Since we are in the holiday season, and the MLB lock out has deprived us of much baseball content, we are going to take a look at a Dodgers wishlist.
Of course, this is all hypothetical since the lockout impedes any big league roster moves, but in a perfect world there is no lockout.
Apart from this, several Dodger coaches have been interviewed for managerial positions, with the new look Mets. Dodgers bench coach Bob Geren and Dodgers first base coach Clayton McCullough are among the candidates.
Once this lockout thing is resolved fans would expect the Dodgers to make a couple moves, as they build out their roster for 2022. The wishlist between fans may be different across the board, of course, because people may want to focus on different players. However , Andrew Friedman has always worked some of his front office magic.
Clayton Kershaw to Return
The biggest threat to the Dodgers retaining the future Hall of Famer appears to be his hometown Texas Rangers. Former Dodger Corey Seager appears to be recruiting him, and there have been many rumors regarding his status. I think most fans could agree that Kershaw is the best pitcher of his generation.
Obviously not what he used to be, he still is a highly effective pitcher. If Kershaw were to walk, it would probably be the most emotional goodbye in recent Dodger history. It is at the point where you can’t imagine Kershaw in another jersey.
Freddie Freeman Inks Deal With L.A.
This one picked up steam over the final days prior to the lockdown. Freeman, a star veteran player, just won the World Series with the Atlanta Braves; however, they still have not brought him back. Many baseball pundits thought Atlanat would be the first guy the Braves brought back.
With the exit of Seager, the arrival of Freeman became much more possible. It could take some shuffling around maybe moving Max Muncy to second base. It had been reported that Freeman was looking at a deal around six years with $180 million, which I thought the Braves would have certainly brought him back at that price tag.
Cody Bellinger Returns to His 2019 MVP Version
This year, Bellinger was riddled by injuries and tough breaks, his strikeout rate was the worst it had been in his career and he only hit .165 on the year, just two seasons removed from his stellar 2019 MVP campaign. He often started due to his defense down the stretch but in the playoffs he actually turned it around and became one of the better hitters in a lackluster Dodger offense. It is tough to see just two seasons removed from his MVP campaign a fall like that.
His WAR stood at -1.5; however, still only 26 years old, Bellinger can definitely turn it around. At this point, the most important thing would be that he starts the season healthy and then goes on from there. He has shown some flashes of that 2019 version and the Rookie of the Year version despite his recent struggles.
What would be on top of the wishlist, though, is for this lockout to end as soon as possible.
Ending the lockout is definitely first on the list. Right behind for me is signing Freeman. As much as I like Kersh, I am not that attached anymore. He wasn’t there last season when we needed him the most. And it has happened way to often over the last few seasons. He has been away more than he has been around. I was glad he got his ring, I thought he should have retired after that. Every year he pitches, a little luster comes off of the pearl. The other thing I wish for is the Bauer situation to be clarified. If he is gone, the sooner the better so AF can go get another starter if needed. Either sign Rondon or trade for one. Scherzer came out and admitted he did not like the way the Dodgers handled him while he was here. I for one am glad he is gone. They got him a lot closer to winning a series again than San Diego would have. Ungrateful dog. Kasten says the Dodgers will honor Gil Hodges in 22. Provided MLB and the MLBPA get off of their butts and get an agreement. Retiring # 14 is probably on the agenda since every Dodger star who is in the hall and spent a significant part of their career in LA has their number retired. Only non hall member with a retired number is Jim Gilliam. So do not expect them to retire Fernando’s any time soon. If they ever do, it will be because of his impact on the team and it’s fan base because his career numbers are not hall worthy and I doubt he ever gets elected unless it is as a broadcaster. What I do know is that no one has worn # 34 since he retired. So it is semi retired. As for how emotional a good bye it would be if Kersh goes to Texas, not so much for me. It was much harder on me when they sold Snider to the Mets, and when Koufax retired. If a player leaves as a free agent, I am not that sad about it. They left of their own accord. Dodger Stadium will host it’s first ever comedy concert in May. Gilbert Iglesias is going to perform there.
I agree Bear. Kershaw has not been as dominating a pitcher for years. I am very glad he won a ring. If I could give him a suggestion it would be to take a deal from Texas and let his family see him pitch regularly and spend time with his family. You never know how much time you have.
I too want the MLB to make a decision on Bauer until then the Dodger rotation and a part of their budget is in limbo.
It’s difficult to believe Atlanta would let Freeman go over an additional year. He would be an amazing pick-up if it happened but I still think the odds are against it.
If Bellinger takes the same hitting strategy he used in the payoffs to the 2022 season he will have a great year.
I believe Lux turned a corner also and will be a solid contributor. I think the Dodgers might bring Miller up although he is probably a year away.
