What Will the Dodgers Look Like in 2024?
This is a really tough question and one that I probably cannot answer completely. At the very least, it will be dramatically wrong, but I will attempt to answer it anyway because I know some of you reveal when I am wrong (which is often). One poster pointed this out yesterday…
This is a really tough question and one that I probably cannot answer completely. At the very least, it will be dramatically wrong, but I will attempt to answer it anyway because I know some of you reveal when I am wrong (which is often). One poster pointed this out yesterday:
Coming into the Winter of 2024, the following players are free agents or come off of the payroll:
— DodgerRick
Urias, Kershaw, Bauer, Shelby Miller, Jimmy Nelson, Brasier, Cyr (pitchers) (Lance Lynn has a team option at $18MM, Kelly has one at $9.5MM), JD Martinez, Kike Hernandez, Rosario, Peralta, Heyward, Marisnick (position players) (Muncy has a team option at $10MM).
THAT IS A LOT! Additionally, a lot has to happen between now and then. I happen to think that Andrew Friedman believes that “You trade for a Superstar or sign them as a free agent and grow the rest!” Yes, he traded for Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman (both superstars) and signed JD Martinez. He also signed Max Muncy (although no superstar), who is a solid player. I think that in 2024, AF would like to trade CT3 – we shall see if that happens. If Chris can be traded, then Kike Hernandez could be re-signed.
Of course, the 800-pound gorilla in the room is Othani, but I cannot see the Dodgers being the high bidder. There is no way Andrew Friedman is going to put that much money into a 30-year-old who is an injury away from being a boat anchor on an organization. I know AF would love to sign him, but it will be at a cost that is not going to hamstring the organization. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Additionally, JD Martinez could be re-signed (if he really wants to stay in LA). Most of the other players will walk. OK, I am going to cut to the chase. This is what I see next year:
- Betts SS (why not? He loves SS)
- Freeman 1B
- Smith 3B (catching beats him down; maybe LF is a possibility as his bat will play up)
- Muncy/Martinez DH (or maybe both are gone)
- Rosario/Busch LF (Rosario has experience in the OF)
- Vargas 2B (too much talent to ignore)
- Outman CF (I think he will continue to grow)
- Pages/Lux RF (one or both?)
- Catcher – Obtained by trade!
What say you?
Dodger News and Notes
- I have cataract surgery early today. I have no clue how I will see so… whenever!
- It looks like the Dodgers will have four players with 30+ HR. Remember the last time that happened?
- The Dodger World looked totally different when Julio Urias pitches like last night. Hopefully, he has found the Holy Grail.
- Sheehan looked great except for two pitches – Rookies!
- Muncy should platoon with Busch!
- Kiki Hernandez is rejuvenated to be back as a Dodger.
- Amed Rosario is tearing it up as a Dodger – 1.036 OPS – who knew? Andrew!
- Tonight is the biggest game of Bobby Millers’ career. If the Dodgers sweep the Padres or win the series, they are dead. No sweep by the Padres! Please, Big Dodger in the Sky!
- Ken Giles pitched an inning last night, no runs, no hits, 1 K, 2 BB – he’s getting close!
- Diego Cartaya is hitting .177. This is not good!
- Nick Frasso last night -4 IP/3 H/0 R/1 BB/8 K.
- Arizona is sinking faster than ______________
- I’d like to bury the Padres this weekend
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Discussion (88)
Disagree, not disagreeable
9:40 PM ET
Dodgers (62-45)
Padres (54-55)
SP Bobby Miller R
6-2 4.37 ERA
SP Yu Darvish R
8-7 4.53 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
2B Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
C Will Smith R
DH D. Peralta L
RF J. Heyward L
3B Chris Taylor R
CF James Outman L
SS Amed Rosario R
LF E. Hernandez R
0%
72° Wind 8 mph L-R
It makes me laugh to see how some are afraid of those stupid clowns, and worried about the “hostile” environment. I would understand and accept it if the Dodgers were a team of children, but they are professional adults, they are leaders, they are not the ones who should be worried. And much less worried about those useless and mediocre assholes… Ha ha ha dangerous? ha ha ha… If you’re going to worry, worry about LA, or maybe SF… And then, just in case you meet in the next round, worry about ATL…
I would watch out for that Giants GM he loves Dodgers players so off-season when Urias Muncy and Martinez are free agents I could see those guys going to the Giants only one I wouldn’t worry about is muncy but supposedly he had a good relationship with Kapler when he was roving instructor with the Dodgers and if the Giants got Urias with the two starting pitchers they have allready and they have a stud pitcher to coming up from AAA in 2024 in Harrison so don’t be surprised this off-season say like Martiniz and Urias go there.
