2015/16 Offseason: More active than Shakira's hips

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Joelsherman1/status/681590639545417728[/tweet]

[Quake Griffin]

I always thought it could have worked that way. I didn't see the big deal in keeping Kenley the closer. Not sure why he signified (if he did) either. He should have acted like he knew he was the best, not cried and got distraught over it.

We still have a problem. That is, the Astros completely destroyed the market for bullpen arms.
Holy hell they paid a lot for Giles. I'm not sure the Dodgers can meet anybody's price for bullpen arms, particularly given how teams deal with us:

"Urias or nothing."

im kidding but kinda srs.

[Ranma]

I think we have a lot of capable bullpen arms in the minors. The problem is that we're trying to develop them as starters first. Jharel Cotton, Frankie Montas, Grant Holmes, Chris Anderson, Jeff Sborz, Jacob Rhame, and maybe Ross Stripling all would be much closer, if not already on the cusp, to being major-league ready if the organization was committed to making them relievers. I can understand giving Montas and Holmes more time to see what they got as starters since the payoff would be much more significant, but I see most everyone else ultimately as relief pitchers with the exception of Stripling who has the upside of a #4 starter but isn't really promising in either role.

The two relief pitchers I want this off-season are Jake McGee and Seung-Hwan Oh. The price for McGee is likely prohibitive at this point but Tampa Bay will have to move him either now or by the trade deadline, so we'll have to wait out the Rays on him. If Oh clears all the legal hurdles to be available as a free agent in the U.S., then the Dodgers should be all over him without having to break the bank.

Having said that, I'm not really worried about our bullpen as it stands even if Yimi Garcia and his family were recently involved in a car accident but came away unharmed.

• Kenley Jansen
• Chris Hatcher
• Yimi Garcia
• Luis Avilan
• J.P. Howell
• Pedro Baez
• Adam Liberatore

A few other possibilities also include:

• Mike Bolsinger
• Carlos Frias
• Josh Ravin

[Quake Griffin]

Is there a problem with doing that? Like does it force them to try and work on more pitches (3) than they need (2)?

Looks like the Cards were developing Wainwright and Car Mart as starters and then brought them along with bullpen work in the majors before unleashing them as starters….they seemed VERY reluctant to do that with Car Mart until Wainwright tore his achilles.

Montas seems like prime pickins to come and shut it down out of the bullpen man.
high heat and a plus slider. You gotta be a sick **** to torcher fans like that and not let him shut down our 7ths or 8ths this year.





_____________________
Once I get over the fact that we haven't really made a move and I really begin to look at our roster, my outlook isn't really as bleak as our lack of offseason moves makes it seem. Somewhere early in this thread, I mentioned that I wouldn't mind looking for options from within. Somewhere along the way, I discarded that when seeing all the offseason moves and now I'm just calming down and seeing the bright side of this roster (you did see me post a Puig workout video right?).


However, I've stayed steadfast on Ethier since you made me aware of his 10:5 rights.
But most importantly and to my shock, I thought this group would lay it all out there to bring in a Sale, Carrasco, or Archer. I thought they got their cost controlled guy in Wood…but I thought they'd lay it all on the line for an arm that's under a great contract for a long time….and I thought they'd do that for a number of reasons:

1) Top flight cost controlled pitchers eventually will start to cost…thinking Sonny Gray here.
2) The cost controlled pitchers we'd look for aren't under control as long as Sale, Carrasco and Archer are under contract (well Danny Salazaar is…Fernandez isn't. Gray isn't)
3) Sale, Carrasco, and Archer make Clayton Kershaw's opt out in 2018 a walk in the park.
4) I'm being the optimist: Julio Urias should be up around that time. That guy has Super Two potential.
5) We blew the international market out of the water in 2015. We can again in 2018.


