Editorials

Dodgers 2015 Offseason: A Checklist For The Winter

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After the San Francisco Giants took the World Series, all eyes have turned to the offseason.



The Los Angeles Dodgers already made a huge move by hiring Andrew Friedman as their President of Baseball Operations and reassigning general manager Ned Colletti to an advisor position.

With the conclusion of the World Series, the Dodgers now have the winter to improve their team as the first step towards finally reaching their goal of a title.

Here’s a checklist of what the Dodgers need to do this offseason. Ranked in order of importance:

5. Address The Catcher Position

A.J. Ellis was a monster in the postseason, but that didn’t erase his .191 batting average in the regular season. Not only did his hitting suffer, but his defense wasn’t much better.

Ellis’ handling of the pitching staff is still widely praised; however, there are upgrades that can handle a staff. Kershaw has publicly stated his desire for Ellis to return and he could, just in a lesser role.

Russell Martin has been the biggest name to be linked to the Dodgers, and that’s mostly because he spent the beginning of his career in Los Angeles. He would provide a huge upgrade at the plate and his intensity would be welcome in the clubhouse.

There isn’t much else in the free agent market, making a trade for a catcher possible. It will be up to Friedman and the staff if they believe Ellis has become a role player rather than a starter.

If Ellis is the starter in 2015, it would not be the end of the world, but an upgrade would be welcome with open arms.

4. Rotation Depth

Through the first half of the season, the Dodgers had one of the best rotations in all of baseball. Then injuries picked off Josh Beckett and to a lesser extent Paul Maholm, sidelined Hyun-Jin Ryu and left the Dodgers with Roberto Hernandez and Kevin Correia making starts down the stretch.

The Dodgers head into 2015 with Ryu, Clayton Kershaw, Zack Greinke and presumably Dan Haren. Besides a fifth starter, the front office must find at least one more quality starting pitcher.

There isn’t much in the minors, unless Zach Lee finally develops. There are big names on the market like Jon Lester, Max Scherzer and James Shields, but the Dodgers may not hand out the necessary big contract.

At least seven capable starting pitchers are needed to get through a season and the Dodgers must make some moves to be prepared for the long haul.

Next Page: Top-3 priorities on the checklist

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Vincent Samperio

Vince is currently the Associate Editor and Social Media Manager for Dodgers Nation. Hailing from San Pedro, CA and a student at Cal State Long Beach, Vince has previously written for the Daily 49er and LASF Magazine.

16 Comments

  1. I would re-rank them: 1 – Bullpen 2 – Hanley 3 – Starting depth Actually, those, to me are the pressing needs. The 4 – Outfield Logjam & 5 – Catcher are much less important. I would be happy to see AJ back as the starter. Russell & AJ would be nice, of course, but I would much rather the team settle those first 3 issues before that. The bullpen killed us and we really need someone would can start the 4th game of a 7 game series. We have the offense [with Hanley] and AJ will bounce back.

    1. We had a bullpen? I agree, that must be #1. I’m sure that is on Friedman’s short list.

  2. Why is nobody talking about Alex Guerrero? He hit great last spring training and never got his chance to come up due to the ear biting incident. If I remember correctly, wasn’t he originally a shortstop?

    1. Yes he was….BUT…he is almost as bad a fielder as Hanley and he hasn’t proved anything either…

  3. Bring Bruce Bochy to the Dodgers…. and everything will be fix! And very good chances to championship the next 5 years!

    1. Yeah, about that, in the real world one would know that Bruce Bochy is under contract with SF through the 2016 season. Now that being the case, and he’s won three championships in the last 5 years… you think he wants to leave to the teams most hated rival?

      Go Dodger Blue!!

  4. I see more input from the Asian Leagues and from Cuba. Manager? Let Friedman handle that.

  5. I agree with everything except outfield, u never have enough due to injuries and we seem to get them

  6. Are you kidding me?? that bullpen was a disaster last season. I can’t believe the author could possibly think that with Brian Wilson and Brandon League, the Dodgers could be set in the bullpen. They both were horrible!!!

  7. I wouldn’t mind LA offering Hanley more years if he is open to moving to third base when Uribe leaves next season. Seager can then start at SS.

  8. I agree with you Richard you hit it right on the head we need to keep hanley , our best bet would be to sign sherzer hes won 20 or more games in his last 2 out of three years. the bull pen needs to be over hauled. Wilson and haren are only exercising there options because no other team would have them. I hope they replace mattingly next year.

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