More big moves could come, but Dodgers end winter meetings feeling 'we've gotten better'
The New York Mets added Juan Soto, but the Dodgers’ lineup remains deeper and more dangerous.
The New York Yankees inked Max Fried, but the Dodgers’ rotation still outnumbers them in big-name, frontline arms.
In a high-priced offseason that has featured several big-market clubs bolstering their rosters — or at least make lucrative bids in an attempt to do so — the Dodgers still reign supremein baseball's hierarchy of contenders, well positioned coming out of this week’s winter meetings to mount a World Series title defense.
And yet as they embark on the rest of the offseason, they seem primed to keep trying to add to their collection of premium talent.
Read more: Hernández: Are the Dodgers what pitcher Roki Sasaki wants in an MLB team?
“We’ve made some moves that have set a real strong foundation for a successful team,” general manager Brandon Gomes said Wednesday as the meetings wound down at the Hilton Anatole. “Now we’ll take the next couple weeks leading up to spring training to explore what’s out there.”
The Dodgers already have been busy in free agency. They landed an ace, Blake Snell, on a $182-million contract. They also added outfield depth in Michael Conforto, re-signed Blake Treinen to shore up the bullpen and locked up utility man Tommy Edman to a five-year extension.
If the season began tomorrow, they’d almost certainly be favored to win a second consecutive championship.
“I like the way the offseason has played out,” manager Dave Roberts said this week. “Certainly with what we've done so far, we've gotten better.”
But they remain hopeful that more improvement will come before they start next season — and receive their World Series rings — in a little more than three months.
“We’ll continue to try to make moves we feel are needle-movers,” Gomes said. “Whether that’s impact moves, or depth moves, all those play into our quest to repeat.”
The most obvious move would be bringing back Teoscar Hernández, among the few impact outfield bats still available. However, any hope of a quick negotiation between the Dodgers and the two-time All-Star went out the window long ago. And Dodgers executives offered rather foreboding quotes when asked this week about the negotiations.
“I know that he has talked about wanting to [stay in Los Angeles], I know that we have talked about wanting him to, so again, that’s helpful — but it’s not everything,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said. “He and his family get to go through the interest and figure out what makes the most sense for them. So, while we’re hopeful, at the same time, if he ends up signing somewhere else, we have no choice but to wish him well.”
Read more: Will Dodgers sign Roki Sasaki? Agent details posting process for star Japanese pitcher
The sides continued to talk this week, according to people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly, and are believed to be close enough in negotiations that a deal remains possible.
If it happens, that would check one big box off the Dodgers’ remaining to-do list. But, with or without Hernández, they are eyeing other potential big-name acquisitions in the coming weeks.
Roki Sasaki’s posting will be perhaps their biggest focus. The 23-year-old Japanese pitcher is expected to begin meeting with teams as soon as next week, according to his agent, Joel Wolfe. Friedman said Tuesday the Dodgers were putting the finishing touches on their presentation to the hard-throwing right-hander, who will field broad interest from teams since he is restricted to signing a minor-league contract with a modest signing bonus.
“He has talked about his desire to be the best pitcher in the world, and we believe that he is capable of being the best pitcher in the world,” Friedman said. “He’s someone that is obviously a major priority for us.”
He won’t be the only one, though.
In the bullpen, the Dodgers have targeted top free-agent reliever Tanner Scott as well as top trade candidate Devin Williams of the Milwaukee Brewers, as the Athletic first reported. The Dodgers showed interest in Scott at last year’s trade deadline only to watch him go to the San Diego Padres and emerge as a particularly difficult matchup for Shohei Ohtani in the National League Division Series. Williams is coming off three consecutive seasons of sub-2.00 earned-run averages with the Brewers, who reportedly are looking to move him ahead of his final season before free agency.
The trade market offers more possibilities, though the Dodgers aren’t obvious fits for any of the biggest potential names.
Gomes effectively ruled the team out of contention for St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado this week, declaring that Max Muncy is “going to play third base for us” in the wake of rumors that Arenado (an Orange County native and former Dodgers trade deadline target) would waive his no-trade clause to join the team.
The Dodgers haven’t been linked to Houston Astros star outfielder Kyle Tucker, either, with other teams like the Chicago Cubs and Yankees reportedly lining up better for the three-time All-Star, who will be a free agent after next season.
Read more: Dodgers at MLB winter meetings: Competition for Teoscar Hernández heating up
If the Dodgers don’t re-sign Hernández, they could get more aggressive on the trade market, where the Cubs’ Seiya Suzuki is another player reportedly on the block (though he has a no-trade clause and might not end up getting dealt).
In the event the Dodgers still need outfield reinforcements, Friedman noted there are also “interesting guys” remaining in free agency, though no one as productive as Hernández was last year, nor with the cachet he has built in the Dodgers’ clubhouse.
“There’s different ways we can get at this,” Friedman said of the outfield plans, with at least one more addition likely needed. “We can have a team that has a little bit more power. We can have a team that makes a little bit more contact. We can have a team that plays a little bit better defense. There’s just a lot of different ways to get at value and production and winning baseball games. So, with that, it opens some things up.”
At this point, the Dodgers are keeping all sorts of options open. They feel good about their roster. They believe a strong foundation is in place. Now, they can spend the rest of the winter trying to round out the rest of their team, hopeful the offseason will culminate with a few more big splashes.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
