Dodgers News: Team Earns B- Grade for Offseason
All offseason long, the fine folks over at Sports Illustrated have gone through and given their offseason report card tallies for each and every team. Today, it’s the Los Angeles Dodgers’ turn to get their grade, and it’s pretty darn fair with all things considered.
According to them, the Dodgers graded out with a B-, which means they did good, but not great. It also means they didn’t do poorly, which is a lot better than what some fans think truly happened after the team lost free agent right-hander Zack Greinke to the Arizona Diamondbacks for well over $200 million.
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From Jay Jaffe at Sports Illustrated dot com:
It wouldn’t be a surprise if the team deals from their depth to pull off a blockbuster before Opening Day, but even now, it’s a squad that should again contend.
That’s the last line in the article, and he’s not wrong. The team does have a slew of depth, namely in the outfield and starting rotation, so dealing from either, or both, stockpiles could lead to a net result that greatly improves the team’s chances at winning something substantial.
As Jaffe goes on to mention, the Dodgers still need to find a suitor for outfielder Andre Ethier and also improve upon their bullpen. Theoretically, the team could look to accomplish both feats with the same stone if they’re able to find the right deal with the right team.
Or maybe the Dodgers’ bullpen fix is right in their organization already in the form of either left-hander Alex Wood or right-hander Frankie Montas. Either one would be a boon to the bullpen for the time being if the starting rotation doesn’t need them to make an impact in the first half of 2016.
Dodgers Rumors: Finding an Ethier Trade Suitor
Wow. Are you kidding me??!! I give them a d-. And that is being generous. Firedman and Farty are a baseball joke.
Jagman63 I tend to agree. I have never seen a pitching rotation with so many question marks, or left handed pitchers. I think you need more of a LH-RH balance. That being said, I think Kazmir is over valued. If my memory is correct, I do not remember him ever pitching in the NL, and a 3 year deal? Nobody really knows what they will get out of Maeda. Anderson was healthy, but did not have a whole lot of stamina. Ryu is a question mark until we see him off a mound. Kershaw is the only sure thing. The bull pen has a lot of arms, but so far out side of Howell, Avilan, Jansen…no body is sure how they will pitch. They failed to address the over crowded OF, and traded the closest thing to a leadoff hitter they had (Peraza). So I do not see where they did all that much other than lose a bunch. Kendrick coming back only brought them to a C- in my mind
I saw an interview online yesterday with Farhan Zaidi saying they were not going to lose Puig or Ethier. After Andre Ethier played so well last season, I don’t see why they’d want to. They just have to go a couple of more seasons with Crawford’s contract and there will be less to worry about the outfield.
Worth noting: The Giants got an A- for their off season.
TwinRuler If you believe anything Zorro says, you are delusional…….. said the same thing last year about Kemp. So Ethier had a good year..the 3 before that were sub par for what he makes. He is a 10-5 guy in April, and they do not want him to be able to veto any trade. That is the main impetus for trading the guy, plus the fact he has 2 years and a vesting option. He is 34, he is at best a part time guy…..you do not want to be paying a part time player close to 17 million a year.