I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and a good start to the Holiday Season. As we inch closer to that December CBA deadline, the Dodger player market has been stagnant.
Recently, the Dodgers signed right-handed pitcher Beau Burrows as he announced on his Twitter page. Burrows made his debut with the Detroit Tigers in 2020 and was most recently with the Minnesota Twins. He is a former first-round pick and is only 25 years old.
The Dodgers also signed outfielder Jason Martin to a Minor League deal; he has spent time at the Major League level with the Pittsburgh Pirates and most recently with the Texas Rangers. The left-handed-hitting Martin is only 26 years old.
Other than that, it has been relatively quiet coming from the Dodger camp other than reports that the Dodgers are aggressively looking to bring back Corey Seager.
Since today happens to be Black Friday, we will be taking a look at what players could return to the Dodgers on team-friendly deals with hometown discounts.
Kenley Jansen
This may be an unpopular opinion, but I haven’t heard much regarding the market surrounding Jansen, and it is hard to imagine him in a different uniform. He has the most saves in the Dodger franchise shirt, and obviously, he is nearing the end of his career. Maybe one team swoops in and offers Jansen big closer money due to the 2021 campaign he had, but ultimately I can see Jansen ending his career in L.A.
Joe Kelly
Kelly has been a big piece of the bullpen the past couple of years and has grown to be a fan favorite. Kelly went down in the playoffs with an arm injury effectively ending his 2021 campaign; but he is expected to be ready before the 2022 season. There have been reports that the Dodgers are looking to bring him back, but nothing yet is immediate due to his injury. The Dodgers declined Kelly’s $12 million option, but the reliever could potentially return for much less. I’d expect for him to resign maybe closer to Spring Training on a one-year deal.
Albert Pujols
This one may be quite obvious, but Pujols joined the Dodgers after being released from the Angels in the earlier part of the season. Pujols may be entering the final season of his career, if he does decide to return. However, he currently is playing winter ball so signs indicate he is returning. The Dodgers could decide to bring him back on a veteran minimum deal to provide a power bat off the bench. Pujols had some nice moments in the season, so having him another year before he can potentially call it quits could be a nice addition.
The rest of the free agents, like Kershaw, Scherzer and Taylor, will have bigger contracts and garner higher demands across the league if the agreement ever gets settled. Right now it is just a waiting game, to see when the dominoes fall.
Regarding the three players you mentioned, Jose:
1) Jansen – I was very ready to send him on his way before the latter half of the season last year. Now I very much hope he returns. The addition of a couple of new pitches he mixed into his pitch selection made a big difference. I really don’t want Treinen to be used as the closer. I think he’s much more valuable being used as he has been, that being whenever the need is the greatest, not necessarily at the end of the game.
2) Kelly – I think someone out there will give him 2 years, but I also think he really enjoyed his time pitching at home and might give AF a slight discount. Hope he’s back.
3) Tio Albert – he contributed a lot last year, probably even more off the field than on. If the rosters stay at 26 I don’t think we can afford to keep him. He’s a year older and a year slower (if that’s possible). I’d love to see him spend his last year in a Cards uniform but I would also love to see the Dodgers find a way to have him come back in a coaching role after he retires. if, by some chance, AF signs him for another year, it’s because he thinks he can contribute and if that’s the case, I’ll bow to Andrew’s judgment.
I feel the same I think Pujols added almost as much on the field as he did off the field. Pujols was a very effective right-handed contributor off the bench. It would be great to bring back Tio Pujols especially if there is a DH.
I was ready to have them drop Jansen and strangle Roberts last year. Jansen finally listened to the coaches started throwing two other pitches and found some control. I hope they re-sign him.
Kelly has been entertaining but a bust. If there is a choice I would sign Knebel instead. I do not think they need to sign either guy as they have some young arms that need to come up and get some MLB experience. If they sign Jansen they will also have Treinen, Graterol, Vesia, Bickford, Phillips, Gonzalez, and the young guys they brought up at the end of the year. Plus Kahnle should be ready along with Gonzalez. Ferguson is slated for 2022 also.
We just can’t know what the periphery of this roster will look like until the CBA is dealt with and the free agent dust settles.
