidence. Other factors could have influenced those won-lost records as well. That said, I think he really added a lot to the offense when he got here.

      I do have one question for you. Why do you think your middle name isn’t worthy of being capitalized? 🙂

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      1. Jeff,
        There may be some coincidence involved. For example: Lets remove Scherzer’s 7 wins which would result in a record of 34 wins and 12 losses with TT; and a winning percentage of 73.9% – which would produce 120 wins over 162 games! Still very impressive. As to my middle name not being capitalized – I have no idea why it is not capitalized. Perhaps whoever reprints our comments knows I once had a Doberman name Fred and that somehow diminishes the value of my middle name. JJ

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