4 Dodgers offseason additions we should already be concerned about

While there is little arguing that the Los Angeles Dodgers' active roster has undergone quite the makeover compared to last year's squad, their early season performances have shown that they still have many different ways to beat any given team.

Except, of course, the division rival Arizona Diamondbacks, who just laid waste to the boys in blue in the form of a three-of-four series win in Arizona.

The Diamondbacks are by no means expected to be contenders this season, but the powerhouse series in which the snakes outscored the Dodgers 29-17 is a significant blow to Los Angeles to start the year.

Of course, Dodgers fans, being the level-headed followers they are, are less than thrilled over how this series went. After all, the Diamondbacks booted them right out of town over this past weekend.

The Dodgers weren't able to land any of the proverbial "big fish" in free agency over the course of the 2022-2023 offseason. Instead, they were able to land a player in the second tier of free agency in JD Martinez and otherwise looked in the bargain bin.

This leads to our next point. Most, if not all, of the new additions have struggled early in the 2023 regular season. The Dodgers are finding out first hand that when you fail to spend at the top of free agency, as they have for many, many years, you get what you pay for.

Let's dive into it. Here are four of the newest Dodgers we're already concerned about.

Dodgers We're Concerned About: Noah Syndergaard

Similarly to David Peralta, it's a wonder the Dodgers were only able land Noah Syndergaard as starting rotation help during the offseason. In a free agent pool filled with high-end starters, ending up with someone of Thor's stature feels a bit like a major loss.

The 30-year-old righty is nowhere close to the same pitcher he was when he was coming up with the New York Mets. That version of Syndergaard made an All-Star Game in 2016 and looked like he had the makings of being an annual contender for a Cy Young Award.

As has been the case with so many once-promising arms over the years, Syndergaard had to deal with his fair share of injuries and is now a very different pitcher. He hadn't statistically been an above-average pitcher in years before he just barely posted an above-average ERA+ last season (103) with the Phillies and Angels.

So, here we are, with another one-year contract that won't necessarily break the bank, but would be a huge value if Syndergaard can make good on it. Instead, he's made two starts for the club, posting a 6.30 ERA across 10 innings of work. He has struck out eight batters without walking any, but he's also surrendered two home runs and 12 base hits already.

Over the years, the Dodgers have a pretty high standard in terms of the quality of their starting pitchers. If Syndergaard wants to be in good graces with the team and its fans, a bounceback will be needed (and soon).

Dodgers We're Concerned About: Alex Reyes

This one almost feels like cheating. Alex Reyes, a 28-year-old reliever, signed a one-year deal with the Dodgers (that also contains a team option for a second year) during this past offseason. The contract was signed knowing that he would not be an immediate contributor to the team, but there should still be some level of concern for him when he returns.

Once one of the top pitching prospects in the game, Reyes came up as an electric starting pitcher for the Cardinals before injuries completely derailed his career. From 2016 to 2020, he made a total of 32 appearances with 72.2 innings pitched. In that time, he was an extremely solid contributor, but he just could not stay healthy.

In 2021, he had what is easily the best season of his career to this point, fully embracing a relief pitcher/closer role and posting a 3.24 ERA in 69 games. He made the All-Star Game and seemed to finally have it figured out.

In typical fashion, Reyes went down with a Spring Training injury in March of last year and he went the entire season without making a single appearance. The Cardinals made the decision to non-tender him at the conclusion of the 2022 season, despite all that tantalizing potential, which led to him finding his way to the Dodgers.

Again, Reyes is an incredible pitcher when he's healthy. Only problem is, he's never healthy. There's little to suggest that he will be up to full speed when he rejoins the Dodgers, so there's no telling what version of him the club will be getting (and how much control/command he'll have). If he can pitch the way he has when he's at full health, his contract will be a steal. Until I see that with my own two eyes, he will go down in the "concerned" category, because there's just no telling what we're going to get from him.

Dodgers We're Concerned About: Miguel Rojas

As nice of a story as it was to have Miguel Rojas re-join the team he debuted with back in 2014, the two-year, $11M contract he signed with the Dodgers is already starting to look like a whiff by the team.

Rojas, 34, has steadily been one of the game's better defensive shortstops while possessing 7-12 home run power and a lengthy track record of durability. He hits for average, but at times struggles with getting on base consistently -- especially last year, when he hit .236 with an OPS+ of 72 in 140 games.

The longtime Miami Marlins infielder is now back in Los Angeles, and has been forced into an everyday role since Gavin Lux is out for the year with an ACL/MCL tear. When Rojas was brought aboard, the expectation seemed to be that he would get some occasional starts at all four positions around the infield, and was a lock to provide the club with some smooth fielding wherever he went.

Instead, he's the starting shortstop, an experiment that has not gone according to plan so far.

In his first five games, the 10-year veteran went 2-for-17 (that's a .118 average, for those following along at home) with an OPS+ of 3, meaning he started 97 percent below league-average with the bat. This is an extremely small sample size, so take some of these numbers with a grain of salt, but the concern is warranted early on.

It remains to be seen how this will be addressed. Rojas will surely stumble his way into some gappers and hopefully some home runs along the way, but his triumphant return to the Dodgers has started with a whimper rather than a bang. Oh, how we miss Gavin Lux right about now.