It appears that Andrew Friedman wasn’t not just posturing as I thought when he said he wasn’t worried about the CBT. After adding journeyman outfielder, David Peralta yesterday and another $6 or $7 Million onto the payroll, it’s clear Friedman is not concerned with re-setting the CBT. It’s not the last time I was wrong. I am, however, always looking for the rest of the story or for the other shoe to drop. To me, this is a precursor to something bigger. Much bigger!
Here’s what I think (and part of the reason is I want to think it): I think that Pittsburgh has backed off their asking price for Bryan Reynolds – they know he is adamant about being traded, and the Pirates have dropped their “ask” to something more reasonable. That ask may be something like Ryan Pepiot, Mike Busch, James Outman, and Dalton Rushing. It’s still a big ask, but one that really doesn’t gut the farm. I’d like to keep Rushing out of it, and use Leonard or Vivas instead. Or… Devin Mann or Hunter Feddducia maybe?
Here’s my thinking: CT3 and David Peralta will platoon in LF, while CT3 plays every other place that he plays as well. That should be a productive platoon that could produce 25 to 30 HR. One thing about David Peralta – he can flat-out hit LH Pitchers…. well, usually. Last year he only hit .267 against them, but RVS and Company may likely fix that. In 2018, he hit .318 against LHP, with .946 OPS and 22 HR. Interestingly, RVS was with the Diamondbacks in 2018 when Peralta had his career year. So there is that!
I didn’t believe Andrew Friedman was serious about not staying under the CBT. I was wrong, But I don’t believe he is serious about playing Steven Duggar, Bradley Zimmer, James Outman, or Jason Heyward in Centerfield. I do believe that he will try and trade for Bryan Reynolds, and he might as well do it now. This team with Reynolds would be pure championship caliber:
- Betts RF
- Lux SS
- Freeman 1B
- Martinez DH
- Muncy 3B
- Smith C
- Reynolds CF
- Vargas 2B
- Peralta/Taylor LF
That is a fearsome lineup. It could be the best in baseball. I’d rather Lux hit leadoff and Betts hit second, but that is me. The Pirates get Busch, Pepiot, and Outman.. all of whom will be starters. The Dodgers get a Centerfielder whose best years may be ahead of him. He has a career .842 OPS. I think the Dodgers can help him become a Superstar! (Cody who?)
YES, it is a lot of prospect collateral to pay, but CF is a place of need. James Outman may be a nice CF’er, but Bryan Reynolds is a borderline superstar, and with the best farm systems in baseball, the collateral is not that big of a deal. Andy Pages takes over LF in 2024!
Discussion (29)
Disagree, not disagreeable
https://climbingtalshill.com/posts/anonymous-member-of-2018-red-sox-says-what-we-all-know-the-dodgers-are-cheaters-01gs15gxq5w8?utm_campaign=FanSided+Daily&utm_source=FanSided+Daily&utm_medium=email
First I want to compliment nonicnamebumfan for some good posts today, you sound like me.
Mark what I meant by a trade for Reynolds is not his style is because what you were proposing in that trade was too much going to the Pirates and it’s not his style to do that trade for a career .842 OPS hitter. He could trade for Reynolds but he’s not giving up as much as your proposal. But still just my opinion I don’t think he will trade for Reynolds because he has Peralta now and I think Peralta will start in LF with a platoon partner who’s name I don’t know and I think a trade for his platoon partner is coming up. I think AF is going to give Outman his shot in CF as the starter.
I love the signing of Reyes. Career .189 BA against and .609 OPS against. And .195 BA and .603 OPS against RHB. .181 BA and .617 OPS against LHB.
I still think starters:
Smith
Freeman
Vargas
Lux
Muncy
Betts
Outman
Peralta with a trade for a platoon partner
Martinez
Bench: Barnes, Rojas, Taylor (possibly platooning with Outman but I doubt it), one of the LF platoon.
So yesterday dodgers make move and get David Peralta as their left fielder with Taylor platooning and probable Thompson unless Heyward beats out Thompson. And if they don’t get Reynolds. Then Taylor or Outman will be in Centerfield. So the outfield could be Peralta Taylor Betts as starters. Something tells me Roberts goes with experience and chooses Heyward since he has been working out at Stadium and with Vargas. Does that mean Thompson starts in AAA and is there in case of an injury or do they put Outman down there in case of an injury. If they trade for Reynolds. Then it’s either Thompson or Heyward in Oklahoma City. And now today they got a closer in Al Reyes All Star Closer for the Cardinals so the team is coming together before spring training. Next will be the Reynolds trade so they have a set outfield before spring training of Peralta Reynolds Betts starters then Taylor as the utility guy plays any where. and one outfielder sub, Barnes, Rojas, Martinez.
