Roger Arrieta
In case you missed it, the Dodgers made a Shamu type splash at the Winter Meetings this week (that’s a San Diego reference by the way). They were the most active team as far as player signings and of course, making major trades. When Opening Day comes on April 6, the Dodgers line up will look completely different than it did last year.
Here’s a projected line up:
1. Jimmy Rollins-SS (acquired in trade with PHI)
2. Carl Crawford-LF
3. Adrian Gonzalez-1B
4. Yasiel Puig-RF
5. Howie Kendrick-2B(acquired in trade with LAA)
6. Yasmany Grandal-C(acquired in trade with SD)
7. Juan Uribe-3B
8. Joc Pederson-CF (played in minors most of 2014)
9. Pitcher
Bench
Justin Turner UT
Scott Van Slyke 1B/OF
Andre Eithier OF
A.J. Ellis C
Darwin Barney IF
Starting Rotation
1. Clayton Kershaw
2. Zack Greinke
3. Hyun Jin Ryu
4. Brandon McCarthy
5.
Bullpen
Kenley Jansen
Brian Wilson
Brandon League
Juan Nicasio
Mike Bolsinger
J.P. Howell
Paco Rodriguez
Joel Peralta
I’m not going to get into who the relievers should be, and who the fifth starter should be, because that will play itself out over the course of the winter, and throughout spring training.The fifth starter job is up in the air. Juan Nicasio or maybe Zach Lee will win the job in Spring Training. The Dodgers may also sign another starter, like free agent James Shields. There are too many maybes, so lets talk about what we know.
Howie Kendrick will be the Dodgers new second baseman. While the Dee Gordon trade was shocking (not as shocking as another trade we will discuss), it is actually a pretty good deal. Howie Kendrick hit .293 last year, and is a career .292 hitter. He also averages about 12HR’s/year and about 70RBI. No, he won’t steal 60+bases, but he will drive in more runs. Kendrick is also far superior defensively than Dee Gordon is. Dee has more speed/range, but makes more errors defensively, so that speed skill set gets negated. While I absolutely loved Gordon and the way he played the game, having a second baseman like Kendrick makes the Dodgers a better defensive and offensive team than they were last year. We will miss Dee’s hustle and smile, but Kendrick is no slouch.He’s a professional ball player, who also plays the game the right way, with a little less swagger and flare. On a team that is built around great starting pitching, having a gold glove caliber second baseman will help them win more games, and the added power at the position will too.
Jimmy Rollins will be the everyday shortstop, as the Dodgers will have one more year to decide if top prospect Corey Seager will be their shortstop of the future, or if he will be moved to third base (Uribe is in final year of his contract) while Arruebarena works on becoming a better hitter this season so he can be the shortstop of the future. Many fans will miss the “I See You” Hanley Ramirez at shortstop, but as many teams, including the Dodgers, realizedHanley’s days as a shortstop are over, as he appears to be the new Left Fielder for the Boston Red Sox. Had Hanley returned to the Dodgers, it certainly wouldn’t have been as the left fielder, so even he knew his defensive ability at shortstop was no longer acceptable. Offensively he had the potential to be huge as a shortstop, as we saw when he was healthy in 2013, but in 2014 he was in and out of the line up, and ended up hitting .283, with 13HR and 71 RBI. In comparison, the Dodgers new shortstop Jimmy Rollins, hit .243 with 15 HR’s, and 55 RBI last year. Offensively they lose a bit, but they improve tremendously defensively. Even at 36, Rollins is still one of the better defensive shortstops in the NL, and that will add to what is already an improved up the middle defense, and increase the number of runs saved. Also, Rollins is a professional baseball player who knows how to win, and will indeed be driven by this being a contract year for him, and for the window on another championship closing very fast. As a side note, Rollins had a no trade clause in his contract, and made it known he would only waive that clause to play for the Dodgers. A lot can be said for a guy who actually wants to play in a certain city, he will be a good veteran leader on this Dodger club.