I strongly disagree with Ken Rosenthal on Cole Hamels for the Dodgers. It's a short sighted and very narrow minded approach. The smart GM can see Kershaw's opt out year coming in 2018 and knows the smarter play is to be prepared for that rather than trading for a 32 year old pitcher who's last year with the team more than likely will be Kershaw's opt out year (Hamels has a team option for 2019). To me that's where Friedman and Zaidi's money is going to be made. At the very least, if they're going to walk away from Kershaw, I'd like to see it done from a position of strength. However, it'd sure be great to say, "hey our #2 is only making $12 million next year. Come on Kersh. Here's a big fat extension to finish your career here as a Dodger."


Cliffs:
- rant.
- get to it when you have the time to read it.

[Quake Griffin]

side note:

I like the competition at 2nd Base.
****, Micah and hopefully they let Barnes fight for IF time there as well.

I really want to see Barnes get a shot this year and I don't want to zap what he may have in his legs by squatting him the entire time. He might just be alright at 2B.

Part of the reason I think the FO is so comfortable this offseason is because I think they're content with their hauls in both deals last winter.

**** and Barnes are under control until 2021 and 2022 I believe.
Grandal
Hatcher

[Ranma]

Is there a problem with doing that? Like does it force them to try and work on more pitches (3) than they need (2)?

Looks like the Cards were developing Wainwright and Car Mart as starters and then brought them along with bullpen work in the majors before unleashing them as starters….they seemed VERY reluctant to do that with Car Mart until Wainwright tore his achilles.

Montas seems like prime pickins to come and shut it down out of the bullpen man.
high heat and a plus slider. You gotta be a sick **** to torcher fans like that and not let him shut down our 7ths or 8ths this year.

No, there isn't really a problem with that other than my own personal impatience. I used to think otherwise until I heard the front office's rational about stretching out pitchers this winter. This approach does make sense since, like you said, it enables pitchers to develop more pitches for their repertoire of offerings. Plus, a young, cost-controlled starting pitcher is obviously more valuable than a relief arm. Incidentally, I always thought an Eric Gagne type of pitcher--without the PEDs--would make the ideal closer as someone with great command of at least two other pitches to go along with an intimidating fastball, so I can't really argue against the current approach in developing our pitching prospects.

Having said that, there have been occasions where it hasn't served us well. Chris Reed, for example, was a polished closer out of Stanford who many projected to being fast-tracked in order to contribute to a major league bullpen. The Dodgers shouldn't have taken him in the first-round (16th overall in 2011, two spots after Jose Fernandez but two spots before Sonny Gray), but that's another McCourt cheap-out story. The Dodgers tried to develop Reed as a starter but it didn't take after a few years of trying. However, when we tried to convert him back to a relief pitcher, he lost the sharpness of his formerly special slider and his fastball lost some life as well.

As you know, pitchers typically are able to pitch at a higher velocity as a reliever than as a starter, so in this case, it seemed like we took what made him special and then lost it in trying to turn him into something he wasn't. Below are his MLB prospect profiles from 2013 through 2015. Notice in the descriptions that his fastball was once at 96 mph as a collegiate reliever presumably with potential for a higher velocity before peaking at 94 mph as a professional starter and going downhill since. He went from a fast-track candidate as a relief pitcher to a starter with his ETA continually being pushed back before returning to bullpen duty.

Even if the Dodgers reached for him in the draft, he was still a top-5 prospect in the Dodgers' system at one point before becoming 26th in the Marlins' pipeline. While these cases are probably not that frequent and the upside is generally worth the risks, Chris Reed serves as a cautionary tale that development of pitchers cannot be taken for granted where those who fail as starters can easily be converted to relievers. This is primarily why I get anxious in "wasting time" developing those pitchers I personally project to ultimately be relievers.

2013

2014

2015

Once I get over the fact that we haven't really made a move and I really begin to look at our roster, my outlook isn't really as bleak as our lack of offseason moves makes it seem. Somewhere early in this thread, I mentioned that I wouldn't mind looking for options from within. Somewhere along the way, I discarded that when seeing all the offseason moves and now I'm just calming down and seeing the bright side of this roster (you did see me post a Puig workout video right?).