With this world baseball classic going on. I pray Kershaw, or Freeman or any other dodgers playing in it don’t get injured before the season starts . That would be bad and we know how Kershaw has back problems .
Yasiel Puig facing federal obstruction of justice charges.
Dodgers Sign Rubby De La Rosa To Minor League Deal
Now that is a blast from the past!
From MLBTR:
De La Rosa, 34 next month, has spent the past few seasons in Japan, and hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since 2017. Last year, he tossed 38 1/3 innings of relief for Yomiuri in Japan, working to a 2.58 ERA. That was his fourth season with the team, and he’s been a highly effective reliever over that period, finishing with a combined 2.53 ERA over 124 1/3 innings.
This move marks something of a homecoming for De La Rosa, who signed with the Dodgers out of the Dominican Republic back in 2007. The right-hander was well regarded coming through the minors, and made Baseball America’s top-100 prospects prior to the 2011 season. After a promising rookie year (3.71 ERA over 60 2/3 innings), the Dodgers shipped him to the Red Sox as part of the deal for Chris Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez and Josh Beckett in 2012.
De La Rosa never did deliver on his promise, struggling in Boston after returning from Tommy John surgery before being traded to the Diamondbacks in 2014. He spent a couple of seasons in Arizona, but after working to a 4.59 ERA over 247 innings, De La Rosa required a second Tommy John surgery and the Diamondbacks let him go. They would re-sign him to a two-year minor league pact, but he’d never make it back to the majors.
We’re signing Alex Reyes!
A 1.1 million contract for 2023 and a 3 million team option for 2024.
And a possible 8.9 million in incentives on this year’s contract, so if he’s the best version of Alex Reyes, he’ll earn 10 million this year.
Badger says this:
“Keith Law is f.o.s. “
Reynolds put up 2.9 fWAR last year last year. I submit Busch and Outman would put up more than that the first year there. They would put up even more after that. They want a pitcher you say? Ok, Pepiot. That’s enough. Not Rushing. Throw in an A prospect we don’t need just to make it look better. If the Pirates have “backed off their demands” as you say, that should be enough.
On James Outman, Law says this:
There’s too much swing and miss in the zone here to say he’ll be more than an average hitter, but with his other tools, that makes him a potential star, especially if he can do more against lefties than just hit for power. He’s older than any hitter on this list, but doesn’t have as much baseball experience as the typical 25-year-old. Don’t be surprised if he ends up the Dodgers’ primary center fielder this year.
Keith Law of The Athletic has a good read on the Dodgers Top Prospects:
https://theathletic.com/4161936/2023/02/10/dodgers-top-20-prospect-farm-system-ranked/?source=weeklyemail&campaign=602288
He has River Ryan who was traded for Matt Beaty ranked #9:
Ryan was the Padres’ 11th-round pick out of UNC-Pembroke in 2021, heading to the Dodgers last March in a trade for Matt Beaty. He was a two-way guy before but the Dodgers moved him to the mound full-time after the trade. The switch saw him take off, especially in velocity, as he’s now 93-97 and has even hit 100 mph in a start, with a ton of vertical break on the pitch. He has a three-pitch mix with an above-average slider already, and he’s extremely athletic. He had a limited workload last year but struck out 35 percent of batters he faced between Low A and High A, and that’s in the first year he’s ever started more than four games, even including college. I had some sources suggest him for the back of the top 100 and I’d be surprised if he didn’t make the cut next year.
Most agree that you can never have enough pitching. Are you confident that Gonsilin is gonna pitch like he did in the first half last year? We don’t really know how Syndergaard is going to shake out. Who knows how long it will take May to come around. And then you have to worry about Kershaw‘s DL stints
So trading somebody like Pepiot, who you depended on last year for some starts, doesn’t make sense to me before the deadline
I know we have Grove, Jackson, Stone, and Miller down there also but none of them have really been proven
See how you look at the trade deadline, then make your adjustments.
Who knows maybe Outmam is hitting 260 with 10 or 12 home runs by the deadline
It could happen…
How many times have we said, “never saw that coming?” That’s why AF has a room full of Ivy league nerds! Most of us could not get into that room without a mop and a bucket.
Busch, Outman and a couple A players should do it. Let Pittsburgh choose the 2?
A picture is worth a thousand words:
I think Busch, Pepiot, Outman, Leonard, and Feduccia sounds about right.
I also think many Dodger fans overvalue Outman based on his good luck in his first game.