Yasmany Grandal will most likely be the primary catcher, with AJ Ellis most likely being the personal catcher for Clayton Kershaw, and possibly getting the starts against left handed pitching. Grandal is a switch hitting catcher, and also plays first base, so he could spell A-Gon vs the tough lefties (although Van Slyke filled in that role nicely last season too). Grandal was very touted by the Padres, he was a top prospect in their organization. In 2014, he hit .225 with 15HR, and 49 RBI, compared to AJ Ellis who hit .191, 3HR, 25RBI. In fairness to Ellis, he was hurt during a good portion of the 2014 season, but he will be turning 34, and Grandal is only 26. Catching is the toughest position to play in the major leagues, because of the abuse they endure throughout the course of a season. Maybe Ellis will keep his job as a starter, but it wouldn’t make much sense for the Dodgers to trade away Kemp for Grandal, if they only intended him to be a back up catcher. Defensively, Ellis is losing his ability to throw out runners, so Grandal can help improve on that. Ellis is great at pre-game preparation, but as a back up he can still do those things, and help with the pitching staff. I trust Mattingly will know exactly how to balance the rotation of Grandal and Ellis.
Joc Pederson, will apparently be the Dodgers starting center fielder in 2015. I have mixed feelings about this, because Matt Kemp was my favorite Dodger. Here is what we know; in 2011 Matt Kemp was the best player in baseball, in 2012 and 2013 he battled injuries, and wasn’t the same player. Last season he had a shaky first half, and an all-star second half. Which Kemp will show up in 2015? As an offensive player, I can’t imagine Kemp putting up all star numbers, or at least MVP type numbers in Petco Park, especially without the protection he had in the Dodgers line up. That being said, I will miss him, and will still root for him, whenever the Padres aren’t playing the Dodgers. Pederson tore up AAA last year, to the acclaim of being named the Dodgers organization co-minor league player of the year with Corey Seager. He hit 30HR, and stole 30 bases. Will he hit 30 HR this season? Probably not, but he does have that potential, so the Dodgers lose a 30HR bat, and gain a potential one. Stealing 30 bases at any level is a feat, so now we know the Dodgers will have another running threat on the base paths (if only we can get someone to teach Puig how to steal bases). Offensively, Pederson has hit well over .300 in the minor leagues, and has shown offensive improvement each season as he’s gone up through the different minor league levels. Scouts absolutely love him, so we will see what he can do. What we know about his defense is he is a true center fielder, with great range, an above average arm, and great reads off the bat. It has been a while since the Dodgers had a true center fielder roaming the outfield, but with the current theme of improving the defense, Pederson definitely fits into that plan. Kemp had his defensive struggles in center last season, and Puig is not a true center fielder, so Pederson is the clear fit to take over those duties.
So is the offense improved from last season? Maybe, maybe not. If Rollins simply puts up the kind of numbers he has averaged over the last few years, it will help the Dodgers. Crawford seems to be healthy again, and with less doubt on his every day role, will play more comfortably and continue on his success from last year. Gonzalez is consistent year in and year out. Puig will be Puig, but we can only hope he has matured a bit, and he will continue to improve. He will have to this season as the Dodgers will depend on him more in 2015 than they have in previous years. Kendrick is in a contract year, and also will be adjusting to a new league. I’m confident he can, at the least, give the Dodgers his career averages, and help with his stellar defense. Uribe, the players most favorite Dodger, is also in a contract year, so I expect him to be focused and be what he has been the last couple seasons, great defensively and solid offensively. Grandal with more protection in the line up, and a slightly better home park to hit in, should get better offensively. The Dodgers in 2015 will be much better defensively than they were in 2014, so this is where the real difference in the moves they’ve made will surface. The game is becoming less hitting oriented, and much more defense and pitching oriented, and the Dodgers will be very good at both of those things.
At the end of the day, while it may hurt emotionally (and it does) to see our favorite players traded away to other teams, or sign with other teams, that is part of the business of baseball. Baseball is a business, and businesses are supposed to be run to be successful. The fact is, I have had my heart broken in each of the last two post seasons, and in 2008, and 2009, not to mention 2006 and 2004. My favorite team, the Los Angeles Dodgers have not won a world championship in 26 years. So while we can say Matt Kemp was our favorite player, or we loved Mike Piazza, they didn’t lead the Dodgers to a championship. Every year the Dodgers don’t win a championship is another year we as fans have to sit and watch another team and city celebrate. The Dodgers front office promised us they would put a team on the field that could contend immediately, while rebuilding the farm system so they could contend for years to come. It appears they are doing just that. They have assembled a front office of baseball/analytic masterminds to help bring a championship to this storied franchise. Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi are getting paid lots of money to make tough decisions, that we as fans might not make. I will miss Dee Gordon, and I will surely miss Matt Kemp, but if there is a Dodgers World Series Championship parade being had in the streets of LA next October, then I will be a very happy Dodger fan.