Yeah, I saw the Puig videos. Thanks. Those videos and the overblown nature of his domestic violence incident has me more optimistic about him now. I actually think there is a part of him that wants to prove he's better than he has been and show that he is the best Cuban baseball player in the game today after seeing the attention Yoenis Cespedes is getting and in light of his return to Cuba during the goodwill tour. I suspect there will still be the immaturity and discipline issues that have to be dealt with, but there is more hope for a bounce-back season from him in the early going.

However, I've stayed steadfast on Ethier since you made me aware of his 10:5 rights.
But most importantly and to my shock, I thought this group would lay it all out there to bring in a Sale, Carrasco, or Archer. I thought they got their cost controlled guy in Wood…but I thought they'd lay it all on the line for an arm that's under a great contract for a long time….and I thought they'd do that for a number of reasons:

1) Top flight cost controlled pitchers eventually will start to cost…thinking Sonny Gray here.
2) The cost controlled pitchers we'd look for aren't under control as long as Sale, Carrasco and Archer are under contract (well Danny Salazaar is…Fernandez isn't. Gray isn't)
3) Sale, Carrasco, and Archer make Clayton Kershaw's opt out in 2018 a walk in the park.
4) I'm being the optimist: Julio Urias should be up around that time. That guy has Super Two potential.
5) We blew the international market out of the water in 2015. We can again in 2018.

While I also think things are not that bleak for us overall, it's been unquestionably a disappointing off-season thus far. We've failed to acquire and even retain players of significance to help our team for 2016 with our divisional rivals making notable upgrades. This has been primarily due to the exorbitant asking prices on the free-agent and trade markets. The loss of Aroldis Chapman and passing on Todd Frazier were both understandable but frustrating, nonetheless.

I'm definitely glad we didn't hitch ourselves to bad long-term contracts and also still looking forward to dealing at least one of our superfluous outfielders. I'm particularly satisfied that we didn't grossly overpay in prospects for pitching like the Diamondbacks and Astros have done. This all leaves us in a great position to pounce on a great deal whether it is a free-agent signing or trade for a young stud pitcher when one becomes available at a more reasonable cost. The starting rotation after Clayton Kershaw is certainly an area of concern, but something that doesn't need to be rushed at the moment given the limited options currently available.

We're certainly going to be the big man on campus in the free agency dance of 2018 and there is still a decent possibility for groundbreaking developments to take place in Cuba during the current international signing period. We also have the draft to look forward to as well.

Our front office has shown that it is doing its due diligence in pursuing possibilities. We're bound to hit on something eventually before the season starts. Even if we don't get something done before Opening Day, we can always assess and re-evaluate our situation before making an in-season trade. Who knows? Maybe another one of our young players will take an unexpected leap in development in helping the big club. There seems to be opportunities for that to happen.

I strongly disagree with Ken Rosenthal on Cole Hamels for the Dodgers. It's a short sighted and very narrow minded approach. The smart GM can see Kershaw's opt out year coming in 2018 and knows the smarter play is to be prepared for that rather than trading for a 32 year old pitcher who's last year with the team more than likely will be Kershaw's opt out year (Hamels has a team option for 2019). To me that's where Friedman and Zaidi's money is going to be made. At the very least, if they're going to walk away from Kershaw, I'd like to see it done from a position of strength. However, it'd sure be great to say, "hey our #2 is only making $12 million next year. Come on Kersh. Here's a big fat extension to finish your career here as a Dodger."

You know I agree with you about how overblown the Cole Hamels option was for the Dodgers. Sure he would've helped, but it was cost prohibitive to acquire him, so I never regretted not getting him. Like you said, he wouldn't have been part of the future for us, anyway. Speaking of which, I'm confidently optimistic that Kershaw will be a Dodger for life even with his opt-out. I don't want to even entertain the notion of another scenario.

