5 free agents the Dodgers can steal from their NL West foes

The Los Angeles Dodgers have their hands full this offseason with a lot of different variables in play. In addition to being smack dab in the middle of the chase to sign the two biggest names on the free agent market in Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, they also have to figure out how to completely fill out their ravaged rotation, bolster their bullpen, and figure out who is going to be playing left field.

If any team can dominate an offseason like that and come out ahead, it's the Dodgers. However, that doesn't make the challenge any less daunting even with all of the resources LA has at their disposal.

Fortunately, this free agent market lines up well with the Dodgers' needs as it;s deep with pitching and has some outfielders that could help them in 2024 (even if the long-term upside isn't there). But perhaps better than that, some of the available guys happen to be coming from some of the Dodgers' fiercest rivals in the National League West. There are few things sweeter than stealing a good player from within the division and watching their fan base completely melt down. Their tears are delicious.

Making life more difficult for the Padres, Giants, Rockies and D-backs is something any Dodgers fan would sign up for.

5 free agents the Dodgers can steal from their NL West foes

Blake Snell

Snell is an easy choice here. Not only is he one of the absolute best starting pitchers on the free agent market this offseason, but he's also coming off a spectacular campaign with the Padres. In 32 starts in 2023, Snell posted a 2.25 ERA with 234 strikeouts in 180 innings of work, which made him the runaway winner of the NL Cy Young award.

The early projections for Snell's upcoming contract have been coming in at around five years and $125 million, which, if last offseason taught us anything, may be a tad light. At that level of cost, Snell may only be in play if LA misses out on Ohtani. However, signing Yamamoto or another higher-end starter shouldn't take the Dodgers out of the running for his services.

Right now, the Dodgers are among a number of suitors for Snell despite his questionable walk rate and durability, but the market hasn't really defined itself just yet with just Aaron Nola, Sonny Gray, and Kenta Maeda off the market among starting pitchers. Once more rotation arms start getting signed, the rest of the league's focus will be more clear. However, everyone should expect the Dodgers to be involved until the bitter end on Snell which should have Padres fans' dwindling hopes and dreams on life support.

Josh Hader

The Dodgers bullpen is in a weird spot after coming out of a 2023 season where they went with a high-leverage-by-committee approach. The strategy worked out great as LA led all teams in reliever fWAR at 7.6 thanks in large part to strong seasons from Brusdar Graterol, Evan Phillips, and Caleb Ferguson, all of whom are all coming back for 2024. But how great could this group be if the front office pulled a shocker and signed Josh Hader away from the Padres to anchor the bullpen?

Over the last seven seasons, Hader has established himself as one of the absolute best relievers in the game of baseball. His career 15.0 K/9 strikeout rate is just absurd, and he bounced back from a tough 2022 season with another fantastic campaign in San Diego (1.28 ERA in 61 appearances).

Hader will play most of 2024 at 30 years old and even as good he is, a three-year deal is about as far as any sane team is going to go on a reliever. However, he's probably going to get $20+ million a year wherever he ends up. Right now, the Orioles are a name that keeps coming up connected with him, in addition to the Phillies, Rangers, and incumbent Padres.

The fit for the Dodgers isn't ideal. They could certainly use an arm like Hader's in their bullpen because, well, every team could. However, Hader is going to be very expensive for a bullpen arm and the Dodgers have some lofty expectations this offseason for higher-profile needs and wants. Sure, it would be great to gobble up a guy from the Padres, but Hader could be a bit of a reach (unless they're throwing financial caution to the wind).

Michael Wacha

The final former Padres player here is another rotation arm, but one that isn't being talked about enough: Michael Wacha. Wacha's career was off to an amazing start with the Cardinals back in 2013-2015 when he logged 3.21 ERA over the span and made the All-Star team in 2015. Unfortunately, a series of nagging shoulder injuries cost him playing time, and the next several years yielded mediocre to crummy output.

That all changed in 2022 when Wacha bounced back with the Red Sox, and he continued his comeback tour with San Diego last season when he posted a 3.22 ERA in 24 starts. He doesn't throw hard and it would be nice if he kept the ball on the ground more, but his fastball and off-speed stuff still grade out very well on his Statcast page and he's really hard to square up.

Wacha doesn't come without some warts. In addition to his velo not being ideal, he really needs to stop trying to throw his cutter to lefties (they have a .469 wOBA against the pitch) and his whiff rate is only average at this point. Wacha's ability to withstand a full season's workload is an open question, and the 134.1 innings he logged last year is the most he has thrown since 2017.

While Wacha shouldn't be the centerpiece of the Dodgers offseason by any stretch of the imagination, he would be a fine complementary signing in a world where the Dodgers land a marquee name or two. His durability concerns and age will likely force him to take a one-year deal or a cheap-ish two-year contract at best. As a No. 4 or 5 starter, LA could do a hell of a lot worse that that.