Editorials

Dodgers Rumors: Friedman Doesn’t Close Door on Fernandez Deal

Because of Andrew Friedman’s speaking style, when he talks, you’re kind of forced to read between the lines. So, when he went on MLB Network’s MLB Tonight to talk about the Kentra Maeda signing, it struck me as somewhat interesting when he spoke about Jose Fernandez.

The popular thinking was that with Maeda now in the fold and the Dodgers no longer employing a solely left-handed rotation, the Dodgers might focus elsewhere or at least move on from such a complicated deal as would land Fernandez.




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Here’s what he had to say to a question about whether today put a official end to the Fernandez-to-L.A. talk:

Obviously it’s tough for me to talk on any specific player, but we’ve had a lot of different trade conversations with a lot of different teams and, you know, for the most part as we sit here today, we feel good about the depth that we have. But, we’re going to say open-minded and, you know, if were to line up that makes sense for us that we feel like makes us better, you know, we’ll be aggressive to act.

I’ve compared Friedman on a couple occasions to a politician for his ability to say a whole bunch of stuff without ever really saying anything. That said, this did strike me as somewhat interesting.

On one hand, this is the obvious response. There is no resting on laurels in this industry, regardless of whichever move might have been made. Of course the Dodgers are going to continue to talk to everyone about deals that might potentially make them better. That’s literally Friedman, Farhan Zaidi and now Alex Anthopolous’ job.

Conversely, Jose Fernandez does make the Dodgers considerably better. He’s young, absolutely electric and under control for two more arbitrations until that insane 2018 offseason, when the Dodgers’ books are essentially clean, but for a couple odds and ends.

I still think this deal is a longshot at best and in all reality basically a moot talking point, but Friedman doesn’t sound as if he’s closed the door on this or any other trade talks that might have started at the Winter Meetings.

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27 Comments

  1. To me, this is a at what cost kind of deal. I and most fans do not want to trade the core prospects it would take to get Fernandez for 3 years. Not when you can have Urias, Cotton, and Deleon a lot longer than that. Also, Miami has consistently asked for Corey Seager, and trading him under any circumstances is not an option….besides, I do not trust Fried brains and Zorro, and I believe nothing that comes out of their mouths..

  2. If any of you think Friedman could pull off such  big deal like this one would be, I have a bridge in Arizona you might to buy………

  3. Michael Norris Amen Michael. They have stocked the rotation to hold until the young arms get here with plenty of trade possibility for the ones that do not make it in the future.. I am more concerned as I know are you on the offense.

  4. Tmaxster Michael Norris  T-Man we are brothers of the brain! I am not convinced at all that this offense is all that solid…that being said, it could if tweaked be pretty good, but not as good as the D-Backs….If you have an OF of Pederson, Thompson, and Puig, it would be very fast, feature 2 RH bats with power potential, and 3 very good defensive OF’s. If Pederson solves his contact problems, that frees up Kike to get most of the time at 2nd….I do not see them resigning Kendrick, even though it makes the most sense to keep Kike as a super sub. They like their draft picks too much, and Kendrick going elsewhere makes them get 1 more. So a Kike-Utley tandem is more likely. Whatever you get out of the 37 year old Utley will be a plus. But do not expect a whole hell of a lot. Here is where it gets dicey….Seager, 1st year super rookie…what do you get and what are the expectations. I see him somewhere in the middle of what he did last fall….say a .265 average with close to 20 dingers, and 75 or so RBI’s. He does that and he will be a ROY candidate. Turner needs to be healthy and stay healthy because I do not want to be moving a rookie between 2 positions in his first year. SS is hard enough, and they just DFA’d his backup, which is another reason you need Kike as the super sub….Gonzo will be solid at 1st. The conundrums, and problems lie with 3 players…..Guererro, who has no place to play….Crawford, who by all accounts will be hurt by May, and Ethier, who they desperately want to trade before he becomes a 10-5 guy the end of April. Those questions will not be solved until spring, and we will not know what we have until opening day….

  5. Michael Norris Tmaxster  If they properly develop Micah Johnson, he could become another Dee Gordon.

  6. Jagman63 Michael Norris Tmaxster  If…if……he has speed no doubt, but you have to hit to be able to use that speed, so far he has not shown that, and he also is a liability with the glove….lots of errors in the minors. He was not in the bigs long enough to get a handle on how he will do there. At best, a bench player and backup this year, or starting at 2nd in OKC, which is the more likely scenario…..

  7. Michael Norris Jagman63 Tmaxster  Which is why I said they need to develop him properly……

  8. Jagman63 Michael Norris Tmaxster  Matters not…….Utley is getting 7 million to be the starter or the backup..Kike is ahead of Johnson on the depth chart……..he has not shown very good skills, so development or not, he is not the option this year…..not even on the radar…….

