Dodgers: Storylines to Watch at the Winter Meetings

The Dodgers and the rest of the leagues’ front office executives will arrive in Las Vegas tomorrow looking to start wheeling and dealing to improve their teams for the 2019 season.

The Dodgers and the rest of the league have spent the past several weeks revisiting their 2018 season and dissected every aspect of it.  What went wrong, what went right, and where they got unlucky and lucky.  Andrew Friedman and his large group of assistants is sure to have mapped out a plan for how to tackle this off-season coming off a second consecutive World Series defeat.

After extending Dave Roberts and filling out the holes in their coaching staff, the Dodgers will be ready to roll the dice in Las Vegas and try to pull off some big moves.  After two straight World Series losses, the Dodgers cannot go into the 2019 season with the same roster and expect different results in the World Series unless some changes are made.  Here are the Dodger storylines to watch at the 2018 winter meetings.

How Serious are the Dodgers About Harper?

There was plenty of buzz generated earlier in the week when it was reported that Magic Johnson went with Dodger brass to visit Bryce Harper and try to recruit him to LA.  While Magic has denied going on the recruitment trip, the Dodgers did meet with Harper and are most likely going to meet with his agent Scott Boras once again in Las Vegas.  The main question is how serious are the Dodgers about Harper?

The Dodgers have not been a team willing to shell out giant long-term commitments like the one that Bryce Harper is going to command during the Andrew Friedman era but there have not been many free agents who could one day end up in Cooperstown during the Friedman era either.  Los Angeles is about star power, the Lakers got LeBron and even the neighbors down south have Mike Trout.

While the Dodgers have plenty of young emerging stars, none of them are megastars like Bryce Harper.  For a team trying to get over the World Series hump, Harper is exactly the type of player that would give the Dodgers’ lineup the type of power needed to compete with the loaded lineups of the American League.  While Harper may not sign by the end of the meetings, it should be clear by the end of them just how serious the Dodgers are about Bryce Harper.

Will the Dodgers Upgrade Their Rotation?

The Dodgers and Indians have been linked for what feels like months now.  The Indians are looking to reallocate some of their financial resources and in return are willing to deal away Corey Kluber or Trevor Bauer.  The Dodgers are a perfect trade fit for the Indians who are looking to rebuild their outfield and the Dodgers always have a surplus of outfielders.

The Dodgers also have a surplus of starting pitchers but amongst them all, only Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler are elite.  Hyun-Jin Ryu proved he cannot pitch on the road in the postseason and while Rich Hill has been great every postseason for the Dodgers, he should be counted on as nothing more than their fourth playoff starter since he will be thirty-nine years old next postseason.

Adding an elite starter like Bauer or Kluber would give the Dodgers’ rotation a much better chance of silencing a potent American League lineup if they find themselves in the fall classic again next October.  Sure the Dodgers have enough starting pitchers and some potential breakout players like Julio Urias, but if they want to get over the WS hump, they need proven talent like Corey Kluber.

Who Starts at Catcher for the Dodgers in 2019?

With the likely departure of Yasmani Grandal, the Dodgers are left with a ton of catching prospects but none of them figure to be ready for the beginning of the 2019 season.  The Dodgers currently have Austin Barnes penciled in as their starting catcher although his bat failed miserably in 2018.  Still, it was only a season ago where Barnes took over for Grandal and looked like a top ten catcher in baseball.

The Dodgers could choose to begin the season with Barnes and upgrade later on if necessary.  Will Smith is the closest catching prospect to being big league ready but the Dodgers will likely sign at least another catcher who can backup Barnes.  Then there is also the all-star catcher that is on the trading block in J.T. Realmuto.  The Marlins asking price is high but that could come down after the Marlins realize what his true trade price is.

The Dodgers have shown interest in Martin Maldonado and are sure to show interest in several other free agent and trade options during the winter meetings.  While catcher is a premium defensive position, the Dodgers need to make sure they have two quality defensive catchers in 2019.  Barnes is one, but they still need one more.

Which Outfielders get Dealt?

The Dodgers currently have a surplus of outfielders and need to figure out which to keep and which to trade away.  While Matt Kemp had a resurgent season this year, you have to wonder just how much he has left in the tank and he is an obvious one to trade.  Outside of the Kemp the Dodgers also need to figure out what to do with Alex Verdugo.

Verdugo has spent the last two seasons in Triple-A and has nothing left to prove in the minor leagues.  While he may not ever be a star, Verdugo is a solid leadoff type outfielder who will play solid defense with a rocket arm.  If the Dodgers are not going to start Verdugo in 2019, they are better off trading him away and cashing their trade chip in while his value is still high.

If the Dodgers are sold on Verdugo and starting him, then Joc Pederson and Yasiel Puig are two candidates to be traded. Joc Pederson would make more sense for a team like the Indians since he has two seasons of control left while Puig is entering a contract year.  Someone needs to be moved and that will likely happen at the winter meetings.