Andrew Friedman's comments at Blake Snell presser could foreshadow more big Dodgers moves

The Dodgers welcomed Blake Snell into the fold on Tuesday with an introductory press conference to follow up the official signing on Nov. 30. Snell is the first offseason addition to LA's expensive (but imperfect and still slightly battered) rotation, but Andrew Friedman did drop a hint that he wouldn't be the last.

Snell joins Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, and Tony Gonsolin. That might bring the Dodgers' starter count up to seven on paper, but there are question marks here. Ohtani, Kershaw, and May might not be ready by Opening Day, which could bring the count back down to four and leave the Dodgers searching for even more options.

During the press conference, Friedman said that he was "naive" in his belief last year that the Dodgers had entered the season with enough pitching depth. All five of LA's planned starters this past season were either hurt for large swaths of the year, demoted due to poor performance, or traded. Many of the replacements who came up to replace them also ended up injured. By the end of the year, they'd used a franchise record 40 pitchers throughout the season, 17 of whom were starters.

So while it's not reassuring that that didn't qualify as enough depth for the Dodgers, it could allude to the team not being quite done with starter signings, despite the way the rotation currently looks.

Andrew Friedman's "naivety" about Dodgers' pitching depth could lead to more free agent signings after Blake Snell

Even though the Dodgers have seemingly endless funds with which to sign huge free agents, it's hard to see how they would also get either of the two big guns left on the market, Corbin Burnes and Max Fried, even with all of the deferred money. Still, you can never really say never with this team, and while we'll remain realistic about the chances of getting Burnes or Fried being slim, they'd be the two guys you'd get if you were rich and still looking to fortify the rotation.

But it also could be a door opening for Walker Buehler or Jack Flaherty, who have both expressed interest in staying in LA despite having had conversations with other teams. Buehler and Flaherty would certainly both be cheaper options for them to sign, and it would be a little bit of fan service for those who are desperate to see the entire 2024 core kept together.

Yes, the Dodgers now technically have seven starters, but it seems like they're going to want to over-sign first and then figure out how to cram everyone onto the roster second. Eight starters seems like overkill, but it may not be for a team this injury-prone.