[Ranma]

I like the competition at 2nd Base.
****, Micah and hopefully they let Barnes fight for IF time there as well.

I really want to see Barnes get a shot this year and I don't want to zap what he may have in his legs by squatting him the entire time. He might just be alright at 2B.

I'm still not sold on Micah Johnson outside of being a pinch hitter and runner, but he supposedly has good makeup, so I'm open to him winning me over if he can significantly improve his defense as well as make some noise with his bat and on the basepaths. It wouldn't take too much for me to root for someone who can inject some speed into our lineup.

Having said that, I'm okay with the **** and Utley platoon at 2B, but I do like your idea of Austin Barnes getting a shot there. I'd love to give him every chance to win a spot on the roster wherever that may be. If he wins the job as the Dodgers' regular second-baseman, all the better.

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/BillShaikin/status/682314034297868289[/tweet]
It sounds like the organization expects **** Hernandez and Chase Utley to handle 2B for 2016. Micah Johnson may take a leap in development to squeeze his way in there, but I have my doubts. Austin Barnes is the darkhorse in my opinion as I feel he deserves a spot on the roster regardless.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/jphoornstra/status/682314376683077633[/tweet]
I don't really get why the Dodgers deferred money either as it only saves us about $1 million annually in luxury tax calculations for every year Scott Kazmir plays under the new contract due to the aforementioned real-value devaluation. The front office must have its reasons. I'll also re-iterate that this signing does set us up to make moves either to get help from the outside and/or make internal adjustments. Alex Wood, Grant Holmes, and Frankie Montas are three young pitchers close to MLB readiness who would appeal to quite a lot of teams. If Chris Sale, Jose Fernandez, Chris Archer, or Sonny Gray were to be made available at any point next year, Jose De Leon could also be thrown in the mix for consideration.

Acquiring Kazmir also provides us with more leverage in the negotiations with Kenta Maeda. Despite his impressive accomplishments in NPB, he's still an unproven MLB quantity so he should get much less than Kazmir's AAV. A rival team may step up and sign him to a contract for big money and term, but the Dodgers are still seen as the front-runners with little incentive to budge at this point. If he can't come to an agreement by January 8th, he goes back to Japan and can try again next year without having the posting fee attached to his free-agent status.

While we could use another bullpen arm or two with Jake McGee and Seung-Hwan Oh as my previously-mentioned preferred targets, another option could be just to use Wood in the role rather than packaging him and other prospects for McGee. I think I've mentioned this before, but Wood should do well in the bullpen given his funky delivery as an in-game advantage and ability to increase his velocity as a relief arm. He typically does well going against the opposing lineup the 1st and 2nd times through the order before struggling through the 3rd, which illustrates his effectiveness from limited exposure. However, he's still young enough to develop further and there'd be concerns about squandering his trade value if he isn't a starter, but relief pitchers are becoming more valuable. It's something to consider, especially if we acquire another starting pitcher by signing Maeda or trading for another one.

In any case, both De Leon and Julio Urias are expected to make contributions by 2017, if not 2016, so we're not only poised to make deals for young, cost-controlled talent outside of the organization but close to ready to promote such talent from within as well. Also, just as I anticipate Zack Greinke's numbers to dip by playing in Chase Field, Kazmir should benefit from the friendly confines at Chavez Ravine.


ESPN Stats & Information (12/30/15)

Each of the three left-handed starters who had a better Adjusted ERA than Kazmir finished in the top three of his respective league’s Cy Young voting. Kazmir’s Adjusted ERA would have ranked second among National League left-handed starters last season.
...

Kazmir has made at least 30 starts in back-to-back years, the first time he has had such a streak.

