It’s the brand new yr, and there’s nonetheless a lot to be executed on this baseball offseason — and the Dodgers are not any exception. There are not any scarcity of rumors, with the Dodgers squarely in the midst of lots of them; it’s turning into an annual custom. Regardless of that, the shortage of strikes has been a bit stunning up to now.
Right here’s a recap of the MLB strikes the Dodgers have made up to now this winter.
It might appear like quite a bit, but it surely actually isn’t. They’ve added 4 gamers from exterior the group — two of whom weren’t 40-man roster additions. Apart from that, it was largely procedural offseason strikes, plus retaining one of many heroes of the 2025 World Collection. I’m not complaining, because the Dodgers don’t actually have a ton to do that offseason, however we all know they wish to add a place participant (in all probability within the outfield) and have been on the periphery of a number of the larger names on the market — Cody Bellinger, Bo Bichette, Tarik Skubal, Kyle Tucker and the newest entrant, Freddy Peralta (extra on him in a second).
Including a bat ought to be excessive on the checklist. If it’s an outfielder, Bellinger or Tucker make sense — particularly the latter in the event that they had been to get him on an Andrew Friedman-preferred deal (3-4 years, excessive annual common worth, opt-outs), even when I’m not utterly bought on him. In the event that they actually wish to lean into the villainous nature baseball followers (and a few media) have bestowed upon them, they’ll signal Bichette, as a result of it’s wanting much less doubtless he’ll return to the American League Champion Toronto Blue Jays. Or perhaps they make a commerce for one of many Cardinals’ left-handed hitters in Brendan Donovan or Lars Nootbaar. It doesn’t matter what path, the Dodgers will add a bat (in all probability) earlier than Spring Coaching begins.
On the pitching aspect, they’re just about set. The rotation is stuffed with aces and the bullpen ought to be higher than final season based mostly on Diaz’s addition alone. They may nonetheless deliver again Evan Phillips, and I think they may as soon as the 60-day injured checklist returns on the primary day of Spring Coaching.
Their curiosity in Skubal is smart. He’s one of the best pitcher in baseball and when one of the best pitcher in baseball is out there, everybody ought to be . Their, reported, curiosity in Peralta is a little more curious.
That is in all probability a case of an agent attaching the Dodgers to a participant and leaking it to the media to assist drum up much more curiosity in his consumer. Nevertheless, since Peralta must be a commerce acquisition, it’s appears to have slightly extra credibility, even when it’s simply the Dodgers checking in and saying, “hey,” with regard to Peralta’s availability.
In the event that they had been so as to add a starter, I’m unsure how a lot sense Peralta makes, regardless of his Statcast profile being affected by numbers the Dodgers like of their pitchers — limits onerous contact, whiffs, good anticipated numbers. Initially, Peralta could be, at greatest, the fourth-best starter within the present Dodgers’ rotation, and I’d nonetheless take Tyler Glasnow over him based mostly on familiarity and ceiling. Second, buying and selling for Skubal would imply strengthening the rotation from the highest down. Buying and selling for Peralta barely strengthens the back-end of the rotation whereas the highest stays the identical. Except the Dodgers are planning to maneuver another person, it’d be a tough promote contemplating the fee and the truth that they don’t want one other starter, not to mention a top quality No. 2/3-type. Additionally, the Brewers would virtually assuredly demand Emmet Sheehan in return, which is smart for them, however I’d hope if the Dodgers commerce Sheehan, it’d be for a controllable, youthful bat. I get that we as Dodger followers may overrated him a bit, however I’d simply as properly go along with Sheehan over Peralta for the Dodgers, contemplating he confirmed some versatility within the postseason by pitching out of the bullpen.
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The Dodgers are all the time going to be on the hunt for discount or to strike when a participant’s market hasn’t absolutely developed. Or, extra not too long ago, they throw warning to the wind and go get whoever they need since Shohei Ohtani‘s contract is permitting the Dodgers to take action (to not point out, they’re mainly printing cash as a result of success the final two seasons). Possibly they signal Bichette. Possibly they signal Tucker. Possibly the commerce for Skubal. One factor’s for positive, they aren’t executed but this offseason and with the vacations wrapped up, anticipate exercise to pickup this month.
