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3 cheaper pitchers Dodgers should sign over Justin Verlander
Justin Verlander is coming off yet another fantastic season in which he captured his third career Cy Young award (and second unanimous one). Now a free agent, Verlander has been tied to the team that he helped beat in the 2017 World Series: the Los Angeles Dodgers.
This is not the first time that Verlander has been connected to the Dodgers. With Tyler Anderson recently ditching Los Angeles for Anaheim, Verlander makes all the more sense. With hard-throwing Walker Buehler out for the entire 2023 season, Verlander might just be an inevitability.
But it’s not that easy. It never is.
While Verlander was (and still is) undoubtedly great, he’s turning 40 in February and has a pretty high price point that the Dodgers just scoffed at last winter for a younger Max Scherzer. Instead of bringing in the 2022 AL Cy Young, the Dodgers would be better off bringing in other cheaper options (maybe more than one!) to have their rotation better prepared for the long haul and postseason.
3 cheaper pitchers the Dodgers should sign over Justin Verlander
3. Taijuan Walker
Taijuan Walker is not as good as Justin Verlander. To suggest that he is would be insanity. However, Walker is also going to likely cost a third of what Verlander will in yearly salary and would still give the Dodgers a solid presence in the rotation.
Los Angeles doesn’t need an ace pitcher to start atop the rotation. The team still has Julio Urías to be the ace next season with Clayton Kershaw being an overqualified second option. If the team is focused on spending on offense, it makes a lot more sense to make cheaper signings like Walker to fill out the rotation/deepen the staff in general.
There’s also a really high ceiling with Walker. His 3.49 ERA last season might not be that impressive, and his 4.47 ERA the year prior is even worse. However, Walker was elite in the first half of the 2021 season, earning an All-Star nod with his 2.66 ERA.
The Dodgers are notorious for getting the most out of pitchers, and if they can make Tyler Anderson one of the best southpaws in the sport, then they could definitely have Walker sustain his first-half greatness with the Mets. He has one of the best split-fingers in the league, and for a price of around $10-13 million per year, the Dodgers may take a chance on that.
2. Mike Clevinger
Call me crazy, but I would rather see the Dodgers sign Mike Clevinger to a one- or two-year prove-it deal rather than a 40-year-old Verlander to a three-year deal worth over $100 million.
After all, it seems like the Dodgers are gearing up to make a run at Shohei Ohtani next winter and Verlander would keep them from doing that. Signing Clevinger to a two-year, $20-25 million contract with a player option in the second season is not going to stop that from happening.
Clevinger was not great for the Padres last season and was the only reason why the Dodgers won a game in the NLDS against San Diego. While that poor performance and his injury history might be a turn-off, there’s a high upside with Clevinger that’s impossible to ignore.
The Padres are one of the worst teams in the league at handling pitchers, their workloads, and their injuries (remember when Dinelson Lamet was a top pitcher in the league?). The Dodgers are one of the best at maximizing pitchers and, if any team can get Clevinger back to his old self, it’s LA.
The Dodgers were listed as an original team that was interested in Clevinger back in 2019 alongside the Padres. That existing interest might be enough for the Dodgers to take a chance on someone who will only be 32 in December and has relatively low mileage on his arm.
In 2019, Clevinger ranked in the top 5% in average exit velocity, top 6% in K%, and top 10% in xWOBA and xERA. If it works out then, the Dodgers would have another All-Star on their hands. If not, it’s a relatively cheap signing that doesn’t hinder the team moving forward.
1. Carlos Rodon
If the Dodgers are truly interested in signing a front-line starting pitcher, then the only option for the team to truly consider is Carlos Rodon, who denied his player option with the San Francisco Giants and after another great season on the mound. The southpaw is ready to get paid.
Spotrac estimates Rodon’s market value at $32.478 million this offseason, projecting him to get a six-year, $194.8 million deal (which seems excessive).
It still seems unlikely that the Dodgers spend that much on one starter with there being talented arms in the farm system and the fact that Urías and Buehler are due for contracts soon. That being said, if there’s someone to sign to that kind of deal, it’s Rodon.
Rodon is younger than Verlander and the Dodgers would be getting the prime years of the southpaw’s career. Rodon turns 30 before the 2023 season and likely has another 4-5 top seasons in him if he can stay healthy.
The left-hander has been one of the best pitchers in the entire league over the last two years and sports one of the best pitch combinations among starters. His fastball-slider mix is as good as it gets, and he mixes in a solid curveball and decent changeup.
The Dodgers know a thing or two about a wipeout lefty that has a great fastball-slider combination. Rodon has a 2.42 combined FIP over the last two years (leading the league in 2022). Clayton Kershaw’s FIP in his age 28 and 29 season was a combined 2.49. If you’re gonna pay up, this is the opportunity to do so.
