Dodgers: MLB Insider Sees LA Finding Chris Taylor Replacement via Trade
We’re in that weird little lull in the offseason where we can find almost anything Dodgers related posted by reputable insider and take the opportunity to explore the concept. For example, a recent article from The Athletic opined that, in the case of free agent Chris Taylor, LA may be more inclined to explore the trade market over engaging in a bidding war for the utility man.
Of course, Taylor is currently on the open market and, after rejecting an $18.4 million qualifying offer, is free to engage with any club as a free agent. Experts predict a contract in the neighborhood of 4 years and $64 million — $16 million annually — which might be a little more than the Dodgers are willing to swallow in an offseason that saw 11 other key free agents walk.
With that, Andy McCullough shared his thoughts on Taylor returning to the Dodgers, offering the following line.
Someone is going to need to replace Chris Taylor. Maybe even more likely than a reunion with Chris Taylor or a mega-contract with Kris Bryant would be if Friedman identified a utility man or two via trade.
Chris Taylor Rejects Dodgers Offer, Tigers Interested in CT3, Who Will he Sign for & for How Much?
There really isn’t a more Andrew Friedman move than finding quality talent amongst the minor league levels of other organizations. Although the argument could be made that former Dodger GM Farhan Zaidi may have been the front office guy with the keener eye considering most of LA’s best low risk, high reward moves were made under his watch…
…Enrique Hernandez, Austin Barnes, Dylan Floro, Max Muncy, and Chris Taylor all were picked up with Farhan as the GM. These are guys that had gone as far as they could with their previous organizations before becoming important role players in LA.
Not to say Friedman hasn’t had his success stories in the years since Zaidi jumped ship for San Francisco. Although the list is much shorter with Phil Bickford and Alex Vesia as the true standouts.
Where Friedman is king is in pulling off the blockbuster deal (hello Yu/Mookie/Trea/Max).
If Andrew’s plan is to find the next great Dodger diamond in the rough that can fill the shoes of Chris Taylor, he’ll have to do a lot better than he attempted last year with Sheldon Neuse. Or, you know, just pony up to re-sign Chris Taylor and be done with it.
NEXT: Tigers Have Reached Out to Agents of Corey Seager and Chris Taylor
PONY UP DODGERS , AND SIGN WHO WE NEED TO SIGN PERIOD!!!!
What’s wrong with re-signing both Seager and CT….Seager to 3rd, Trea to SS, Lux to 2nd and Muncy to 1st and CT to spell anyone of them
Taylor is probably looking for a starting gig… like Kike Hernandez last year. Count him gone, in my book. The Dodgers can’t or won’t guarantee him a starting gig at any of his positions.
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Seager has refused to play anywhere else other than shortstop. He is as good as gone since Scott Boras is his agent.
Pony up, resign Taylor and be done with it.
He’s a perfect fit…and we could guarantee him X # of games at 2nd base…plus he knows we fans love the guy! Who wants to live in Detroit anyway…yuck!
Taylor has versatility and offense; you don’t typically find both in utility men. He’s worth $64 for 4 if 4 of it is via incentives. Do it!
Please just get it done. CT is to valuable to let him walk.
I would sign Taylor unless he gets offered a crazy contract in length, money, or both!
Sign him. Can’t keep removing key pieces and expect the same result, especially chemistry. If it ain’t broken don’t fix it, add to it.
I can only hope McCullough is way off base. Dodgers CANNOT LET CT3 WALK! PERIOD! And if Freidman does, honestly I hope Dodgers miss October, they would desrve to.
Amen to that, Rainbird. Just like KIke, Taylor would be contending for a Gold Glove if he was holding down just 1 position. Not many utility-type players out there like that who also hit with a bit of pop. Taylor was making 7+ last year, so we’re basically talking 10 mil more. Was he worth that for us? I would say so.
Get CT3 back and sign Kris Bryant also.
Friedman wiffed badly this year on finding those types. I think his luck has run out
True, Don. Al those Triple A fill ins for those injuries were nothing but a flop in 2021.
We all love CT3, the FO does as well, so we will counter any offer made to him. If he leaves after that, then we’ll know it’s the Drrrrrrrr factor, just like it was for Kike’ and joc…
It’s obvious that Faidi was the true brains of the organization before he left. Look what he has done for the Giants and what he has done transforming their farm system.
Hey bud, it’s Zaidi…..
Well CT3 would certainly be in there basically every day pretty much as he was this year. And any other team interested in him would be because of his versatility. But the FO needs to recognize soon enough if Drrrr has a hand at alienating some players. Unfortunately, our only chance of seeing a manager change is if iDodgers fall flat out of contention in 2022 and it’s seen that he has lost the clubhouse
Don we can always count on you to offer a cynical, negative perspective. What’s really bothering you?
We can always count on shiIIs like you Bohemian to not mention the obvious failures and repeated mistakes. Our bench was full of Jed Gyrkos circa 2019
Swish!!!!!!
Exactly, Don.
Pujols was effective. The bench was 3rd level AAA players because of the injuries to Rios (who earned the spot in the previous year) and McKinstry (who was effective early.) Bellinger and Betts injuries pushed CT3 into starting every game. No doubt Ruiz would’ve helped if he wasn’t traded to get Turner.
CT3 is the kind of player that should be signed for at least 4 years. I would sign him for 6 years at $80-85 million. In 6 years, $14 million will be a bargain. He has the durability to stay healthy for most of this period and his skills are critical.
