Dodgers News: Aaron Judge recruitment, Cody Bellinger, Trea Turner

The Los Angeles Dodgers are entering the 2022-23 offseason with about $100 million to play with, pre-luxury tax threshold, and the Winter Meetings Dec. 5-7 represent the unofficial beginning to their big game hunting.

Currently, the Dodgers’ market lacks clarity, which is surprising considering how much money there is to go around.

Consensus is the Dodgers are prepared to enter the Aaron Judge market, especially in the wake of non-tendering center fielder Cody Bellinger. According to bizarre Twitter rumblings, the Dodgers have “already made” a $214 million offer to Judge, but that feels unlikely to be accurate. All we know now is that the Dodgers will be competitive for Judge, but will have to wait for the end of the right fielder’s meeting with the Giants, which was completed Tuesday (with a formal offer still to come).

As for LA’s other targets? The team is interested in a high-profile shortstop, but seems to be wading away from their incumbent, Trea Turner, and former GM Jim Bowden claimed this week that Turner’s current price and the Dodgers’ finances aren’t a match (again, odd, considering their finances are unlimited). That leaves Carlos Correa potentially in the driver’s seat.

More Dodgers News

• Will Bellinger return to the Dodgers after all, at a lower price than his final year of arbitration dictated? Don’t count on it. LA’s response to Bellinger’s newfound free agency was mealy-mouthed, and even though he’s reportedly only seeking a one-year deal, the Giants or Blue Jays make more sense.
• Andre Ethier made the 2023 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, and while he’s unlikely to garner induction, he’s at least going to make it as far as Matt Cain.

MLB News

• The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim traded three prospects to the Milwaukee Brewers for slugger/excellent defender/Mike Trout lookalike Hunter Renfroe. All Renfroe does is mash, then leave. Will he be the Angels’ missing piece?
• The Houston Astros have received the biggest postseason shares in MLB history for their 2022 World Series win. In future news, the Houston Astros have been fined their entire postseason shares for filming signs throughout the 2022 season by giving tweens in the stands their TikTok password.
• Aaron Judge finished fourth in People’s Sexiest Man Alive balloting. Gavin Lux failed to place.

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