The Dodgers Have a Decision to Make
It s on Kenta Maeda. Kenta signed an incentive-laden contract with the Dodgers before the 2016 season. It s a very team-friendly contract that pays for performance. I ll spare you all the details, but the more games Kenta starts and the more innings he pitches earns him some very significant bonuses. That s how Kenta makes his money and his agent gets a percentage of that money. Do you follow where I am
It’s on Kenta Maeda. Kenta signed an incentive-laden contract with the Dodgers before the 2016 season. It’s a very “team-friendly” contract that pays for performance. I’ll spare you all the details, but the more games Kenta starts and the more innings he pitches earns him some very significant bonuses. That’s how Kenta makes his money and his agent gets a percentage of that money. Do you follow where I am going with this?
Kenta won 16 games in his first year and pitched over 175 innings with a 3.48 ERA. This year has been a little rough but he has pitched every well at times. Nine times, he has pitched 4 or 5 innings this season and on three occasions he has pitched 7 or 8 innings, including last night. Even with Brandon McCarthy on the DL, the Dodgers still have plenty of pitchers and if Kenta does not stay in the rotation it is going to cost him some big time dollars.
I’m sure he is all about winning, but it’s also about the money (isn’t it always?) and his agent gets a slice of that as well. I have not heard that he has complained (except that he was not happy to have to go to the bullpen), but it only stands to reason that he is either going to have to be in the rotation or traded. I think his trade value is pretty high… especially after last night. Whatever his problems were, he seems to have conquered them. So, that begs the question: What should the Dodgers do?
Personally, I do not think they need another arm, especially after Rich Hill’s last outing. I realize there are some health issues on the starting staff, but the Dodgers could easily trade a starter and not miss a beat. Other teams are looking for starters and trading a starter who is doing well before the trade deadline could net a very nice return. That starter would likely be Maeda… or Ryu. My preference is Ryu, although Ryu will not be as appealing as Maeda to most teams. Maeda is also one of the few right-handed starters for the Dodgers so, my preference would be to trade Ryu.
There are a few weeks before this needs to be decided. I’m sure FAZ would like to keep all the starters they can, but I believe it is a potentially explosive situation to leave Maeda in the bullpen. That could cost him millions of dollars and his agent will argue that he bargained in good faith when he signed the incentive-laden deal. Last night, it became clear that Kenta Maeda has to stay in the rotation. How this plays out remains to be seen.
The Dodgers have Scott Barlow, Trevor Oaks and Brock Stewart – any one of them could step into the 5th starter’s role, if needed. Would someone overpay for Ryu? If he can pitch well for the next few weeks, they just might. However, it is true that you can never have too many starting pitchers. Would you trade Ryu or Maeda? If a couple of prospects were included (Calhoun?) could the Dodgers get a Big Power Bat? Stay tuned….
Ryu goes tonight.
By the way, do you really think McCarthy or Maeda would accept an assignment to the DL if they weren’t really hurt? I think not. I also heard that McCarthy was limping noticeably earlier this week. Just my two cents…
Dodger Notes
- Ken Gurnick of Dodgers.com reports Dave Roberts said this about Julio Urias’ surgery: “...all I know is in seeing the [email] thread from Dr. [Neal] ElAttrache, he’s a lot more optimistic than he was when he was first going to do the surgery.” Now we wait-Probably almost two years! The Dodger absolutely will not rush him. There is no need.
- It was good to see Joc Pederson hit a HR without swinging out of his shoes. Now, if Joc can learn to go the other way to drive in a run, like Cody did when he drove in the Dodgers first run last night, he will be very dangerous.
- The play Kike made last night on his knees was my Play of The Year! Wow! He has an arm – that is very hard to do.
- Eric Stephen of TrueBlueLA has a nice draft tracker. Check it out HERE. The Dodgers top 3 picks still have not signed. I have no clue of the status…
- Might as well read THIS MINOR LEAGUE REPORT. No need to duplicate it here. Craig does a nice job.