Among left-handed starters the past three seasons:

• He has a better strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.1) than Francisco Liriano
• He has a lower ERA (3.54) than Gio Gonzalez
• He has made more starts (92) than Chris Sale
• He has allowed opponents to hit for a lower batting average (.245) than Dallas Keuchel

Last season with the Athletics and the Astros, Kazmir had a career-best 3.10 ERA. He would have ranked third in ERA on the Dodgers behind Zack Greinke (who has since signed with the Diamondbacks) and Kershaw.

Kazmir's Numbers Compare to Those of Baseball's Best Left-Handed Starters

[Neddy]

with what has happened with the gambling scandal, I think Oh can be had for cheap, and when I say cheap, I mean dirt cheap. the South Korean govenment came down with a small fee of fines only, and the charges were deemed to be similar to what we would call a 'misdemeanor' type, but the confusian societies that are ultra conservative, both the KBO and NPB practically condemned him from their games at this point. only path he has left is to the majors and I think he can be signed at this point for a league minimum for 1 year deal with an incentive laden team option. seriously, I think he could be the bargain find of the year.

[Quake Griffin]

Whats with all the Alex Wood out of the bullpen stuff?


Isn't he more valuable to us as a trade piece than in the bullpen?

[Neddy]

Whats with all the Alex Wood out of the bullpen stuff?


Isn't he more valuable to us as a trade piece than in the bullpen?

everything is possible, but putting a guy out there to sell without any plan to utilize him if we were to keep him only lessens his value in the market. besides, He is cheap, and can be the next Wade Davis for us.

[Ranma]

Whats with all the Alex Wood out of the bullpen stuff?


Isn't he more valuable to us as a trade piece than in the bullpen?

Yeah, I've mentioned before that his trade value is indeed higher as a starting pitcher so there is a concern in squandering him as an asset in that regard. However, with the high cost of not only starting pitchers applying to relievers as well, it may be more cost effective to put Wood in the bullpen instead of packaging him and other high-upside prospects for an established relief pitcher who would do just as well as Wood in that role.

Having said that, with our abundance of starting pitching, nothing is keeping us from dealing Wood, Montas, and Holmes for a co-ace to be the #2 starter should one become available when the price becomes more reasonable. We have the best collection of pitching talent on the trade market, so if someone wants to deal, they'd have to call us.

I still want Jake McGee but if the Rays and everyone else are still playing hardball, we don't have to engage with them. Wood would be quite effective out of the 'pen with his funky delivery offering an in-game advantage to opposing hitters with a jarringly different style. Plus, he's been most effective through the 1st and 2nd times through the batting order and significantly drops off by the 3rd time. Wood would also be able to up his velocity in the relief role.

Even if he is devalued by other organizations in his new role, I'd argue that he would increase his value to the Dodgers now as a reliever given our new recent acquisitions. Also, with teams still desperate for starting pitching, particularly young and cost-controlled ones, Wood has proven himself capable as a starter, so there should still be interest in him for that role regardless of how we use him. The high asking prices for pitching--starting or otherwise--pretty much confirms my position.

[Neddy]

but Sponichi Annex is not exactly Asahi or Yomiuri in terms of their reputation. it's more like New York Post rather than the NY Times. Im just gonna hold my breathe until this gets all cleared......

[Neddy]

if we do land say, Jose Fernandez for Alex Wood, Austin Barnes, Zach Lee, Grant Holmes and say, Brandon Davis, what do you guys think about going with a 6 men rotation? again, I am just brainstorming here but say we have Fernandez, Ryu, McCarthy, Kazmir, and Anderson on the same team who are all with injury history of their own, and now we got Maeda who is not used to 5 men rotation and basically all Japanese pitchers have broken down in our system after a couple of seasons of abuse, so with a 6 men rotation, it ensures not only one investment of Maeda but all of our investments would have better chance making it through this season. and Kershaw also have had run out of gas when playoffs come in the past more than once or twice, having each starter extra day of rest, I think we can also take them deeper into the game as well. McCarthy is surely still injured and Ryu may or may not be able to go from the opening day, so i suppose it is a moot point when its just Kershaw / Fernandez / Kazmir / Maeda / Anderson but by mid season both Ryu and McCarhy should be ready to rejoin the rotation. assuming Anderson breaks down already by then, we still can run a 6 men rotation.

