Editorials

Rumors: Dodgers Looking To Add A Late-Inning Reliever

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES VS LOS ANGELES DODGERS
The season is nearly here and the Los Angeles Dodgers are finalizing their roster and invitees to spring training.

On Sunday afternoon, the Dodgers signed left-hander Erik Bedard and invited him to spring training. For the most part, the front office is done making any significant moves for the 2015 season. They remained out of the running for any big signings this winter, focusing on trades to improve the team.



According to Jon Morosi of Fox Sports, the team is still looking to fill a potential need on the roster:

While the Dodgers missed out on the big-name free agent relievers, they have made smaller deals like Bedard and Sergio Santos. They were recently linked to former All-Star Alexi Ogando, but not much has been heard on that front. It’s unclear whether the Dodgers are looking to make a deal, or sign a player, but with the new front office it’s safe to say a deal is likely coming somehow.

The Dodgers bullpen was one of the main scapegoats of the postseason in 2014, as they allowed runs in three of the four games in the NLDS. Brian Wilson, Chris Perez, Scott Elbert and Jamey Wright are all gone. Youngsters Pedro Baez, Yimi Garcia and Carlos Frias, along with Chris Hatcher and Joel Peralta, are all expected to come in and compete for a spot to help the later innings. Kenley Jansen, J.P. Howell and Paco Rodriguez all return, and potential swingmen Juan Nicasio and Joe Wieland could help out in long relief.

There is less than a month until pitchers and catchers report, so if a new player will be brought in, it will be soon.

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.

35 Comments

    1. Yeah they figured it out by getting Chris Hatcher, one of the better relievers in baseball last year, as well as Peralta and Nicasio who have great WHIP and FIP numbers as relievers and should do well with a good defense behind them. Not too high on Wieland though. But with Jansen, Howell, and Paco healthy, that’s a big improvement over Wilson, Perez, Wright, Maholm, etc. They’ve been overhauling the bullpen all off-season long, so no, they didn’t just figure it out.

      1. Calling Chris hatcher one of the better relievers in baseball is a stretch ..He had a good ERA 3.38..but he was 0-3 K to BB ratio a little over 3-1 He is 29 years old with limited big league time….his career record is 0-4….so that’s a little bit over the top as an evaluation….career ERA is 4.82 which for a reliever is high. Peralta is almost 40, prone to giving up HR’s and also has a high ERA 3.92….Nicasio is so so…did better as a reliever, but I would not count on him being a reliever..I think he is starter depth……Paco sucked last year and he was healthy……he has confidence and control problems…..Wieland is also a starter who if he sticks will be a long reliever……I agree they have more depth in the BP, but from where I stand it ain’t all that much better and they gave up 2 electric arms for Peralta…..

        1. Four W-L decisions means nothing. Really, you’re gonna knock him on that?? Eric Gagne was 2-3 in 2003 and won Cy Young that year! 😀

          Hatcher has vastly improved his game and is a HUGE upgrade over Wilson, Perez, Maholm, Wright, etc. If you think that’s “not much,” then you can have those old guys back. I really don’t know what else to say. Peralta gave up a few more homers than normal, but his overall WHIP, FIP, and strike outs vs walks (a stat you like), oh, and his 3.92 ERA are all better than Wilson, Perez, etc. Forgot to mention that.

          Oh, and Paco wasn’t healthy last year when he pitched. And what good is throwing a pitch through a brick wall if you keep allowing lots of hits and walks every inning (averaged about 1.50 WHIP in minors and majors, which is terrible for anybody).

          1. I never said Perez or Wilson did a great job….what I disagree with is calling Hatcher one of the better relievers in the bigs…that’s a stretch….he was ok….not lights out…..look, my point is this…. You cannot compare Hatcher to the better relievers in the league…was he good? well he was better than Wilson and Perez, I thought both of those guys were iffy in the first place…he is an upgrade, but not a savior….you cannot compare him to Gagne., who was younger, had more big league experience since he had been a starter. And had infinitely better stuff. Nor can you compare him to Maholm, or Wright…Maholm was a starter and long man….not a late innings guy…and Wright was supposed to be used in long relief

          2. Both of those guys weren’t just iffy; they were HOT GARBAGE! LOL! It’s no secret why we ate $10M just to tell them to go away.

