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

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/BrendanKutyNJ/status/689643211128725504[/tweet]

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/blackwings2011/status/689687406237261824[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/blackwings2011/status/689701590651908097[/tweet]

[Quake Griffin]

So glad he's gonna be back….missed that guy big time.

Neddy, I'm coming around bruh. I like the pieces we have around Dodger Blue. I guess all the attention being focused on Greinke and who the other 2 teams in our division were signing took our eyes off of Dave Roberts.

lol. He's flying UNDER THE RADAR. All the heat is on Friedman.
Conspiracy theorist anyone?

[Neddy]

that cute pick of Ryu has him about 40 pounds slimmer than the seasons before, lol.

but yeah, this team is so underrated by mathematically challenged conventional sports writers who are writing us off, it's not even funny anymore.

[Ranma]

Wills and Willie Davis were my dads favorite Dodgers and he has stories about meeting them when he was a pup and players were a bit more accessible.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/MLBcathedrals/status/690277115099496448[/tweet]

[Neddy]

I know this is random, but my favorite dynamic duo of all time....

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/lostballparks/status/690647156714291200[/tweet]

[Ranma]

Interview: Jon SooHoo – Los Angeles Dodgers Official Team Photographer

[Quake Griffin]

Clay Bellinger #6 1B prospect?

love how he's emerged over the last year.
No need to look for argon's replacement anymore.

[Quake Griffin]

http://m.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article/162516062/prospect-watch-top-10-1b-for-2016

[Ranma]

Clay Bellinger #6 1B prospect?

love how he's emerged over the last year.
No need to look for argon's replacement anymore.

http://m.dodgers.mlb.com/news/article/162516062/prospect-watch-top-10-1b-for-2016

Yeah, I'm definitely more excited about Cody Bellinger since I've mentioned before that I love how similar in style he is to both James Loney and John Olerud. I'm trying not to get overly excited by him, but upon further contemplation, why not? I'm already fairly high on Yadier Alvarez, Walker Beuhler, and Mitch Hansen who are all a few years away for various reasons, so why should I go out of my way not to be enthusiastic about Bellinger, especially since he is further along than those 3 prospects? Come to think about it, I guess my comparisons to both Loney and Olerud worked against Cody given the unfulfilled expectations for those MLB players. While both players have had solid careers, there is definitely a sense that Loney never became what the Dodgers envisioned of him initially and Olerud's run of excellence should have been even better and longer.

Bellinger, in my estimation, has shot past Alex Verdugo in the organizational rankings of prospects. I personally like him more than Frankie Montas and Grant Holmes, but I'm not sure he'll be ranked ahead of either right now. The wonderful thing about Cody Bellinger is that he's shown to be a good hitter for average in recent years, but his leap in power numbers came at the expense of his batting average. I'm quite encouraged that he'll make the adjustments to recapture his batting prowess while also incorporating his newfound power hitting.

While we lost #2 overall ranked 2B prospect Jose Peraza in trade, I'm surprised that a player we got in return in Micah Johnson is currently ranked #7 on that list. With Corey Seager's anticipated ranking as the top SS prospect in baseball, that would give the Dodgers a top-10 ranked prospect in at least 5 out of the 8 categories for the 2016 prospects rankings. I'm a little surprised Austin Barnes was not among the top 10 catching prospects. I don't think either Alex Verdugo or Trayce Thompson will be in the top 10 outfield prospects for 2016, but both are ranked fairly high in the organizational rankings. We just don't have any legit 3B prospects for consideration for this year's rankings.

Oh, I hope you don't mind, but I went ahead and posted the MLB article and tweet for 2016 top 1B prospects in the Prospects and Trade Discussion thread for posterity and reference for easier access later on.

[Quake Griffin]

no worries, i was wondering which thread they were in.


So is it safe to say that while not impressed at the win now probability, we're very satisfied with the organizational depth?

[Ranma]

While I'm not entirely happy with our team as is, I'm fine with going into battle with what we have right now. We certainly have depth. So much so that it may be a bit of a problem. Austin Barnes absolutely deserves a spot on the major league roster. His versatility and skills would be a tremendous help to us and having him in the minors for another year is just wasting him as an asset. The problem is that roster spots are taken up by the likes of Alex Guerrero, who is pretty much a dedicated pinch hitter at this point and not a good one at that.

Andre Ethier's impending 10-and-5 rights and rebound year make him a great candidate to be traded, but given the struggles of both Joc Pederson and Yasiel Puig last year, can we afford to trade Ethier, who is arguably our most solid outfielder? I'm still very much in favor of trading him personally, but a case can be made to retain him. New additions with some MLB experience like Trayce Thompson and Micah Johnson to go along with Scott Van Slyke, Carl Crawford, **** Hernandez, and Chase Utley look to be crowding the playing field even if we don't seem to have good backups at SS or 3B. Sure **** can handle shortstop and Utley can probably give it a go at the hot corner, but neither are considered naturals at those respective positions. Guerrero would be an option at 3B, but his value is so low, that playing him over most anyone else just makes it a further vulnerability. Oh, and Crawford is a question mark year in and year out.

The bottom line is that our increase in depth seems a little haphazard. It's not quite to the levels of David Kahn for the Minnesota Timberwolves, but it does seem almost as problematic as it is reassuring. Luckily, we don't have too many Brandon Leagues or Brian Wilsons on the roster, though I'm looking directly at Crawford and Guerrero. I just hope the best players make the team and that we continue to cut bait on players who are undeserving regardless of contract commitments. I also hope we can avoid deals where we're selling low on players due to our newfound depth like we did in trading away Joe Wieland.

