Point your ear in the direction of Chavez Ravine, and you'll hear the sound of silence. So far, the eerily quiet Los Angeles Dodgers have been letting other clubs dictate the MLB offseason's headlines.
Let's put this in the "Probably Not Gonna Last" file. Knowing their situation, the Dodgers' silence is likely the calm before the eruption.
Granted, the Dodgers haven't been twiddling their thumbs since their 2014 season ended at the hands of the St. Louis Cardinals in the National League Division Series. They didn't wait until the rest of the postseason was in the bag to give their front office the ol' Etch-a-Sketch treatment.
First came Andrew Friedman from the Tampa Bay Rays to be the Dodgers' new president of baseball operations. He turned on a tractor beam that attracted Farhan Zaidi to be the team's new general manager, and he also brought in former San Diego Padres execs Josh Byrnes and Billy Gasparino and former big leaguer Gabe Kapler.
That's a dandy of a front office, and Friedman made no secret of what's going to allow them to work together.
"For us, information is king," Friedman said, via True Blue LA, "and it's about having people who appreciate that and can synthesize that to put us in the best position to make decisions."
In theory, this is the right idea. But in practice...well, we don't know yet. Rather than additions, the Dodgers' offseason since the overhaul of their front office has been defined by departures.
When Hanley Ramirez signed with the Boston Red Sox, the Dodgers lost a shortstop who contributed an .817 OPS to their lineup in 2014. With Josh Beckett retired and Roberto Hernandez, Kevin Correia, Chris Perez and Jamey Wright floating on the free-agent waters, the Dodgers have also lost a few pitchers.
They need an impact bat and/or an impact shortstop as well as both starting pitching and bullpen help. Also on their list of needs, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com, is an upgrade at catcher.
At their old gigs, Friedman and Zaidi likely would have been forced to solve these needs either in-house or with bargain-bin additions. With trades for Joel Peralta and Juan Nicasio being their biggest moves to date, it may seem like they're going to stick to what they know.
But don't count on it.
There's the reality that the Dodgers' new-look front office works for an ownership group that has made it abundantly clear that it's hell-bent on doing whatever it must to win the World Series. And though the Dodgers didn't need further motivation, the San Francisco Giants just provided some with their third World Series victory in five years.
There's the incentive for Friedman, Zaidi and the rest of the new front office to start making headlines. Just as important, they have the means, too.
The Dodgers aren't lacking in trade assets. They have a farm system that B/R's Mike Rosenbaum rated seventh in MLB in September as well as an outfield surplus that could be solved by dealing Matt Kemp, Carl Crawford or Andre Ethier.
And the Dodgers have money. It's of some concern that they already have about $200 million committed for 2015, but even that's a petty amount for a club that gets well over $200 million a year from its TV deal alone.
Add it all up, and there's enough ingredients for an offseason resembling the third act of a Michael Bay movie. You need not consult the rumor mill for further proof to get a sense that the Dodgers will make some noise eventually.
But what the heck. Let's do that anyway.
Solving the Outfield Logjam
This could very well be the first domino to fall. And given the names involved, any trade the Dodgers make to resolve their outfield logjam is going to be a big one.
But it's sounding more and more like it will be a very big one. Though the initial word from Joel Sherman of the New York Post was that the Dodgers were telling teams they preferred to deal Crawford or Ethier, more recent rumors have suggested a Kemp deal is absolutely possible.
After slugging 25 homers and OPS'ing .852 in 2014, Kemp is a fit for anyone in a league starved for right-handed thump. According to Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports, two interested parties are the San Diego Padres and Baltimore Orioles:
In Yasmani Grandal and stud prospect Austin Hedges, the Padres have catchers that could appeal to the Dodgers if talks find a way to progress. In the likes of Kevin Gausman, Dylan Bundy and Hunter Harvey, the Orioles have pitching that could appeal to them.
Or maybe the Dodgers will ship Kemp to the Pacific Northwest. Jon Morosi of Fox Sports has reported the Seattle Mariners' interest in Kemp, and their signing of Nelson Cruz doesn't necessarily nix that. Bob Dutton of The (Tacoma) News Tribune says the Mariners still want a right fielder.
