Dodgers Team News

The Dodgers Might Be in Serious Trouble

According to a report from Bleacher Report’s Dan Federico, there are rumors swirling that the Los Angeles Dodgers could be in some deep trouble. 

Something that is important to note with this report is the lack of support from other league sources. Federico is the only person to report on this situation up to this point, so it should be interesting to see if anything progresses with this.



A Little History

Back in the offseason of 2017, the Atlanta Braves, whom Federico alluded to, were stripped of thirteen international prospects, had GM John Coppolella permanently banned from baseball, and had heavy restrictions placed on future signings of Latin American international prospects. If word that Federico is receiving from his sources does turn out to be true, it would obviously be an enormous blow to the franchise and would somewhat stain the Dodgers’ reputation around Major League Baseball.

However, when looking at all the information that we have when considering this situation, it remains unlikely that restrictions to the magnitude of what Atlanta received will be levied on Los Angeles.

Possible Outcomes

At the current stage, the international free agent class that is most susceptible to a possible seizure of talent is the one from 2015-2016. Prospects like Yadier Alvarez, Omar Estevez, Starling Heredia, and Carlos Rincon all came out of that class. Outside of those four names, most of the prospects involved in that class are no longer playing for the Dodgers organization, like Yusniel Diaz and Oneil Cruz.

Because of this fact, potential restrictions would most likely be placed on future international signings rather than current members of the organization, dissimilar to Atlanta’s situation in 2017.

Although it seems unlikely at the current moment, 2017-2018 IFA signings C Diego Cartaya and RHP Jerming Rosario could be forced into free agency. This situation would be similar to what occurred with top prospect Kevin Maitan who went from the Braves organization to the Angels organization as a part of the penalties against Atlanta.

Also, as much as some fans would love it, Friedman is probably not going to get ousted. It is not entirely out of the question, but it is not very likely either.

Immediately after the report came out, a fantastic thread was posted by @FutureDodgers who typically gives fantastic insight on all international signings and prospects for the Dodgers.

Considerations

The Dodgers made an international signing in Lin Huei-Sheng, whom I wrote about just last week. If the front office feels comfortable enough to make a signing on the international market, I think we should feel just as comfortable that heavy penalties will not be placed on the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Another aspect to consider is that teams absolutely have to be scared of what happened to Atlanta. Why would the Dodgers try to play against the rules and do something like this? Friedman has credibility and has been in the MLB for a long while. Farhan Zaidi has credibility. Gabe Kapler has credibility as the current manager of the Phillies and former Director of Player Development for LA. Chances are, if any of this story is remotely true, subordinates of the front office’s major players most likely are to blame.

Only time will tell, but I would personally advise not to be scared. The Dodgers should be fine. Let’s just hope for the best!

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Daniel Preciado

My name is Daniel Preciado and I am 19 years old. I am a sophomore Sport Analytics major and Cognitive Science and Economics dual minor at Syracuse University. When I am not in New York, I live in Whittier, California --- not too far from Chavez Ravine. I am pretty old-school for being an analytics guy and I will always embrace debate. Also, Chase Utley did absolutely nothing wrong.

3 Comments

  1. In 2015 the Dodgers dismissed Vice President of International Scouting Bob Engel, Latin America Scouting Coordinator Patrick Guerrero, Dominican Republic Scouting Coordinator Franklin Taveras, Director of International and Minor League Relations Joseph Reaves, International Player Performance Rafael Colon, Senior Manager of international Scouting Hidenori Sueyoshi, and Latin America Field Coordinator Bruce Hurst. Could there be a link between these terminations and alleged conduct? If yes, then penalties, if any, could be minimized by Dodgers implementing immediate action after learning of inappropriate actions by its International Scouting department.

  2. What about the tens of millions the Dodgers have given to latin players that never amount to much and then fade away?

  3. This should prove to be a most interesting week for the Dodgers. Lets hope a right handed batter is acquired.

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