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Discussion (91)
Disagree, not disagreeable
How about Ryu/Maeda, Calhoun and Logan F (perhaps Dickson also) for Schoop. Would Balt. even consider that?
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Something that I have noticed is the number of foul balls on two strike counts. It seems to me to be unusually high this year. Does anyone see this or am I having hallucinations ? I hate it when opponents keep fouling off pitches and run the pitch count up.
If the Dodgers want to pick up an impact player through a trade, Maeda is the only one with enough value to bargain with. Still, most of the sellers out there probably would want more in the way of prospects for a rebuild and might not be too keen on a Japanese expat in his late 20s with some question marks concerning his medicals.
I don’t think there are really any impact bats available who aren’t going to cost a fortune (forget about Ozuna), and Pederson and Puig both are looking better. Maybe the likely scenario is the Dodgers pick up another bullpen arm. I’d love for the FO to pick up Felipe Rivero from the Pirates, but he’s quickly turned into one of the best relievers in the game and he’s under team control for a while, so even sellers like the PIrates probably won’t part with him. Maybe Tommy Kahnle from the White Sox. Both of these teams want parts for a rebuild, not aging veterans.
Everybody see this?
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Open on www.espn.comhttp://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/19754861/cubs-c-miguel-montero-calls-jake-arrieta-nats-7-stolen-bases.
Looks like trouble in paradise as the finger pointing begins!
As much as I would like to see Cody in the derby I cringe at the thought of it effecting his performance afterwards. Joc has finally made adjustments and they are working. If he starts taking pitches the other way ala A-Gon or what Cody did last night he becomes that much more valuable. I don’t think we should/will trade Forsythe. Unless we do make a trade for a bat in left both Taylor and Forsythe will be the primary starters by the end of the season with Kike being the super sub and Thompson being the 4th outfielder.
I think a starter is at the top of the list.
Archer or Quintana, who’s valu may b down
I see Verdugo extended his hit streak to 17 games at that “Minor League Report” link you posted. Talk about pounding on the MLB door! Should FAZ let him in? Taylor at 2nd and Verdugo in left could be very nice.
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Very nice play by Kiki last night. I guess FAZ knew what they were doing playing him at SS instead of Taylor. Also nice catch by Thompson in right, maybe he is ready to replace Gutierrez permanently . I guess it is too much to hope for, that Thompson will be that right handed masher we all want. But I can dream!
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2017 year of the youngsters!
Most teams would love to have the pitching problems the Blue…
There are really good young players and then there is Cody B.!!!
Watching him hit to the opposite field last night brought my old arse out of the easy chair… What we have in Cody is something very special…
Sure makes a lot of sense that being deadline sellers would be the next step in the FAZ plan.
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Ryu, Maeda even McCarthy might go in my opinion. Kazmir would be FAZ’s wet dream, but unfortunately aint going to happen, unless he is attached to something good. Kind of like the Lakers did with Mozgov going with D’Angelo Russell. Don’t see many of those kind of moves in baseball, but why not?
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How about Dodgers being 2nd base sellers also. With Utley, Taylor and Hernandez could Forsythe be flipped to someone like the Red Sox?
I don’t know Mark, Brandon McCarty had the yips during his last outing. Management is trying to save face with him. He may have had some knee sortness, however if he is throwing the ball over the plate, he’s not on the DL today. You and the Dodgers can try to sugarcoat this but we all saw what happened and it’s not fake news. I was encouraged by Hills last outing after he finally dialed in his pitches. Maeda looked better last night as well. I would hate for the Dodgers not to look for another starter that can help them in the playoffs when we are this close to winning a Championship. (Maybe there isn’t one). I am hoping for someone more seasoned in the playoffs. Just my take…………………………
That was a some strong throw Kike made from his knees…and a nice pick by Bellinger (he really has a great glove).
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I would trade Ryu over Maeda. Good contract, right-handed = extra brownie points for Kenta.
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Joc just needs to stay within himself…participating in that home-run derby a few years back was a huge mistake.
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Need to see a couple more good outings from Hill before I jump completely on board.