You have to ask why the scouts and talent evualators don’t rank him with the other top prospects?
Does dodger brass want a player who publicly demanded a trade with apparently no concern on how it might damage his current team. Just a thought
I meant position players mark and your right I did forget about lux who made his debut in 19 and outman sure hasn’t made it yet
I agree with d-ram – way too much to give up. And that’s why it would work. Time to move some of that MiLB depth. Reynolds dWAR sure ain’t all that but that move would take care of centerfield for a few years. It would also free up those old outfielders that were signed to clobber minor league pitching then leave.
I thought AF was attempting to dive under the CBT, then I thought he was saying “Ef those taxes”, now I admit I don’t know wtf he’s doing and will wait til seasons end and read the results.
I was of the opinion that Bryan Reynolds was a below-average runner, but after looking it up, he is faster than Cody Bellinger.
When I say he is a borderline star, I am not looking at just the stats. I consider that he was in a poor system of developing players, and I believe the Dodgers will help him elevate his game. He will soon be 28 – those are his prime years.
He had a year at .880 OPS and one at .912. He had a bad year last season in Pittsburgh as he did not have much protection in the lineup. Put him on the Dodgers, and you might see more than a “borderline” superstar. You just might see a real one.
All this talk about how stocked the farm is and not one has made the show in a mighty long time and for me personally it’s a letdown
It’s hard to have a opinion when no one has any idea what Friedman might do next. Nobody saw mookie coming. Didn’t hear once anyone mentioning signing Peralta. One thing seems certain is nothing has changed in there being reluctant to rely on rookies. Wouldn’t shock me if they traded for a SS or second baseman and reeled back the opportunity for Vargas. I believe smith was last homegrown position player to really get a chance. Outman and Busch are at the point either play em or trade them. I’d bet on the latter
For the record, I would give up Busch (if Vargas takes to 2B, he is a man without a position), Pepiot (the Dodgers have plenty of pitchers), and Outman (whom I still think is a 4th OFer at best). I prefer not to give up Rushing as I think he will be a beast.
… and Eric, what do you mean that making a big trade is not Friedman’s style? Remember the big trade he made when he came to the Dodgers? Remember the Manny Machado Trade? He does it when it makes sense!
No way Dodgers give up that much for Reynolds. Pepiot, Busch and a lesser prospect maybe.
Reynolds is not a borderlne superstar in my view. Way too much to give up for him.
I am really surprised the Dodgers are going over the cap with THIS move. If they do not want to reset the luxury tax why only Peralta ? Are we suddenly cash strapped ?
Technical question: When does a team have to be under the luxury tax ? At the beginning of the season or after its conclusion ?
Go Dodgers”””””””””””””””””””””””2
Hey and. The number 10 is available for Reynolds in a Dodgers uniform. It just sounds perfect. I think I’ve been saying to do that all winter. But now you agree with me Timmons and I agree with you. Do the Trade now. So these guys get used to playing together in spring time and get that team goal all together in spring training.
Mark- Why trade all those prospects for Reynolds & still have Bradley (Zimmer?) playing CF & batting 7th?
Mark
“Bryan Reynolds is a borderline superstar”
You said a .900 and above OPS is a superstar and .800 and above is a star, .842 is not a borderline superstar, that’s the same as saying .742 is borderline a star. AF doesn’t give away that many good prospects for .842 OPS.
Man, this WOULD be a fearsome lineup.
Losing Outman would hurt BAD. He’s likely going to be as good as Reynolds…. just not right away…..and of course since he’s a prospect possibly never!
If it would cost Outman, Pepiot, Busch AND Rushing I don’t know if AF would pull the trigger.
Outman will be the CF and I have a funny feeling either a trade will happen to platoon with Peralta or the powers that be are seriously considering DeLuca to platoon with Peralta and that will make Taylor what he pretty much always has been a ultility outfielder and insurance IF Outman fails to hit LHP good enough.
I always thought Thompson was an odd man on the roster because he doesn’t hit either RHP or LHP good except last year against RHP and I never thought Heyward and Busch would make the roster. This move validates my prediction about Busch not making the roster and either Heyward or Thompson not making the roster and I bet the other one won’t make the roster either because of what I said in the first paragraph.
I don’t see a trade for Reynolds, too much in prospects going to the Pirates in that trade and it’s not AF’s style.
Starters:
Smith
Freeman
Muncy
Lux
Vargas
Betts
Outman
Martinez
Peralta with a platoon partner
Bench: Barnes, Rojas, Taylor and one of the platoon.
That’s a wrap