  9. Jagman63 Michael Norris Tmaxster  Coulda shoulda woulda……..he stole in the minors, but his fielding pct is about .938, which is terrible for a 2nd baseman, which means he either has bad hands, little range, or poorly positions himself to make the play……he was 3 of 5 in SB’s in the majors last year…He is at best a project, not a viable option……a year or more away from helping any at all at least..

  10. Michael Norris Jagman63 Tmaxster  It does matter. But since you obviously are the director of player development and have the final say I should pay attention to your opinion………………..yeah right.

  11. Jagman63 Michael Norris Tmaxster  Do the math bone head, reading a scouting report or two…….they are not going to play the guy ahead of either Kike or Utley…that’s why they resigned Utley genius……They would have been better served keeping Peraza….but since the Reds obviously wanted the guy, since he was also supposed to be included in the dead Chapman deal, they traded him..he was much closer to being MLB ready than Johnson…….Who although he started last year as the Chi Sox starter lasted about a month………

  12. Michael Norris Jagman63 Tmaxster  Bone head? If you pay attention to what you read you will find that no where did I say Johnson had to be the opening day 2nd baseman. If you are so informed as you think you are, you will remember how bad Gordon was at first too. All your little stat information applied  to him at one time too. But a know-it-all knuckle head wouldn’t know that, would you?????

  13. Jagman63 Michael Norris @Tmaxster…..Should  not have called you that,,,,my apologies….You are right, but Dee was a SS…..his skills were not as conducive for that position. My main point is this……if they felt Johnson could handle being the regular, they really would not have needed to sign Utley again…they must feel Kike, and Utley are better options….Look, a lot of guys get close and never make it..I have been watching this team for over 60 years an I know the game and the organization pretty well. I can name a lot of players who never quite got there…..Johnson has skills, and he may or may not develop into a viable option…but right now it does not look that way……

  14. Jagman63 Michael Norris Tmaxster  and he will make 7 million for being that way..

  15. Jagman63 Michael Norris Tmaxster Gordon took several years to develop. I have looked at the articles on Johnson on the internet going back a couple of years. They describe him as being built like a corner back, fast twitch muscle.. Very fast and can make spectacular plays at 2nd. But either through loss of concentration or just bad hands tends to have errors on easier balls. He has a tendency to slap at the ball especially on the outside of the plate which is good as he is a contact hitter. They say he has two stances one that he slaps at the ball and the other where he sits back a bit and lets his lower body help with his swing and power. When he has used that swing he has good gap power. He is apparently very confused on what to do at the plate. Hopefully the Dodgers sit him down, calm him down and work with him on his batting stance, hitting style and fielding. 
    I would think he will be in Okie City next year. With Utley signed and Kike there how much room is there on the roster if they keep the outfielders they have and add Thompson??

    You have to figure they move Etheir before he becomes a 10 & 5 player…

  16. Jagman63 Michael Norris Tmaxster  Checked some of his stats, and two stand out as hard to change….OBP..is at .306…..that is pretty bad for a guy who depends on speed…and he stuck out 30 times, and only walked 9…so maybe his strike zone recognition is not what it should be…I do know that at OKC his manager would be Bill Hasselman…..he has a good track record of bringing kids to a better skill set…also the guy is 25….so he has time..

  17. Tmaxster Jagman63 Michael Norris  Check his K rate and OBP Tom..he is not that good a contact hitter…….he is fast, that is for sure, but for whatever reason, he is not read..not yet anyway..

  18. Michael Norris Jagman63 Tmaxster  Thank you and I feel the same. I know he won’t be the 2nd baseman this year, most likely. But I hope the minor coaches can help him overcome his issues. I know Gordon was a ss but he plays 2b now. I like Johnson and hope he makes it to the bigs as soon as possible. Speed at the top of a line up is a great asset.

  19. Michael Norris Jagman63 Tmaxster What I read on him Michael is when he stays loose and slaps at the ball he does not strikeout as much. And hit the ball on the ground a lot. Which is very similar to how they finally talked Dee Gordon to bat. It is when he tries to hit for power he has issues. Then he is they said “very vulnerable” to the outside pitch. So he cannot hit it and strikeouts a lot…. Dodgers had a lot of that going around last year…

  20. Tmaxster Michael Norris Jagman63  Way too much….if he can, all well and good…I wish him well, but he needs to really improve on a lot of things. AAA seems to be in his future, and another point is how is he going to react when he does go down..being sent to the minors by your new team is a bit of a let down……I do know that right now the Dodgers have NO backup SS

  21. Tmaxster Michael Norris Jagman63 I agree with  you. That’s why I was against the Gordon trade. Speed brings pressure  on the defense and makes pitchers predictable. If Johnson gets on base, the pitcher has.to throw hard stuff just to give his catcher a chance to throw him out. No looping change ups, no sliders low and near the dirt. The Dodgers use to play small ball like KC did this  year. This front office don’t  seem to value  speed. But that has been a Dodger  tradition.

  22. Robert Hamilton  Tmaxster Michael Norris Jagman63  Thanks! Finally!! A fan who see’s the light!!!

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