7 free agents the Dodgers must avoid at all costs

The Los Angeles Dodgers are going to have some tough choices to make this offseason, especially given they're a lock to be in the middle of the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes. Adding Ohtani would be amazing, but this Dodgers roster needs to address several areas going into 2024, including the starting rotation, outfield, and bullpen. That is quite the shopping list.

Even a team that has the resources the Dodgers boast is going to have limitations if they are planning on dropping half-billion dollars on Ohtani. What that means is that for the team's other moves (and they absolutely need to make other moves), they can't really afford to miss if they want to be surefire World Series contenders in 2024.

No team can get every move right and the Dodgers are no different. The Trevor Bauer signing blew up in spectacular fashion, but that was outside their control. The Andruw Jones deal still haunts LA fans, and Scott Kazmir's name usually involves a certain amount of cursing these days, too. The Dodgers can't predict everything that could go wrong, but these are a few of free agents that have enough red flags for the Dodgers to pass on.

Here are 7 free agents that the Dodgers really need to avoid like the plague

Tommy Pham

Pham is a bit of a meme in a lot of circles. He has a reputation for being a very intense individual that takes himself incredibly seriously. He can certainly be productive as a hitter, but there's probably a reason why he's had to bounce around the league ever since he left the Cardinals (perhaps how someone like Carl Evertt was difficult to deal with).

More important than Pham's personality and his penchant for wanting to throw hands over fantasy football trades, he's wildly inconsistent at the plate. For every .800+ OPS season he's registered, there have been plenty of sub .700 OPS campaigns. With guys like Jorge Soler, Adam Duvall, or even Michael Brantley out there on the free agent market, LA should avoid rolling the dice on Pham just because he rode a hot streak to the World Series.

Eddie Rosario

Dodgers fans probably don't need to be reminded of what Eddie Rosario did to them in the 2021 NLCS. Rosario was a man possessed and was the biggest reason why the Braves were able to advance to the World Series over LA that year. It could be tempting to see if the Dodgers could add him as a lefty outfield bat with some power and hope that he could dish out that sort of punishment to others.

Unfortunately, that seems highly unlikely. The problem is that since that fateful postseason run, Rosario hasn't been very good. He was dreadful in 2022 as he battled vision issues that required surgical correction. Rosario was better in 2023 and did hit 21 homers, but the hit tool is still a real question mark. He struggled enough that the Braves were willing to decline his very affordable $9 million option for 2024. Again, LA just has better options available to them to address the outfield.

Lucas Giolito

At the trade deadline this past season, arguably the most coveted trade target league-wide was Lucas Giolito. He had a track record of success, including multiple top 10 Cy Young finishes, some encouraging peripherals (particularly his swing-and-miss stuff), and he passed the eye test as a quality pitcher playing for the dumpster fire that was the 2023 White Sox. While the Dodgers didn't land him at the trade deadline, it would make some logical sense that they could pursue him in free agency.

However, that would be ignoring some really troubling trends. Since the 2020 season, Giolito has seen his FIP slowly tick further and further in the wrong direction while his strikeout and walk rates have gotten worse. Things came to a head in 2023 where he struggled with Chicago and basically imploded with the Angels and Guardians after he was traded. With a pitching class as rich as this one, the Dodgers need to stay far, far away and look at better options that aren't circling the drain.

Jack Flaherty

Another popular name at the trade deadline, or at least a name that was talked about a lot, was Jack Flaherty, who looked like he was on the path to being one of the league's next big stars on the mound back in 2019 with the Cardinals. He had live stuff, didn't walk a ton of batters, and boasted a 2.75 ERA with a top-four Cy Young finish.

The problem is that was the last season we saw Flaherty both healthy and good. Ever since he has battled injuries, and when he's been on the mound, the results have been mediocre to bad. From 2020 to 2023, he averaged a 4.42 ERA and 4.36 FIP with the results getting progressively worse over time. There's going to be some team that will pay Flaherty in the hope that they can fix him, but LA shouldn't be in the market for a massive reclamation project.

Craig Kimbrel

For a guy in his mid-30s and has as many miles on his arm as he does, Craig Kimbrel has continued to produce at a high level. He just made his ninth All-Star team and put up a 3.26 ERA while striking out opposing batters at a 12.3 K/9 clip. He may not be the same guy he was a decade ago, but he can definitely still pitch (even though it's agonizing at times).

The issue with signing Kimbrel is the opportunity cost along with the associated risk in paying up for a 35-year-old reliever. Kimbrel made $10 million last year and odds are that he's going to ask for around that much for the 2024 season as well. With Father Time lurking right behind him and the inherent volatility with bullpen arms in general. the Dodgers just need to spread their money around a bit more to fill out their bullpen instead of hoping that Kimbrel can run it back one more time.

They already had the Kimbrel experience in 2022. Can't let it happen again.