Editorials

Roundtable: Should The Dodgers Sign James Shields?

John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports
John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

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Although it’s been a relatively quiet process and taken longer than most expected, only one of the three elite starting pitchers remains a free agent — James Shields. Jon Lester was the first to come off the market by agreeing to a six-year, $155 million contract with the Chicago Cubs.



Over one month later, Max Scherzer signed a seven-year, $210 million contract with the Washington Nationals. However, half of the money in Scherzer’s deal is deferred, which means the Nationals will pay the right-hander $15 million over 14 years.

Of the group, Shields is the oldest at 33 years old and is expected to land a contract a notch below the mega-deals Lester and Scherzer received. It was believed by some Shields had a five-year, $110 million offer in hand, and he’s now projected to receive a contract in the neighborhood of $80 million over four or five years.

Throughout the offseason it doesn’t appear as though the Los Angeles Dodgers have gotten serious in their pursuit of Lester, Scherzer or Shields. However, there have been reports of their varying interest in the starters and general manager Farhan Zaidi recently left open the possibility they would spend to sign one of the pitchers.

It should be noted Zaidi’s comments came prior to Scherzer signing his deal with the Nationals. With Shields the last of the three available, should the Dodgers sign him? Our staff gave their take.

CONTINUE READING: Should The Dodgers Sign Shields?

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11 Comments

  1. Unless the Dodgers can sign Greinke to an extension or new contract before the start of this season – they need some backup to his possible departure – and that woudl be Shields – who would make an excellent third starter – move Ryu to 4th – and Anderson to long relief or 6th starter when needed.

  2. During the past two seasons the #Dodgers have entered in to each season with a surplus of starters. In each season they used each starter and then some. Based on this fact, Shields’ prowess on the mound, and the uncertainty of Grienke in regards to health and sign ability, the smart decision for the Dodgers would be to offer the SP a contract of 4 yrs, $95M.
    ***follow me at @amoresports and my new AmoreSports sports blog on WordPress***

    1. The Dodgers should leave their rotation the way it is WITHOUT SHIELDS!
      I would like them to use their farm system or their other less expensive options. Free agency has never been the way to a championship.

  3. Why the lack of interest in Chad Billingsley? Why not a one-year guaranteed contract loaded with incentives?

  4. WERE IS CHAD BILLY? GIVE M A ONE YEAR GUARANTEED… IF IS HEALTHY!
    SHIELDS… IS A GOOD INSURANCE! FOR 3RD OR 4TH SPOT….

  5. Move some young arms or a combination of an arm and young, unproven players to Philly for Hamels. That should be the target.

  6. The Dodgers should sign Shields because they don’t just want to play, they want to win, and shields is an insurance starter. 94 wins last year, it is going to take a lot of innings and a long season, better get you back cover!

  7. How many teams need to get burned signing age 30+ pitchers to long term mega-contracts till they figure out how much money they are throwing away, while crippling their rosters for years to come. The Dodgers are starting out with five viable starting pitchers, four who are signed for at least the next 3 years. If Greinke opts out, you deal with that next year, not this year. Shields is a sucker signing, you’ll have to pay him over 20 mil a year for his age 36 and 37 seasons, just as guys like Urias, Holmes, and others are ready to go. Dodger braintrust is way to smart to fall for that.

  8. Save the money. Johnny Cueto and David Price are both free agents after this year. Let Greinke walk and break the bank on a younger ace. I would rather have johnny cueto for age 29-36 seasons or David Price for age 30-37 seasons then Greinkes age 33-38 seasons. We already got our prime years of Greinke for good value. Knock on wood and lets hope Greinke has a career year going into another free agent season. If we are going to break the bank lets get a pitchers age 29-33 seasons to justify the overpaid probably injured 34-37 age seasons that come along with a 6-7 year deal these pitchers will get . And shields we would be paying for his prime years but he would be performing like a declining mid 30,s pitcher.

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