Surrrre… waste a lot money on a utility player who strikes a lot.
If they were willing to spend like that they just should have kept kike.
No, they need to explore a trade for another good utility player.
Other than that they need to some good hitters who more than adequate defensively, and some good pitchers on the cheap (Braves showed you do not need mega million dollar starters to win a WS).
IDK but why deplete our farm system of more prospects just to trade for another utility player. The Dodger farm took a huge hit last year to get Scherzer and Trea and that would have gone a lot better had Dodgers at least got to the WS..
Yeah and that is looking like a big mistake.
Dodgers need offense and third base man more than they need an overpriced utility player who strtikes out alot.
How about trading Trea or betts or both to cleveland for Jose Rameriz and a pitcher and utility player?
Or trade them the nationals for Soto and Ruiz. Nats probably don’t want trea back.
A utility player is just not that important if you have good starters and a couple of good backups. And not some .160 hitters who should not even be in league.
Betts is a bad contract and trea ain’t going to stay after next season.
That’s just it. The Dodgers at the present anyway do not have any reliable backups. This year, other than Taylor, those backups from Triple A were nothing short of horrific, showing they are NOT MLB material.
We had a nice run. Time to restock the farm and get ready for a strike. These salaries con not sustain themselves.
Hmmm … Rios and McKinstry are both MLB material and there’s help on way with Busch and Vargas. They are expected to contribute in 2022. The team should sign Kershaw on team-friendly terms and need to sign Taylor, Knebel, and Pujols. Scherzer would be nice on a short-term deal but, if not, bring on the kids (Pepiot, Miller, Knack, and Jackson.) Ferguson and Kahnle will be back as well.
That will never happen. You must be high on something.
And filling in today for Df4L and Bayside is D-Prince…..
disagree, keep betts andt.turner
If the Dodgers let Taylor get away it will be a HUGE mistake! He’s the most versatile play we have & is always agreeable to play any position he’s needed at. The days of one player only at one position are gone. The Dodgers should give CT3 whatever the market will allow, for 4-5 years. I would rather see Seager go to save money. Trea Turner is a good short stop & put CT3 at second base, or at any other position he is needed if someone is out hurt. CT3 is one of the most dependable players we have. If they think Lux is the guy to take Taylor’s place they will be sorry! If the Dodgers want to stay in contention for the WS they need to keep as many of our current players as possible.
Taylor is a Dodger and should remain just that. 3rd base will be his permanent position . Turner to DH. 14 M for each year is a very fair deal. Angels just signed Syndergard for 21 M/yr and this not knowing how well he might do after TJ surgery.
Lets get this done now, show #3 the dotted line and hand him a pen!
The Dodgers needlessly spent 280 million last year and what did that net them?
Spending a lot money is not necessarily the answer just ask the Braves and the Giants.
Spending smartly, now that is something else….
It would have worked if the Dodgers had a competent Manager….
Good morning, Kirk. I just got trough breakfast and at the same time had to endure a Drrrrr interview with Alana Rizzo on High Heat on MLBN. THAT was tough to do!.
Man Paul, I could watch Alana anytime, anyday. What a beauty she is…It’s so bad with Drrrrrrr anymore , all he wants to be is a cheer leader and a Movie star. I have the Dodgers channel on my Direct T.v.. and about 3/4 of their shows are Drrrrrr welcoming some famous athlete to Dodgers stadium, and he hugs them and is all giddy acting like he’s known them for 20 years. I’m over the fact that we’ll have to wait for another title as long as he’s patting himself and the slackers on the back while enjoying Spa days.
I live in So. Oregon so the Dodger channel is not part of my package. Correct about Alana though. Only thing was hearing her say Drrrr was her manager of the year. Most likely as a puppet he was given direction in that interview, IDK.
Yeah Paul, they’ll coddle Drrrrrr no matter how inept he is. It’s always 106 wins, 5 division titles, and when he blows it like this year, it’s going to be about all the injuries. Never calling him out on the blunders which we talked about as they were happening. But hey, for all we know , maybe regular season wins and cheerleaders are all the FO wants.
Wouldn’t it be ironic if Taylor returns to Seattle…?
disagree keep betts znd t.tuener
Come on, Friedman…resign Kershaw. Resign Joe K. Resign Resigning CT3 is a must. Seager can go wherever he wants, although it it would be nice to keep him. We still have Tres Turner under another year of team control, which gives the team this coming year to hammer out an extension. Kenley…another nice to have, although he’s kind of lost his edge a bit, but Trinen is a good fit. Danny Duffy?? Good idea on paper but who vetted him physically. He’ll probably never pitch in Dodger Blue. Scherzer would be another nice to have, but he’s 37 & has expressed an interest in S.F. & S.D. It might be a good idea to try to resign him just to keep him out of the NL West…I dunno.
I HATE all these off-season rumors/speculation. No one player stays with the same team their entire career anymore. Being a professional athlete, in ANY sport, has become less about team loyalty (forget about the fans) and all about the $$. These guys are entitled to seek out the highest payday they can, but it SUCKS to be a fan. I see Kersh MAYBE taking a cut to stay here, but understand why he wants to go to the Rangers. The sport needs more Justin Turners. He did what he had to do to stay in LA. He might not be the best at the hot corner, but he understands how much the fans love & appreciate him. I hope the rest of these guys take a lesson from JT.
Given his D and O there is good reason to believe that without CT3 we would not have reached the WS in 2020 or likely gotten by the Cards in the WC game. SIGN him now!