We have a few DH possibilities already under contact. I sure would like to know if Rios is 100%. If he is he and Turner can take turns at third. Is McKinstry the real deal? He sure looked like before last year. Let he and Pollock take turns. We gonna sign Suzuki?
Sure is quiet on all fronts.
I we sign Suzuki, what happens to our three starting outfielders? Mookie to second base? Belli to first base or traded? Pollock traded?
With all the money he needs to spend on other stuff I just don’t see AF signing Suzuki. Someone will want/need him more than we do.
As we all have said waiting for the Bauer situation to resolve plus the CBA. And that is going to be a long-drawn-out fight. If Seager signs before Dec 1 that will clarify things a lot. Sounds like Taylor has several suitors waiving money and contract length. Bear might be right and someone gives Taylor too long and $$$ of a deal and the Dodgers decide not to match it. We are all waiting for the Bauer decision. Dodgers are handcuffed with a huge payout to Bauer for 2022 sitting on the books. The opening salvos for the CBA do not sound promising for a quick deal.
I don’t believe we will sign Suzuki, but we could and he would be a great fit here. He’s a Gold Glove outfielder, obviously can hit and you make room for guys like that.
Too early to know what changes might be made but if it’s me in the chair I chase down starting pitching first.
Other than trying to get Corey back here (if that’s actually what AF wants to do), I’m sure that starting pitching is right at the top of the list.
Astros are signing Neris for 2/17. That might drive up the reliever prices. I would think Knebel could at least match that and I doubt AF will pay that, unless he’d like to make Knebel our new closer and wave good-bye to Kenley.
Scherzer, Kershaw, Bauer. Who’s in who’s out?
Kershaw – I think that one’s going to need some more time. CK needs to decide what condition his arm is in and then that needs to be verified by a doctor or two. Probably too soon to make a decision.
Scherzer/Bauer – only room for one. I’m sure AF would prefer Max but Scherzer isn’t going to wait forever to get a decision from the D.A. and Manfred. Since the agreement says that MLB can act independently of any actual legal charges, it’s absolutely ridiculous that Manfred hasn’t made a ruling yet. I wonder if the expiration of the CBA would also mean that Manfred couldn’t take any action until a new one was negotiated. That would be a real mess.
Mariners trade with Padres for Frazier, Canha, Escobar and Marte all signed with the Mets. Wacha signs a deal with the BoSox. I doubt they re-sign Pujols. I loved having him on the team and his hugs after HR’s were epic. But he was effective mainly against lefty’s and I do not think he would get as many opportunities as he did last season. Bring KJ back on a short term deal, Kelly, meh…..Bauer still the elephant in the room until unmanly Manfred makes a frippen decision.
I think Jansen and Kershaw are back on friendly deals both a couple of years. Bear as I wrote earlier you may be right on Taylor being too expensive. Sounds like the Dodgers are going hard for Seager who before the end of the year I thought was gone for certain.
Yep, we are all waiting for Manfred to flip his management coin and make a bad decision.
Manfred is a tool. And not a very good one at that. He and Clark rarely agree on anything. I have to believe a lockout is coming, Manfred makes no decision on Bauer until the CBA is finalized handcuffing the Dodgers even more.
We don’t know for sure that Manfred won’t make a Bauer decision until the new CBA is finalized but what I’d like to know is whether or not he is actually allowed to make a decision while they are still negotiating the new agreement. I’m guessing he can’t make any player-related rulings while there is no agreement.
Maybe that means he’ll make a ruling between now and Wednesday.
And maybe the D’backs will win the World Series next year.
Yep Dbacks win in 2022!!
Just my opinion. I do not think Bauer is anywhere near the top of his to do list.
Maybe not the top but he’s on the list. That’s a lot of money going out the door.
If you could sign only one of our free agents, and sign only one that’s out there, who would those 2 players be?
Do we have to consider money?
Nope
Ours – Scherzer. Our starting staff is decimated at this point. Only two guys we can rely on. He’s the best option out there, although he’s a TJ just waiting to happen.
Out there – Semien, assuming we haven’t signed Seager. Trea moves to short, Semien plays second, Lux plays some infield and some outfield. Next year if Trea leaves, Lux and Semien are the middle infielders.
