Dodgers’ Offseason Grades Highly on FanGraphs

There’s a lot of negativity about the Dodgers’ offseason, but FanGraphs recently ranked every teams’ offseason and the Dodgers ranked in the top-10.

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The Dodgers had a very divisive offseason. I don’t think anyone likes that

isn’t a Dodger anymore and the failed

trade and

signing left a bad taste in people’s mouths.

On the other hand, the Dodgers added a pair of pitchers in addition to a pair of injured pitchers set to return at some point. They kept most off the offense the same, but replaced Jimmy Rollins with consensus top prospect Corey Seager. Joe Blanton was the big addition to the Dodger bullpen, and while he was great in relief last year, Dodger fans aren’t exactly over the moon about the signing.

FanGraphs has been a huge proponent of the Dodgers this season. The site is very high on the Dodgers, giving them the highest projected starting pitcher WAR, second-highest projected relief pitcher WAR and the third-highest projected batter WAR in all of baseball.

Dave Cameron graded the offseason for all 30 MLB teams, and the Dodgers graded rather highly. Cameron gave three teams a B+ grade including the Dodgers. The Dodgers were also the sixth-highest rated offseason, only behind the Braves, White Sox, Mets, Brewers and Cubs.

Cameron called the Dodgers offseason polarizing, but his belief is that spreading money around is a better way to win games than splurging on one or two high-priced players. He also pointed to good value deals in Blanton and Howie Kendrick, and liked the prospect upgrade the Dodgers received in the trade with the White Sox and Reds.

The Dodgers had the highest-graded offseason in the NL West. The Giants also had a very solid offseason, with Cameron giving them a B- (eighth overall). The Padres also received a B- for their partial rebuild and came in 11th overall. The other two teams in the West did not fare as well, as the Rockies and Diamondbacks had Cameron’s two worst offseasons, with grades of D- and D, respectively.

Cameron acknowledged that he didn’t give the Diamondbacks a poor grade for the crazy amount of money they spent signing Greinke. He was more perplexed by the price they paid for Shelby Miller, giving up a solid major league outfielder and two top prospects for Miller. Add in the confusing acquisition of Jean Segura for two other prospects, and the Diamondbacks had a strange offseason. They have three of the best players in the division, but a lot of question marks after Greinke, Paul Goldschmidt and A.J. Pollock.

Next: Alex Wood Reportedly Pitched Hurt Last Season

This is just another piece of literature to remind Dodger fans that losing Greinke isn’t the end of the world and isn’t enough to take the Dodgers from three-time NL West champion to third place in the division. I’ve said a billion times that games aren’t won on paper, but the Dodgers are still in a good position. Whether or not they have a better team than they did last year is debatable and the gap between the Dodgers and Giants might be closer, but there isn’t a reason to believe the West isn’t still the Dodgers’ for the taking.