4 big whiffs by Dodgers’ front office before the lockout

It was a quiet pre-lockout offseason for most MLB teams, but it was especially silent and disappointing for the Los Angeles Dodgers, who lost a number of star players and don’t have definitive answers on two others.

Like we’ve said, the return of Chris Taylor helps, but it doesn’t come close to alleviating the overall feeling of discontent. The lockout is enough of a reason to feel down in the dumps … and the Dodgers sitting seemingly far from solving their most glaring roster woes doesn’t help. At all.

And when you consider some of the misses that took place over that month-long timeframe, it’s hard not to question the organization’s motives. Is there a grand plan post-lockout … when the rest of the league will be scrambling for top talent in free agency and on the trade market? We always trust in Andrew Friedman, but doesn’t he typically have good foresight in these types of situations?

But instead of getting ahead of what’s to come, the Dodgers made just two moves major-league moves (signing Andrew Heaney and Daniel Hudson) and let a number of fairly tailor-made fits end up elsewhere. So where may have the Dodgers gone wrong?

4 notable free agency whiffs by the Dodgers before the lockout

4. Marcus Semien

Marcus Semien signed a seven-year, $175 million contract with the Texas Rangers. That’s an MVP candidate at $25 million per year and you’re probably paying for three years of regression. Not terrible. It’s what happens with these deals now. Gotta take the good with the bad.

The Dodgers, after it was evident they’d be losing Corey Seager (they never got close to the Rangers’ winning bid of 10 years and $325 million), knew they’d be losing key production in the infield. Trea Turner shifting over to shortstop makes Seager’s departure much easier to swallow, but what about second base now?

Do you trust Gavin Lux? Is it smart to sign a first baseman like Freddie Freeman and move Muncy there as he’s coming off a torn UCL? Semien would’ve provided a Gold Glove option and superior bat, which might’ve actually made the infield better without Seager. For nearly half the price.

The argument here is paying Semien through his age-37 season … but he’s only gotten better as he’s gotten older. It’s not the most comfortable investment, but he was a top-three MVP vote getter in 2019 and 2021. You bet on that production continuing for at least three more years, with a few more serviceable ones to follow.

2. Marcus Stroman

Another contract that boasts a ton of value for the billionaire owners! They want to save money? They want shorter contracts? They want less overall dollar commitments? Well, look no further than Marcus Stroman’s three-year, $71 million deal with the Chicago Cubs.

Folks, here’s the breakdown, too:

• 2022: $25 million
• 2023: $25 million
• 2024: $21 million player option

Doesn’t that perfectly fit the Dodgers’ supposed championship “window”? It gives them an ace-like arm to help the production lost from Scherzer (and possibly Kershaw). Stroman’s had three All-Star caliber campaigns since 2017 and has proven to be a steadfast top-of-the-rotation starter. This would’ve been a shrewd way to build around Walker Buehler and Julio Urīas, both of whom were overused in 2021.

If you were willing to pay record-setting money for Trevor Bauer, whose career ERA was right around 4.00 when he signed with the Dodgers, then there was little reason not to pay Stroman a very pedestrian price for his impressive output. In 179 career games, the right-hander owns a 3.63 ERA and 1.27 WHIP, with a disastrous 2018 season interrupted by injuries actually inflating both of those numbers.

Some fans might not like Stroman’s demeanor, but does it really matter when he’s backing it up?

1. Max Scherzer

Regardless of how much money he was going to cost, Scherzer’s return to LA felt like a foregone conclusion after his unbelievable cameo during the second half of the 2021 season. The Dodgers added the three-time Cy Young winner at the trade deadline to supplement the losses of Bauer, Kershaw and Dustin May, and he delivered with a 7-0 record, 1.98 ERA and 0.82 WHIP in 11 starts. He struck out 89 batters across 68.1 innings. He saved Game 5 of the NLDS. Guy’s a legend.

You might wonder why we’re considering this a whiff. Yes, the New York Mets came in and offered the right-hander a three-year, $130 million contract ($43.3 million AAV), which, even though Scherzer’s presence in your rotation is priceless, seems ridiculous. But the Dodgers gave record-setting money to Bauer the offseason prior. And he’s infinitely worse than Scherzer.

Additionally, the Dodgers reportedly didn’t offer more than two years in the $36 million AAV range. That’s Gerrit Cole money, the undisputed highest-paid pitcher in baseball now that Bauer’s no longer a person of note. Scherzer, again, is better than Cole. Way better. If he was getting a short-term deal, he had every right to beat Bauer and Cole. But, for some reason, the Dodgers didn’t feel that way.

Typically, we wouldn’t be that concerned. But now we’re staring down the barrel of months without transactions. And the Dodgers’ decisions during last offseason came back to haunt them. The departures of Kiké Hernandez and Joc Pederson killed this team’s depth and eventually led to their early-ish (for their standards) postseason exit. What makes you think letting arguably the best pitcher of his generation leave is going to yield different results?

Dodgers might be getting bumped out of Luis Castillo trade talks with Reds

There's now a more robust trade market for starting pitching, and it seems the Los Angeles Dodgers are getting bumped from talks with the Cincinnati Reds.