If Corey returns, we still need pitching so I might be tempted to bundle Trea and something else for pitching. Problem is that the Reds and A’s (the teams with the most tradeable pitching) have no use for a high priced player with one year of control remaining.
That’s weird. I picked the same two.
Great minds think alike!………………………………….and then there’s the two of us.
I assume you’re speaking about Manfred and not Andrew’s list?
Actually, I think Bauer is at the very top of Manfred’s “I’d like to ignore this” list.
That needs to be dealt with. As Bear mentioned, that elephant has taken a dump in the middle of the room and somebody has to clean it up. Are charges ever going to be filed? If not, let’s move on.
It doesn’t matter if charges are going to be filed. Manfred can act independently of that decision, or at least he can under the current CBA. But if he doesn’t do it in the next 3-4 days, does anyone know the answer to my earlier question? Can he take any action when there is no active CBA?
I think it does matter. Well, it may matter more if charges are NOT filed. So far he’s not guilty of anything. If that remains true, why can’t he pitch?
What I meant to say is that Manfred can act independently of what the D.A. does so if he wants to he can suspend him even without charges being filed, just for being a bad citizen. And if he used a trash can lid while he was doing it, he definitely gets off without a penalty.
Yep
Not sure what AF is thinking
Bad citizen. Interesting take. He’s an odd one, has some out of the mainstream habits, but the judge who ruled on the restraining order didn’t seem to think he was a threat to society. She looked at the same way I’ve come see it. You two are weird, but it was consensual and none of my business.
I have no idea how the wording reads in the CBA and if it will be the same in the new one. I also think there’s a good chance he sues if they try to suspend him without any charges being brought first by the D.A.
Could be that Andrew is hoping that he can bring him back and issue a “my hands are tied” statement.
Politics – baseball style.
Yimi Garcia signs with the Jays. Gausman expected to sign in the next couple of days. Dodgers do not seem to be a destination.
Not yet. When our free agents decide where they will play, if it ain’t here, obviously there will be some job openings. Hard to read a lot of this. Scherzer and Kershaw have options elsewhere that would make sense on some levels, but staying here makes the most sense for both of them as far as I’m concerned. It’s not about money with those two. For Seager and Taylor it might be. It’s possible nothing big happens until next year.
As I have suggested earlier in Nov I think Bauer is back next year and the Dodgers use “Our hands are tied” to deflect any criticism. Bauer is owed a ton of money so much (its 45M?) it distorts their budget. I can’t see how they sign Scherzer or any other pitcher for big $. Especially as the amount before penalties in the CBA next year is up in the air. I am positive the Players want the amount higher and a minimum for smaller markets as several have been deliberately tanking. It will be one of the big points of contention as it’s wrapped up in draft picks and compensation picks etc.
Read an article that the reason the Dodgers sent Beaty down last year was for him to not qualify for arbitration. He is short be one day…
I can’t believe the Dodgers would be so small minded as to do that to Beaty. Not to save that small amount of money. If they had five reasons for doing it, that would have been number five, not number one.
They lost the division by one game which totally screwed up their home team advantage for the playoffs. Winning the NLCS and the WS would have made them umpteen times more money than the little bit they would have gained by keeping Beaty away from arbitration. And a normally functioning Matt Beaty would certainly have been of more use to the team than the scrubs who ultimately replaced him while he was in OKC.
For those of you who subscribe to The Athletic, I highly recommend an article by Evan Drellich about Bruce Myer. He’s the guy the players have hired to be their chief negotiator on the new CBA. Sounds like a major improvement over Tony Clark, who has stepped back on this to concentrate on other stuff for which he’s better suited. The owners do not like Myer because he’s very good at what he does. He’s a Marvin Miller disciple which should tell you all you need to know about him.
Scherzer said he will make his decision BEFORE the CBA expires. He is also on the MLBPA executive committee. He said unless significant changes are made in how young players are paid, he won’t sign any document. That seems to be one of their main focus’s in these negotiations. They are scheduled to meet over the next couple of days.
Rays are signing Kluber to a one year deal.