Dave Roberts drops hint about Dodgers’ free agent phone call

The post-lockout Los Angeles Dodgers are poised to make a flurry of moves.

After all, for once in Andrew Friedman’s life, their annually deep roster has genuine holes to fill (breathes deeply) in the rotation, at shortstop/second base, and behind the starters at first/center/left.

Many undermanned teams will be competing with LA to complete their rosters in an exceedingly short period of time, and no one knows where the carousel will stop — and whether the Dodgers will end up with stars or also-rans.

OK, fine, we know they’ll end up with stars. They always do. Some of them will probably be familiar faces, too.

Since the lockout has felt everlasting, we’ve tried to fill the two-plus months with rampant speculation, typically settling on Freddie Freeman as the most realistic big-money target.

Which begs the question … is that who manager Dave Roberts recently confessed he was talking to just before the lockout began? According to Roberts, he was busy expressing interest in a free agent target, confident enough in his own long-term future with the club to do some recruitment.

But recruitment … of who?

Which top free agent was Dodgers manager Dave Roberts on the phone with?

“It was Max Scherzer, and he said no,” continued Roberts.

Kidding! Just kidding.

Freeman’s the clear leader in the clubhouse — which, in a stunning coincidence, is also the role he typically fulfills on winning ballclubs.

The Villa Park, CA native might want to come home to LA as the Universal DH arrives to help keep Max Muncy off his feet. Was Roberts authorized to express to Freeman that the Dodgers might be able to provide the six-year deal he so desires (that the Braves have been completely unwilling to broach)?

Or maybe it was Carlos Correa. After all, Corey Seager’s gone, and Correa remains the completely unpredictable prize of this free agent frenzy.

He sold all his Astros gear. Houston publicly cut ties with him prior to his decision to align with Scott Boras, who recently led Gerrit Cole out of town. And, after all, a personal phone call from Roberts assuring him there’d be no resentment if he chose LA could’ve gone a long way.

Or perhaps Roberts was just talking to Andrew Heaney and being cheeky about it. Ideally, Rob Manfred’s cronies will come to their senses soon so we can actually find out.

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