We have to get over Bauer. Assume he’ll be back. We need 2 starters no matter what. 3 if he doesn’t come back. Easy Andrew. Do your job. This is his mess to clean up. Nothing on the farm. Clean it up. No depth. Clean it up. Your mess
Well just prior to the lockout, there was a lot of chatter about Atlanta balking at that sixth year. So LA entered the picture. I am not so sure the Braves want him back. They kicked the tires on Rizzo, who would be cheaper and less years. As for Bellinger, I am not worried about him at all. He is a new daddy, and he looked so much better at the end of the season and was one of the few guys who had a decent playoffs. As for Lux, I am not sold on him yet. He looked better after his stint in the minors, but it did not carry over into the playoffs. Too many times he sits there and looks at two strikes.
Lux does look at strike three more than average. I still think he will be an all-around solid player.
They have to sign Turner or they lose the trade to the Nationals as far as value. So we will see. I agree Seager was out more than 40% of the time and the Dodgers continued to win and that was before T Turner. If Bellinger is able to hit which I think he will the offense will be fine. Especially if there is a DH.
I continue to think Bauer will be back. If so the Dodgers will need to pick up a starter but I still think they will bring up a Farm player or two. Fun to speculate. There are plenty of free agents that can give the Dodger bench some depth. The Fam kids are a year or two out.
Andrew has got to sign some kind of a hitter to make up for the loss of Cory’s bat.(Not Correa)
For all of us fans, that never got to watch Sandy pitch, Kershaw is our Koufax, so it’s hard for me to picture him in anything but a Dodgers uniform, hope it never happens, but I know I’m speaking from my heart not my head.
He doesn’t have to sign a hitter. He might sign one, Freeman is my prefernce. But remember, Seager missed a lot of time. As much as I liked Corey, I am not going to miss him as long as Turner is the SS. I think his loss will be felt more if Turner does not sign a long term deal.
Gentlemen please have a look at our outfield. Pollock who is fragile, Mookie and his hip, Bellinger well I hope back to his form. So if anyone of our outfielders go down other then CT3 what else do we have and please don’t tell me Lux&Beaty
Mookie says his hip is fine, Pollock has been relatively healthy the last two seasons and has been one of their better hitters. It is a full two months before spring training is supposed to start. There are a TON of MLB caliber outfielders who are free agents, including Joc and Soler. Belli will be fine, everyone forgets he is still just 26 years old. Outfield is much less of a worry than the starting rotation. And Beaty might not be a great outfielder, but the guy can hit period.
Lux showed he had the talent and attitude to play the OF. Beaty not so much. There are several free agents out there that can play. I really like what I have read about Suzuki. He could be the fourth outfielder and acclimate to the MLB until 2023 when Pollock probably leaves. 2023 should bring the Dodgers several very impressive position Farm guys in Pages, Outman, Vargas, and others. Kasten teams use their Farm guys to sill holes and save money that is why he spends so much money on having one of the finest Farm organizations.
Sorry, Lux is not an outfielder. He made two of the worst attempts to catch balls out there I have ever seen. I do not see the outfield in his future unless he plays there exclusively in spring, and that ain’t happening because they are going to stick him at second unless they sign another infielder. Suzuki is not even mentioned in the same breath with the Dodgers. Most think he is going to the Yanks or Red Sox. He is a corner outfielder, but let me tell you what I think of first year Japanese imports. One word, Tsutsugo. Japanese stars do not always do very well in the Majors, especially the hitters.
If you’re going to talk about Japanese ballplayer failures, pick another example. He stunk up the joint when he was here, but that was 25 at bats.
Once he got to Pittsburgh, these were his stats in 127 at bats:
.268/.347/.535/.883 with 8 homers and 25 RBI
We fixed him and then handed him off to the Pirates. We absolutely could have used him here after his time at OKC instead of the guys we brought up instead of him.
Lux is younger than Andre Jackson and Ryan Pepiot and the same age as Michael Busch and Clayton Beeter. In 532 at bats, basically a full season, he’s already put up 2.8 WAR. I believe by the time he’s 26 he could very well be an All Star. He’s hit well at every level and is an excellent defender. He and Turner up the middle are going to be fun to watch next year.
I’m not worried about our outfield.
I’m with bear, Freeman would be at the top of my Xmas wish list, then a starting pitcher.
I agree Freeman would be ideal, but how likely is he to sign anywhere but Atlanta? There are a ton of free-agent outfielders available. While I agree that Lux will probably play second I still think with some experience he can play the outfield. Some people are incredibly negative.
But the Bauer thing has to get resolved along with the CBA obviously before decisions are made.
