Winter meetings begin Monday

Grantland’s got speculations!

Question 1. Will the Dodgers move Kemp? Grantland and the Magic 8 ball say “Can’t predict now.”

Questions 2 through 5. Who cares? The only guess about the Dodgers here is whether they’ll try hard to get one of the available starters: Lester, Hamels, Scherzer or Shields.

As Paul Harvey used to say, “Stand by…for news!”

36 thoughts on “Winter meetings begin Monday

  1. The Dodgers got a lot, and gave up just a little. I like Dee, but he is eminently replaceable.

  2. 1. The Marlins must have played hardball and demanded Dee Gordon…..
    1a. The Dodgers must have really wanted to get rid of Dan Haren and his contract.
    2. Regardless, the Dodgers should not have jettisoned Dee Gordon.
    3. I wouldn’t have even traded for Jimmy Rollins 2 years ago…. (despite his pedigree)
    4. You could only hope that Pederson and the Saeger turn out like Dee…
    5. Of all things “2015 Dodgers”…Dee Gordon-2015 was something I was looking forward to.
    6. Devils’ Advocate: In 2011, the LA Kings traded top prospect Brayden Shenn to Philly in Dean Lombardi’s effort to “fortify the organization with talent at all levels – from juniors to the minors, to the big club” (paraphrasing) – Trading the highly-touted, recent draft pick was unpopular….. but, we all know what has happened with the 2-time World Champs.
    7. I still would have not traded Dee. I would have rather traded – “Million holes in his swing, playoff chokester, poor base running, Yassy Puig” before trading Dee. He’s just a smart baseball player and a ‘winning piece’….. Prediction- He’ll be moved from FLA, and have a ring before the Dodgers ever even sniff the World Series. Quote me. 🙂

  3. not a fan of the Gordon trade, but I can understand it, due to the coverage we have at second from others

    • Yep, Guerrero and Barney in the wings. In that regard not a bad trade in that output from 2nd shouldn’t diminish if at all. Guererro’s cost and “no trade” clause made moving him impossible. That said, real sorry to see De go. Always interesting and fun to watch.

  4. So, has “Money Ball” come to L.A.? We now need a second baseman and two starting pitchers. I hope that the pitching prospect who we got in the deal, Heaney, becomes the real thing.

    Here’s what Zaidi said about Gordon yesterday: “He’s a cost-controlled, All-Star
    second baseman that teams would have for four more years (before he is
    eligible for free agency). He’s a tremendous player.
    Anybody like that, teams are going to ask us about. We can’t control
    that. We’re not dangling him. He’s our second baseman.” …

  5. Haren has said he’ll retire if he can’t play on the West coast, but the Marlins had to know that. I guess they think they can talk him out of it.

  6. Dodgers trade Gordon, Haren to Marlins for “top pitching prospect Andrew Heaney, who was the ninth overall pick in the 2012 draft, along with
    outfielder Kike Hernandez, catcher Austin Barnes and reliever Chris
    Hatcher. The Dodgers save about $13 million in payroll.”

  7. In watching games on TV, it is hard to see when Kemp might get a late jump or take an indirect route to a ball. What I can see is that Kemp can catch a ball if he gets to it and I have seen him make difficult running catches in very windy conditions, dive for balls, and show a strong and accurate arm.

    I think he is a better defender than he gets credit for. That said, if he played CF decently before his injuries, he should be able to play left field as well as he can play right field. So, if he decides to be happy as long as he is starting games, he should be fine mentally in left field for 2015. He now says he just wants to play.

    I think an outfield of Kemp LF, Pederson CF, and Puig RF would be the Dodgers best outfield. I am okay with Arruebarrena at short stop until Seager is ready and I am happy with Ellis and Fedex as the Dodgers catchers.

    Hopefully the Dodgers will find a way to trade Crawford and Ethier and if prospects are included in a trade that they do not include Seager, Pederson, or Urias.

  8. Friedman and Zaidi, to this point, have daintily put their toes into the water. With Lester now going to the Cubs, I expect that the pace of free-agent signings and trades will accelerate. But I certainly hope that we don’t trade Kemp. His second half in 2014 showed how valuable
    he can still be. Moreover, trading him to a team in the NL West would be a big mistake. At least when we traded Pedro Martinez it was to Montreal and when we swapped Mike Piazza it was to Florida. Those were two of the worst trades the Dodgers have made in Los Angeles.

  9. Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi re: Kemp to Padres:

    Those reports were more wishful thinking by the media looking for a story to service what has become round-the-clock coverage than anything based in reality, according to Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi.

    “Yes, that’s how I would characterize it,” Zaidi said. “The information that is coming out there might be more driven by what people have heard in snippets and more what they want to believe we’re willing to do than what we’re actually willing to do.

    “Rumors that we’re close to a deal are not true.”

    More, on Gordon:

    Zaidi doused reports that the Dodgers had been making second baseman Dee Gordon available on the trade market. “He’s a cost-controlled, All-Star second baseman that teams would have for four more years (before he is eligible for free agency),” Zaidi said. “He’s a tremendous player. Anybody like that, teams are going to ask us about. We can’t control that. We’re not dangling him. He’s our second baseman.” …

    • Everyone on the team, except for perhaps Clayton and Puig are probably available for trade. Really depends on the return. We do have several possible 2nd basemen in the 40-man. Bob-Hendley

  10. It seems like the Dodgers will trade Kemp to the Padres for Grandal plus another player. When and if the teams can agree on that second player, apparently, a trade will be made. The last player mentioned is prospect Elfin. Before that, Wilser was mentioned, and before that Cashner was mentioned.

  11. Let’s suppose the Dodgers will be blown up by the new whiz kids. Would it look something like this?

    Crawford for Elvis Andrus
    Gonzales and Lee for Grandal and Andrew Cashner

    Kemp for Walker or Paxon

    C Grandal / Ellis
    P Kershaw, Greinke, Rhu, Walker, Cashner
    1B Van Slyke
    1B Gordon
    3B Uribe/Seager
    SS Andrus
    LF Ethier/Heisman/Schebler
    CF Pederson
    RF Puig

    • Seems a bit much to use the past three years in valuing Matty moving forward, as he was injured or recovering from injury during almost two-thirds of that time. I suppose he can always get injured again, but that’s not what the writer is saying.

  12. Might the Dodgers try to trade Haren to Angels for Wilson and return Wilson to relief? Angels are said to be shopping Wilson.

    • Wilson (presumably C.J.) is almost worthless. If they can swap Wilsons, that might not be so bad. Haren has value as a back-end starter for next season.

  13. My $.02 or .03 on a couple things–

    1) Maybe this is too much to read into a small comment, but Friedman, recently talking about Kemp’s superior hitting, said it’s “different with him.” Meaning they know what they have in him (assuming he maintains anywhere near to second half ’14) and almost certainly won’t trade him unless what comes in return just blows them away. Especially given the offensive environment.
    Those who inquire about Kemp are guaranteed to get an Ethier/CC sales pitch, of course.

    2) Not particularly relevant to the meetings, but If I were a pitcher in the Dodger system known for not being able to throw strikes, I wouldn’t be expecting to be around very long. Even if I also were known for clocking 100 mph or for lots of Ks –and also lots of BBs–per IP. See Dominguez, Jose, and Magill, Matt.