Dodgers Rumor Round Up: Corey Kluber, Free Agent, Outfield
What word would you use to describe this? Quiet? Silent? The Dodgers offseason has been all of the above and there is no sign that’s going to change.
Bryce Harper is almost certainly not going to be a Dodger and Manny Machado was never going to be. The Dodgers traded for a catcher, yes, but I would go out on a limb to say Russell Martin was not the one you had in mind.
Regardless, it has not been a bust. The team did add Joe Kelly, Martin, some minor league players and an international free agent with the offseason a few weeks from coming to an end. There is still no way to predict what will happen but there are some rumblings around the league that pertain to the Dodgers and they are all worth note.
In this edition of Dodgers Rumor Round-Up, we will look at what the team has going on for it with roughly a month to go before pitchers and catcher report for Spring Training.
If you asked me a month ago what I thought about the prospect of having Corey Kluber on the Dodgers I would have told you I am all for the idea. An ace pitcher with two highly effective pitches and an arsenal of great ones behind them, Kluber would have been as good a compliment to Clayton Kershaw as you can get.
Ask me the same question today and the answer is different. I’m on the fence. I’m on the fence not because Kluber has changed or because his financial status has changed but because of new teams now in the mix for the Indians’ All-Star.
The Padres have jumped in the race. Originally when they hopped on this ship it was speculated that they were using their elite farm system to up the Dodgers price in a potential trade. But, as time went on it became more and more clear the Padres had a real interest in Kluber and the ultimate desire would be to flip him to the Reds for Nick Senzel.
Back to my point.
If the Padres are involved the Dodgers will quickly lose the ability to comfortably compete with the Padres’ offer. The Padres have the combination of young major league talent an amazing prospects to outbid the Dodgers and that is not a battle I think the Dodgers are interested in fighting.
Is a trade for Kluber still possible? Yes. But the Dodgers should tread with caution at this point.
As far as moves that truly get me excited the Dodgers have made two and walked laps around a couple more. One of the two that makes me excited is the addition of 20-year old Taiwanese right-hander Lin Hui-Sheng.
Sheng’s career is still young but according to reports he has dealt with some injuries in the early part of his fresh career. Despite that, Sheng has been scouted throwing 95 and scouts have said the righty has some solid potential.
The 20-year old throws a four-pitch mix consisting of a fastball, curveball, slider and the rare but incredible forkball.
Stats are hard to come by and I couldn’t get to them so Lin Hui-Sheng remains a bit of a mystery to me but the prospect of a reliever throwing 95 mph with a change of pace forkball has me very excited.
If you are a fan of Alex Verdugo or are thinking about investing your fandom in him, now is the time to do so. After roughly two seasons in Triple-A and a blockade of outfielder stashed in the majors, Verdugo is trending towards an Opening Day start with each and every day.
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The first reason this is coming to fruition is simple: Bryce Harper is not yet a Dodger and he probably never will be. The big bat is looking for even bigger money and the Dodgers are not in the market to spend that way so off he goes.
Second and need I remind you, the Dodgers shipped off two outfielders to the Reds in Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp opening two starting roles and Verdugo is ready to claim one.
But, what could stand in the young outfielder’s way is AJ Pollock or Marwin Gonzalez. While the Dodgers have had no reported interest in either of those players, it is not far fetched that they are prepping a run for one or both of them.
The team cleared almost $30 million in cap space and are yet to do anything with the space they created. Pollock and Gonzalez are solid outfielder both offensively and defensively and adding one of them to the roster can’t hurt for the right price.
If it happens, Verdugo could again be relegated to a bench role with a surplus of infielders already on the roster and a stash, albeit smaller than before, of outfielders on the roster.