[Quake Griffin]

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/01/dodgers-outright-brandon-beachy.html

trade coming??????



Oh and why aren't you big on Montas?

[Ranma]

For whatever reason, I just don't feel as attached to Frankie Montas, Trayce Thompson, and Micah Johnson after their arrival from the White Sox in the Jose Peraza deal as I did with Austin Barnes, Chris Hatcher, and **** Hernandez upon their arrival from Miami. While I didn't like the Dee Gordon trade, I immediately saw Barnes, Hatcher, and **** as likely contributors to the Dodgers' major-league team. While Montas, Thompson, and Johnson all look to be capable of contributing to the big team in the near future, I currently view them more as eventual trade assets than long-term fixtures.

I favor both Barnes and **** to be longtime Dodgers mostly because their versatility and personalities would be hard to replace on the roster. I was high on Hatcher until he disappointed in the 1st half of last season before rebounding, but I still have hope for him to be an immediate contributor.

I guess Montas, Thompson, and Johnson just have to win me over. Montas, in particular, I initially viewed as an arm for the bullpen, but I'm more open to him developing as a starter and it is encouraging to hear him doing a better job of maintaining his waistline, so we'll see if he exceeds my expectations. I feel both Thompson and Johnson have inflated values for having brief major league experience. Thompson seems like a capable utility outfielder but our OF situation is crowded for right now. Johnson also seems like a somewhat decent utility player but seems relegated to 2B with an outside possibility in CF.

To answer your question more specifically, my first impression of Montas just had me seeing him as primarily a relief arm. Even if he does develop into a starter, I don't envision him being more than a 3rd starter with 4th or 5th more likely. He seems comparable to newly signed Yaisel Sierra and I've noted before how limited I think he is. However, both do present upside who've already made some unanticipated progress in their physical or pitching form. Who knows? Jose De Leon came out of nowhere to be a highly-rated prospect within the Dodgers' system and both Montas and Sierra certainly start out with bigger expectations than De Leon did. If our coaches and trainers can smooth out the impurities in the deliveries of both Montas and Sierra, they have a legitimate shot of contributing sooner rather than later.

Even though I'm not particularly attached to Montas, I consider him to be among our top 5 prospects in terms of current value. With the departure of Peraza, I'd rank him 4th behind Seager, Julio Urias, and De Leon and ahead of Grant Holmes. While I've mentioned before that I like Cody Bellinger more than Montas and Holmes, I think both pitchers would garner higher returns in trade value right now, which is why I would rank them currently higher in our system.

Also, with my aforementioned concern about our roster depth possibly leaving us short-changed in terms of not having the best players on the final 25-man roster, I'm glad to hear a spot was cleared up on the 40-man roster with the outrighting of Brandon Beachy. I'm not sure if it signals an upcoming trade, though I'd certainly welcome it. Maybe the front office just wants the flexibility and figured that Beachy wouldn't elect free agency given how much guaranteed money the Dodgers are giving him this season. The Dodgers have certainly paid a lot of money to Beachy for him not to pitch for us so far, so his absence on the official roster isn't going to cause any second-guessing.

[Ranma]

Upon hearing of the Rockies-Rays deal, I couldn't help but wonder if the Dodgers would involve themselves in this transaction despite no reports of such participation. I'm thinking that Colorado would be more interested in young pitchers like Zach Lee and Chris Anderson than a relief arm in Jake McGee. Mike Petriello cites the appeal of the competitive balance pick from Colorado, which further piques my interest as well.

Just wishful thinking on my part, but it seems to make sense to me that the Dodgers make a deal with the Rockies now.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/692812237040410624[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/692813445801050113[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/mike_petriello/status/692811697220927488[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/mike_petriello/status/692814438051745797[/tweet]

[Quake Griffin]

I do wonder if they'd deal in the division but they aren't competitive enough at this point to turn away from that kind of deal…and they certainly aren't competitive enough to be dealing for Jake McGee's services.

we need to send them an expendable arm like Lee or Anderson for McGee. As long as the Rockies are in that park, they'll never have any pitchers sign to play there. They need young controllable starters…AT ALL TIMES.

i just…if the FO doesnt get it done….I'd just like to know why not?

[Neddy]

well, Jake Mcgee does throw nothing but fastball and Rocky Mountain high's low low air density won't hinder him one bit, as MIke Petrello's tweet from Ranma's post suggests. maybe he is a trade bait for young starters from teams like us, but there also is a chance that he may be their next closer because he would be that one guy who might actually thrive in that environment.

[Ranma]

Apparently, talks are ongoing towards Howie Kendrick returning to the ballclub. I'm not wild about losing the pick, but if it's similar to a Brett Anderson scenario, where we get him back for one year at less than the qualifying offer, I wouldn't mind it too much. If we qualify him next year, then we can get a pick in a deeper draft class.

I suspect that Arizona may step up their negotiations with Kendrick upon hearing about the talks with the Dodgers, so it could be a play by the front office to help both the Dodgers and Kendrick by giving urgency to Dave Stewart in Arizona.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/693050044719730689[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/693050060679024645[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/693050052370108416[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/693105106687021056[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/Ken_Rosenthal/status/693105708221480960[/tweet]

[Quake Griffin]

Wonder where his defense will be.

One thing about Howie…he is a great hitter and our lineup will be better with him in it.
I really do like **** but I'm not seeing how he fits in at this point? Competition at LF?
I really thought he had a shot at being our 2B for the future.