Hope that all goes well with the surgery, Mark.
I would take a split with Padres right now. Dodgers would be ten up on Padres in loss column with seven weeks left. When you watch this Padres line up it is hard to believe that they are in fourth place in West.
After two games with A’s this weekend, Giants start a stretch of 28 games against Angels, Rangers, Phillies, Rays , Braves (7 games), Padres and Cubs. Hopefully Dodgers can stretch that margin in West during this next five weeks.
That is a pretty good summary of AF and his approach to building Dodger rosters. He will pay for stars (money or prospects) and fill in around those keystones. (May explain why he was not willing to trade real good prospects at this trade deadline.) A roster built around Betts, Freeman, Smith, and Ohtani and a deep farm system to fill in seems to make sense.
A guess at 2024:
C. Smith
1B. Freeman
2B. Vargas
SS Lux
3B Busch or Muncy
LF. runway for DeLuca/Busch/Pages?
CF. Outman
RF Betts
DH Ohtani
My most sincere condolences to you Jorge, may your father restin peace.
What a game. What a win.
Man those kits are awful.
Great win by the Dodgers!
Total team effort with huge contributions by Outman, Peralta, Kike and Rosario.
This team battles and hangs in games. Padres seem to find ways to lose despite a good lineup.
Hopefully they can get to Snell tomorrow.
Hey, how about that Jimmy Outman?
Pretty good game. For starters he robs Tatis of a homer and then hammers one himself–and it wasn’t lucky at all. Then he kind of doinks one down the third place line–very lucky!–to drive in a run. Also stole a base.
And then when he’s going to come up with the bases loaded, Roberts decides to use JD Martinez as a pinch hitter, even though JDM apparently wasn’t healthy enough to start at DH.
A smart move? Not so sure.
It worked out OK because JDM walked, bringing in a run.
But was it the right move?
My guess is that Roberts turned to JDM with the thought that he could break the game open with a big hit. And JDM would have the theoretical advantage of being a righthanded batter facing a lefty, while Outman bats from the left side.
But that’s just theoretical. The empirical data suggests that Outman would have had the advantage over JDM.
Against lefties, Outman has a .288 BA and a very nice OBP of .376. (He’s goes for contact against lefties and shows more power against northpaws.)
JDM, in contrast, has a .247 BA against southpaws and an OBP of .337.
For the season, against all pitchers, Outman now has a fine .352 OBP, while JDM’s is .311.
It’s true that JDM flexes more power, but if the goal was to add an insurance run or two, the stats suggest that Outman should have batted. And this is especially true because Outman has been hot lately, while JDM has been dealing with an injury. (Rojas came in to pinch run for him.)
Anyway, it worked out because JDM got the walk . But over the last 30 days, Outman has walked 15 times against 18 strikeouts, while JDM has walked 8 times against 21 Ks. Again, advantage Outman.
Well, I guess we can hope that JDM will be back in the DH spot tomorrow.
Unless he strained himself in that at bat that should have been Outman’s.
Hey, how about that Jimmy Outman?
How good was Gavin Stone on Friday night? In a word, unhittable.
The Dodgers’ No. 4 prospect racked up 10 strikeouts over six hitless, scoreless innings in Oklahoma City’s 7-1 win over Round Rock. The 10 whiffs matched a season high set in May, while the six no-hit frames were a new benchmark for Stone. His previous longest outing without allowing a hit was four innings — a feat he accomplished last season with OKC and in 2021 with High-A Great Lakes.
White Sox Acquire Two Minor League Pitchers From Dodgers
By Anthony Franco | August 4, 2023 at 10:29pm CDT
The White Sox announced they’ve acquired right-handers Aldrín Batista and Máximo Martínez from the Dodgers in exchange for international signing bonus space. Both were eligible to be traded because they haven’t been on the 40-man roster at any point this season.
Both pitchers are low-level arms with no major league experience. They’d each been in the Arizona Complex League. Batista, 20, has a 3.46 ERA while striking out just under a third of opponents in 39 innings. Martínez, 19, has a 4.73 ERA with a 23.3% strikeout rate over 26 2/3 frames.