if we go with this direction, then of course our bullpen is shortened. it would probably come down to who has the slow start when we do have a 5 men rotation but even with just Jensen / JP / Garcia / Baez / Avilan / and one of Hatcher/Frias can still be very effective as long as we shorten the need from say, 7 through 9 every day to just 8 and 9 innings.

with so many versitle position players we have, such as **** who can primarily be our 2B and be our backup CF, and SVS who can play all 3 OF and 1B, we could shorten our bench rather than the pen too. say AJ, SVS, Utley, and just one more bench player and go with 13 men pitching staff.... it's possible.

just a thought.

[Quake Griffin]

Cliffs:

- Not thrilled about the idea of a 6 man rotation
- Trading for a top of the line SP needs to be priority #1 and I probably wont be satisfied until we do so.
- I'm concerned about how the surplus of talent will affect how teams will negotiate with us. How can I sell a team on Alex Wood if he's on the outside looking in on my own team?
- I'd most definitely put Wood or Ryu on the chopping block for a Sonny Gray, Carrasco, Archer etc. etc.
- there's no excuse for giving an unproven player in the MLB an 8 year contract. I sincerely hope that report is not true.



I trust the roster as currently constructed to play well over 162.
I dont trust it for the playoffs. I actually believe our pen is fine.
But I want another front line starter and I'll reserve judgment on how this team plays defensively until I see it. Seager and **** up the middle? We'd be lying to ourselves to pretend that WE KNOW FOR SURE they're a modern day Concepcion and Morgan. I doubt it really becomes anything better than just adequate.

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN/status/682888175916810241[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN/status/682889568966819840[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN/status/682890186632609792[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN/status/682890791639986176[/tweet]

[Neddy]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Buster_ESPN/status/682890186632609792[/tweet]

right on, ranma! starting to really like the idea of young Wood as our Hochevar.

[Neddy]

Cliffs:

- Not thrilled about the idea of a 6 man rotation
- Trading for a top of the line SP needs to be priority #1 and I probably wont be satisfied until we do so.
- I'm concerned about how the surplus of talent will affect how teams will negotiate with us. How can I sell a team on Alex Wood if he's on the outside looking in on my own team?
- I'd most definitely put Wood or Ryu on the chopping block for a Sonny Gray, Carrasco, Archer etc. etc.
- there's no excuse for giving an unproven player in the MLB an 8 year contract. I sincerely hope that report is not true.



I trust the roster as currently constructed to play well over 162.
I dont trust it for the playoffs. I actually believe our pen is fine.
But I want another front line starter and I'll reserve judgment on how this team plays defensively until I see it. Seager and **** up the middle? We'd be lying to ourselves to pretend that WE KNOW FOR SURE they're a modern day Concepcion and Morgan. I doubt it really becomes anything better than just adequate.