            And I only use Gagne as a reference to W/L being superfluous, not Hatcher being as good as him. But you probably knew that; you’re grasping at straws now. Hell, Kenley Jansen had a 2-3 losing record, but you can’t knock him for that, can you? No, Hatcher’s not one of the best in baseball a la Jansen or Kimbrel, Rosenthal, Street, or whatever, but how many of those can we realistically have?

            Here’s an article with an excellent in-depth look at Hatcher, with both positives and negatives:

            http://dodgersdigest.com/2014/12/19/lets-get-to-know-chris-hatcher/

            And yes, we can compare all relievers to each other, young old, experienced, rookies, etc. There is no difference. You’re right, maybe not Maholm since he was mostly a starter, and sometimes Wright, but you’re splitting hairs for argument’s sake now. Replacing bad innings with good innings can only be a good thing. I would like to sign another decent backup starter, though, knowing Anderson’s injury history.

            Oh, and lastly, Hatcher’s K to BB ratio is an amazing 5 to 1 last year. Hope you’re excited about that. 🙂

  1. All those pitchers that were mentioned as being able to help added up to 15. Don’t see all that happening. Did all the guys that make posts on this blog go to the support the Dodger Front Office?

    1. A lot them will start in the minors. We should be carrying 6-7 relievers on the 25 man roster. Jansen, Howell, Paco, Hatcher, Peralta, Nicasio, and League, give or take one or two pitchers, depending on how Spring Training plays out.

      1. I agree that the bullpen should be significantly improved. I like Paco and they say he is healthy. Hard to pitch when you are not physically in good shape. I also look hard at K to BB and yes 5-1 makes me very happy. Some guys never do learn how to consistently throw strikes.

    1. Less control there larry…….Dominguez could throw a ball through a brick wall and they traded him….

      1. Talk about control, Dominguez’s K to BB ratio was only around 2 to 1 last year in the minors. Baez’s was 5 to 1. So of course they got rid of Dominguez.

        1. yeah that makes sense………..trade a 20 something kid with a lightning arm for a 39 year old 1 year guy……Dominguez was also injured…..

          1. We also got Liberatore who had a 1.66 ERA in the minors last year. Forgot about that, huh? Oh, and his WHIP was .892, compared to Dominguez’s 1.50 average WHIP in the minors… when he was healthy…

            Still unhappy about the trade?

          2. No….why should it……he is 27……hasn’t done crap in the bigs yet…shows some promise…but right now they have 5 leftys vying for 2 spots…actually 1 cause you know they will only carry 2 and Howell is a lock…so your boy will most likely make it or not….if Paco is solid in spring he will get the nod

          3. we disagree period,.,,and I give a crap less about geek stats….old school…show me in a real game you can consistently do the job

          4. You are right….I was looking at WHIP and all that other new stuff that means more to geeks than the average fan..my bad

          5. And no we don’t disagree. You’re just wrong. You can’t defend Dominguez vs Liberatore, so now you say let’s just wait and see the game, as what people usually say when they know they’re wrong.

          6. we will see if I am wrong…..I do not think they worked with the kid enough……brought him up way before he was ready……..I am not defending him……I am just saying sometimes you give up too soon…and personally..Liberatore is not going to start the year on the 25 man…entitled to my opinion mister and that is what it is..you do not like it? do not say anything just keep your flytrap shut

          7. You’re right, he probably won’t start on the 25, barring an injury or bad performances from other pitchers in Spring Training. But I still think he has a lot of promise.

            Anyways, it’s been fun arguing baseball with you, even if sometimes I feel like I’m arguing with a Negative Nancy Giants fan, and they can be brutal!

            I’ll be happy to shut my flytrap around you from now on (that’ll make you happy!), and I’ll focus on being excited about the upcoming season. 🙂 🙂 Cheers!

          8. good for you…far from being a Giant fan.or can’t you see my jersey? Just not a tow the line all is rosy and great kind of guy…I have seen and heard this rhetoric before…so not drinking the kool aid until I see the results….on paper….better …real time we will see…comes from following them for 60years.

