Dodgers: Three Questions Entering Spring Training

With Dodgers’ pitchers and catchers set reporting yesterday, there are some questions that will likely be solved in Spring Training.

The Dodgers have had a strange offseason thus far, seemingly making a lot of moves, but really just kinda replacing one pitcher with two pitchers. That’s an oversimplified way of looking at it, but the Dodgers return eight of their nine opening-day starters from last year. By my count, 19 of their 25-man opening day roster from 2015 are back this season, which is sort of misleading because Kenley Jansen and Enrique Hernandez weren’t on last years’ opening day roster (Darwin Barney was??).

With about six weeks until opening day, there’s still a bit of time to make a move or two to finalize the roster. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, there’s also still a bit of time for injuries to derail plans. Hyun-jin Ryu isn’t guaranteed to be ready for Opening Day and  Micah Johnson lost a fight with an avocado and received stitches on his finger, you know, normal baseball injuries.

With about the regular season opener coming up on April 4th, there are still plenty of questions to be answered.

Next: Leadoff Man

What will happen with Alex Guerrero?

With pretty clear-cut starters at most positions, the Dodgers’ bench seems full as well. A.J. Ellis will hopefully be the backup catcher forever. With Howie Kendrick re-signed, Chase Utley and Enrique Hernandez will be super-subs on the bench. Scott Van Slyke and Carl Crawford will likely be on the bench as well, as fourth and fifth outfielders. Van Slyke also bring value at first base, providing much needed days of rest for Adrian Gonzalez.

That would be a fine and clean bench, but Guerrero’s lovely contract all but guarantees him a spot on the Dodgers’ bench. Guerrero cannot be send to the minors without his permission. His trade value is incredibly low, as he started last season on fire and cooled off dramatically. His inability to really play any position on defense also hurts his trade value and if that wasn’t enough, he can become a free agent at the end of any season during which he’s traded.

The Dodgers are more or less stuck with Guerrero, meaning one of the deserving bench players could be forced to start the season in the minors or another move could be on the horizon. Van Slyke and Hernandez can be sent to the minors, but their positional versatility and ability to mash left handed pitching will be vital on the major league level.

The Dodgers are reportedly trying to find a suitor for Guerrero, and one of our writers tried to find a landing spot for him. As a DH he could absolutely have some value, but the combination of contract and ability will likely mean the Dodgers won’t get much for him. It’s really hard to see a way that Guerrero cracks the opening day roster, but crazier things have happened.

Next: 2-5 in the Rotation?

After Kershaw, how will the rotation look?

Clayton Kershaw would be the number 1 on literally every baseball team right now. He would probably be the number 1 on any team for the last five years.

For the first time in the last three years, the Dodgers don’t have another number 1 behind Kershaw. Zack Greinke, who would also have been an ace on most other teams, left for a whole lot of money in Arizona. The Dodgers patched that hole up by signing Scott Kazmir and Kenta Maeda, who combined will make less annually than Greinke will. Those additions, plus the returns of Brett Anderson and Alex Wood, the potential return of Hyun-jin Ryu, and the eventual return of Brandon McCarthy leave the Dodgers with a potential six-or-seven-man battle for five rotation spots.

According to Rizzo, Ryu will pitch in Spring Training, but it’s still unknown when that will be. He’s also not a lock to be on the opening day roster, but pitching earlier in Spring Training will help his chances of starting the season on the active roster.

If Ryu isn’t ready, the rotation should be set with (in no order) Kazmir, Maeda, Anderson and Wood backing up Kershaw. A healthy Ryu complicates things a bit, but the Dodgers are in a great position where they can afford to wait for him and McCarthy to be 100 percent rather than rushing them back early. Even after this handful of pitchers, the Dodgers could stretch out Joe Blanton or see if Mike Bolsinger can capture some of the magic he had early on last year. The bottom line is that even though the Dodgers lost a key piece at the top of their rotation, they’ve replaced that with depth and over a long season, that should pay dividends.

Next: Conclusion

Conclusion

With Spring Training only a couple weeks away, it’s finally time to start shifting into game mode. The offseason was long and tedious at times, with seemingly everything going wrong for the Dodgers over the span of two or three weeks. The fact remains, no team has ever won a division or a world series in the offseason, and pretty much every team has to play 162 or more games.

The Dodgers seem to have their team set, but it still comes with a few questions that could be resolved during the coming weeks. The Giants and Diamondbacks both spent a lot of money this offseason while the Dodgers didn’t. On paper, it looks like both of those teams improbed while the Dodgers stayed roughly the same, but games aren’t won on paper. The new coaching staff will be met with the same expectations as Mattingly and Co., as the Dodgers are in a position where division crowns just aren’t good enough anymore.

Next: Vin Scully Will Announce Four Spring Training Games