At the worst, a Kemp deal could probably land the Dodgers one of Seattle's two shortstops (Brad Miller and Chris Taylor) and one of their many talented relievers. Or they could target Taijuan Walker or James Paxton, either of whom would be a high-ceiling addition to their rotation.
Mind you, the Dodgers don't need to deal Kemp to solve their various question marks. There are other ways they could do so...
Finding Starting Pitching Help
In early October, Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com wrote that the Dodgers would spend their winter "searching for No. 4 and 5 starters (think Dan Haren) rather than somebody who would slide in front of Hyun-Jin Ryu."
Even if that's true, the Dodgers could still make an impact signing. Names like Justin Masterson, Brandon Morrow and Brett Anderson come to mind. Any of the three would be affordable but would also resemble the kind of high-ceiling reclamation projects that Friedman and Zaidi had success with in their old gigs.
But don't rule out the Dodgers going big. Here's this from Bob Nightengale of USA Today:
Trading for Cole Hamels would likely require the Dodgers to turn over a handful of prospects for the Philadelphia Phillies. But since they have just the farm system for the job, it could happen.
Of course, trading for Hamels might also mean taking on the roughly $100 million he's still owed. If the Dodgers are apparently to at least consider that, it's worth speculating that maybe they could swoop in and nab James Shields.
As for the bullpen that was such an issue in 2014...
Finding Bullpen Help
Truth be told, there might not actually be much left to do on this front. The Dodgers added a solid reliever when they traded for Peralta, and Nicasio's fastball-slider mix might make him a good reliever.
However, the Dodgers could get creative. One way they could do that is by signing Morrow not as a starter but as a reliever. Saxon proposed this idea, and for good reason:
Rather than go for an experiment like Morrow, the Dodgers could always go for a sure thing by signing a left-hander who just posted a 2.02 ERA and 6.06 K/BB ratio in 2014.
There's one of those out there, you know, and ESPN's Buster Olney says he's on the Dodgers' radar:
Olney's not wrong. If the Dodgers add Miller, they'll be giving Kenley Jansen—he of the 2.30 ERA and 97 saves since 2012—the setup man he never had in 2014.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball...
Finding a Shortstop
If the Dodgers make a move for a shortstop, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com says it will be for a stopgap option to hold down the fort until top prospect Corey Seager is ready.
Even so, said stopgap option could still be a big-name addition.
Among the Dodgers' options on the open market are Stephen Drew, Jed Lowrie and Asdrubal Cabrera. Among their options on the trade market are Jimmy Rollins and Alexei Ramirez, who Bob Nightengale said the Dodgers were "aggressively pursuing" as recently as mid-November:
There's a chance that the Dodgers will stay in-house with their shortstop options. They could hand the job to defensive wizard Erisbel Arruebarrena or the more offensively inclined Alexander Guerrero. Another option is Guerrero taking over at second base with Dee Gordon moving back to shortstop.
But if they do that, their preference to upgrade at catcher could become a true need to upgrade. If so, they'll have options.
Finding a Catcher Upgrade
Earlier this offseason, the Dodgers were rumored to be interested in a reunion with Russell Martin. Once he signed with the Toronto Blue Jays, the open market sadly became devoid of legit catcher upgrades.
The trade market, however, is not.
One option is Houston Astros catcher Jason Castro, who Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe has reported may be available. Another is Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero, who Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic says has already drawn the Dodgers' interest.
With either catcher, the Dodgers would be landing one of the best strike-framers in the business. They'd also be adding a left-handed bat with power, thereby giving Adrian Gonzalez some company in that department.
Way back when, we started with a sneaking suspicion that the Dodgers' silence so far this winter is a case of them lying in the weeds. After looking at the holes they have to fill, the incentive and means they have to fill them, and the various names on their radar, them finishing the offseason with a flourish no longer feels like a sneaking suspicion.
It feels like a certainty.
Note: Stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted/linked. Contract and payroll information courtesy of Cot's Baseball Contracts.
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