          9. Michael although I really want to drink the Kool Aid I do agree the pitching could be a real issue. I really had hoped they would bring in a stud pitcher for the rotation and someone dynamic for the bullpen. As they patched it together with Garage Sale talent instead of top shelf guys you have to be concerned. They keep acting like bargain basement sale pickers. I understand they did well in their small markets but they are not in Kansas anymore they are in the Big City and someone needs to slack them up side the head and tell them they have to win NOW. Another long season and then an early out in the Playoffs is not OK.

          10. As I said on another post, believe it or not, payroll is now over 260 million…….yes ….they need to realize they are in LA

          11. Hard to believe but then the crazy contract to Ethier, the pick up of the Crawford, Gonzalez, Becket contract. The money for Kemp. The money for Guerrero and Ari (the cuban)what ever his name is that cannot hit. On todays market they are getting a deal on Grienke and Ryu.
            Did not realize it is so high.

          12. I think I read it on baseball insider…..that or espn…they cut some when Kemp was traded, but Haren, Wilson, 31 mil of Kemps the additions of McCarthy and Anderson, the fact that everybody in arbitration got a raise….so yeah, it climbed almost 20 mil….after 2016 it will shrink because then the Pads owe all of Kemps money….but you know they will try to keep Greinke after next year and that will cost them plenty…..I really think they will make a real effort to dump Ethier if he does not win the CF job in spring..

          13. Michael i agree it will depend on the Spring. The problem with the Spring is for the first three weeks you have really bad pitching as you have Major League guys trying out new pitchers, arm slots etc and not shaking it out and Minor League destined guys so it is very hard to judge. It is almost like batting practice. It is only the last week or so the pitchers get dead serious. It all depends on how Peterson does i think, We know that Ethier has not hit Lefties for a few years, thankfully Van Slyke does. Heisey looks like just an average outfielder from his stats. I think unless Peterson really flops and he shouldn’t as he has hit Spring Type pitching really well, they will break camp with him in center. So I think they start with Ethier on the bench as insurance and wait for a contending team to get an outfielder hurt later in the year.

          14. Hate to burst your bubble…but stats do not lie…..Pederson is 8-50 in 3 spring training seasons….works out to a .160 average…and that is not going to impress anyone….last spring he hit .184 with 3 HR’s and 6 RBI’s. He struck out 13 times and walked 7…his OBP was a paltry .311. Heisey is known as a good glove. Not much of a hitter, but he has about as much pop as Crawford….If Ethier does not win the job, you can bet there will be a push to move him.

          15. All that tells me is he was pressing like crazy as he has hit in the Minors consistently. As you know set records at Triple A. What I am concerned about is the strikeouts at the Major League level. He had numbers even better than Van Slyke’s and Van Slyke had crazy numbers.

          16. First off, he did not set records….a lot of people said that. what he did was become the first PCL player in 40 years to have 30 homers and 30 steals. He has only played 1 year at AAA line was .303 33 HR 78 ribbies. He struck out 143 times in 445 at bats….which is way too much…he did draw 100 walks and had an OPS of 1.017 good, and a .582 slugging Pct. also good. SVS has never really played a full season at AAA. He has been at Alb 3 times and never played more than 95 games there. His best was that year when he was .327 with 18 dingers and 67 ribbies. SVS has done something Pederson never did..he had 2 100 RBI years in the minors. Pederson’s most was last years 78 which for 33 dingers is pretty paltry. The kid will be 23…Another AAA year if he does not win the starting job is not going to kill him….And also you will get a much better idea of what he really is since they have moved the AAA team to Okie City. Guys who had better seasons than his at Alb include Greg Brock who was .310 44 HR’s and 138 RBI’s. Billy Ashley who had a .345 37 HR 105 RBI year…

    2. I think Baez has promise, but he needs some time to develop and not make too many mistake pitches for home runs.

  2. I think they have significantly upgraded the bullpen as I have said in other posts. But I think they still need a “miss the bat” pitcher in tight situations you can use in the 6th or 7th inning to get out of the inning and the bases loaded jam.

  3. And oh yeah……..surprise…League is still on the team……and just so you know…he is the only reliever who did not give up a dinger last year..k ratio almost 5 to 1

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