T did you watch any of the games when he played the outfield? He looked totally uncomfortable. Now I am not being negative, I am being realistic. I would not even consider him to play out there unless he had a whole hell of a lot more reps in the spring than he did in the minors before returning. He doesn’t get good jumps on the ball at this point in time, and I question the whole experiment. Just like I thought moving Joc to first was a blunder.
Far from being negative, I am more of a what have you done lately guy. Lux has talent. He has proved that at every level except in the bigs. He has shown flashes, but he also has some huge holes in his game still. I watched every game he played in the outfield at the end of the season, and he had problems making the routine plays. I think he is a middle infielder and that is where he belongs.
Yep negative!!
In my last year in the Air Force, I was training new guys to take over my job, in my civilian jobs of 45 years, I trained lots of guys on big computer systems and electro-mechanical equipment. Do you know what is the most important thing needed to train someone to learn a skill? Attitude.
If a guy wants to learn and has the skills in the case of a baseball outfielder it’s speed, hand-to-eye coordination, and a good arm. Lux has all of those attributes. He just doesn’t have the experience! For you to decide on your own that he can’t play because you say so is rather arrogant.
Lux has all of the natural skills he just needs experience. Lux was thrown out there because the Dodgers lacked any players in their minor league system capable of playing the outfield and hitting the ball. Hopefully, they address that with a couple of free agents. I think it’s interesting you gave Bellinger all sorts of rope but will not give Lux the benefit of the doubt!
Observation my dear boy, not arrogance. I think one of the biggest mistakes a team can make is to stick a guy where he is uncomfortable in the middle of a pennant race. And they did that with Lux. It cost them a couple of times. Learning an on the job skill is a hell of a lot different than playing baseball. Now if he has a full spring and plays the outfield every day, then maybe he could be a decent outfielder. But he is not going to be out there every day. Especially with the second base job his to take, unless they sign Freeman and move Max to second, because he sucks at third. And Max being ready for the season is iffy right now with his elbow healing so slowly. The outfield is the least of their worries.
Yeah I gave Belli a lot more room to improve. Why? Simple, he has proved he can play either position at a gold glove level. As for his hitting, I always believed and still do that the shoulder surgery, and missing most of spring, then breaking his leg was a major reason for his struggles. You add to that his mechanics and approach being what they were, well, it figured he was going to have a rough time. But Bellinger is an established MLB player. ROY and MVP. He was an MVP in the NLCS once too. Lux is not going to be the same type of player. He is a far better infielder than outfielder at this point. Don’t get me wrong, I like the kid. But moving him to the outfield at the end of the year, bad timing and bad idea.
Look at it this way T. We are never going to agree about this. I think Lux needs to stay where he is. That is his strongest position. He may have the skills required to eventually play the outfield. But I think it is a waste of talent to stick him out there. And I also doubt he has the kind of power you want from your outfielder. 15-20 guy at best.
If they pick up a first baseman and Muncy is able to play second they will probably use Lux much like Taylor. Lux is one of the top 3-4 fastest guys on the team. He can play the outfield as he has the speed. We disagree and that is fine. I disagree that training is not the same. The most important part of learning ANY skill is attitude. It’s the same in life. I see so many men that are negative about everything! We only have one life why be negative? Our outlook on life is completely different. You say WHY? and I say Why not? Its all about Attitude…
At my age, I ain’t changing. You think it is negative, fine, I think it is because I do not look at everything through rose colored glasses and I don’t care how much skill he has, he has still not proven anything at the major league level. He has less than a full season under his belt. Until he does it for a season or so, he is still a prospect. And all prospects are suspect.
Walker Buehler is getting married this weekend. Good luck to the kid and his new missus.
Some exe Dodgers attending Buehler’s wedding today, including David Freese, Kike, Seager, and Logan Forsythe.
Lux is a shortstop. Everyone knows the shortstop is the best athlete on the field.
Ok, maybe its a stretch to say that about MLB players but I have little doubt if he got the practice in early Lux would be an outstanding outfielder. If you get drafted and play professionally as a shortstop you sure as hell can learn to play left field. He has played 134 innings in the outfield with no errors and 1 assist. I don’t think I want him out there, but he’s athletic enough he could, with the right attitude, become another Taylor and play all over the place.
All that said he’s my second baseman and as such the range factor of our up the middle defense is off the charts. Ok, it actually can be charted and Lux, Turner and Bellinger would be at the top of that chart.
Have I mentioned it’s going to be a long winter?
A very long winter. Lux and T Turner at second and SS with Bellinger in CF the Dodgers will have the best defense up the middle they have had in a while. Smith has made himself into a solid defensive catcher also. The 2022 team should be significantly better defensively which was an issue last year. Betts, Pollock, and Bellinger are a very fast efficient outfield. The Dodgers need to find a free agent or two that can play well and HIT!