-6 men rotation is something to consider but knowing the MLB's limited space of 25 men roster, it is understandable why it also can be restrictive. but outside of Kershaw, who do we have that is proven durable?
-Ryu does make a great trade asset, but remember, he is the only one who pitched well in playoffs among that group of #2's we have.
if Jose Fernandez is whom we land, we have no guarantee he would be there to toss the game 2 first pitch let alone make it out of July in one piece. the more I think about it, the more I want to stay away from him. Carrasco would not require Ryu. Wood/De Leon plus a outfielder/DH like Guerrero (assuming he pick up most of his salary and Alex waves his trade kickers) would get the job done. they wanted De Leon and Joc for Carrasco but from what I understand we countered with Piuig and De Leon. they did not want the headache or extra salary. Tampa and Miami will not want anything more than rookie minimum salaries back and Ryu won't be involved there. I can see Bily Beane wanting Ryu tho.
-you should consider that Wood, if converted into a reliever and become what Wade Davis or Luke Hochevar has become for the Royals, both highly touted then failed starters to become dominant, best in the business type relievers at young age, brings us far more value than just as amaller pieces of a trade package. we have other prospects who can be just as mcuh return in a trade market such as Montas, Cotton, De Leon and such. I am starting to really like the idea evey passing day.
-both Utley and **** actually posted better defensive metric than Kendrick on 2nd last season, and I am more than willing to give Seager every chance to succeed. given a full time role at each position, I think the young pair up the middle will at least post a league average defense there.
-as much as I loved Logan White, misjudging Tanaka and advising to stay away from that bidding has something to do with him not being here anymore. Darvish was "unproven" before he was proven. especially if the deal really turns out to be 10 mil per season range, and he outperforms his contract which shouldn't be too hard at all, imagine having a 7 more years of team controlled pitcher on cheap who is just turning 28 on the weak FA market next season. another reason why I say converting Wood a relievr should not be looked at as some sort of a self-induced mark down on our trade commodities.
-Conceprion couldn't hit anywhere near Seager could
-who cares if teams low ball us? don't make a deal then. that's what Friedman has done so far, and we are talent rich, and so far prospect rich. as the season approaches, other GMs' approaches will change too, especially by near the trade deadline as it is them who will be desperate as asset and cash poor franchses in need of shedding salary withut losing out on return talent. trust me, we are the ones holding the trigger end of a rifle of this tug of war, not them.

[Neddy]

damn, I went to bed piss drunk and woke up with a massive hangover, and reading through my early morning posts it is very evident I was still wasted to my core...

sorry for my drunken post-spree of last night then an equally spelling challenged early moring hangover rant.

but you guys get my point.

[Quake Griffin]

I'm glad we moved on from Howie at his age and given that **** and Utley grade out better defensively. However, both the Diamondbacks and Giants are stronger up the middle than we are. The Diamondbacks at SS, 2B and CF. The Giants at SS and 2B.

We're the Guggenheim freakin Dodgers. We should be able to field an elite defense. We shouldn't have to look for adequate defense and pass it off as OK because Corey Seager is a better hitter than any other SS in our division (league?).

Elite defense plays REALLY well into the playoffs. It's just odd to me that in our FO's 2nd year here, we more than likely wont have one.
I dont settle for anything and I'm not going to settle for adequate defense just because Seager can hit.

_________________
I'm with you on Jose Fernandez. He doesnt appeal to me. His price tag doesnt appeal to me. His agent doesnt appeal to me. His free agent year doesnt appeal to me. The zipper on his elbow doesnt appeal to me. His attitude doesn't appeal to me.

I will be quiet and cheer him on if he comes here though because he is a top 5 talent in terms of pitching in the game if not higher than top 5.

_______________________
If Ryu goes out, the return on our investment has to be great in pretty much all aspects. So we're in agreement here. I wouldn't deal him just to deal him. He checks too many boxes for us. I wouldn't send him out for a Carrasco or a Salazaar now that I think about it(Carrasco is almost 30, zipper on his elbow…Salazaar hasnt harnessed all the talent into being the pitcher he could be). I'd do it for Sonny Gray though who also has a solid playoff track record to start off his career and I'd do it for a pitcher as talented as Chris Sale.

But I really do appreciate how Ryu nutted up against the Cardinals in 2013 and 2014. Keep in mind in 2014, he threw a stinker against the Giants in the regular season. Then pitched his next start a month later and went 6 and gave up 1 to the Cardinals…just for Donnie to blow it after.

_________________
I think it's a mistake to look to other starters who have become relievers and think that Wood could do it. For every Wade Davis and Luke Hochevar, there's a Chris Capuano who can't hack it as a reliever and it never hits the news or airwaves.

Wood isn't even a failed starter. There's no reason to push him into that role at this point IMO other than the surplus we have.