MLB Offseason Preview - LA Dodgers

Los Angeles Dodgers

National League	West Division
91-71 Won Division	Lost NL Championship Series 4-2 to the Chicago Cubs
Manager: Dave Roberts	GM: Farhan Zaidi
AAA Affiliate Oklahoma City Dodgers	AA Affiliate Tulsa Drillers

2016 Rankings

Hitting	AVG – 22nd	OPS – 19th	Runs – 14th	HR – 17th	SB – 27th
Starting Pitching	ERA – 6th	K/9 – 2nd	H/9 – 4th
Relief Pitching	ERA – 1st	K/9 – 6th	H/9 – 2nd

Top Hitters

POS.	Name	AVG	OBP	Slug	HR	RBIs	SB	WAR
SS	Corey Seager	.308	.365	.512	26	72	3	6.1
3B	Justin Turner	.275	.339	.493	27	90	4	4.9
CF	Joc Pederson	.246	.352	.495	25	68	6	3.4

Top Pitchers

POS.	Name	G/GS	Record	IP/Saves	ERA	K	BB	ERA+	WAR
SP	Clayton Kershaw	21 GS	12-4	149.0 IP	1.69	172	11	230	5.6
CP	Kenley Jansen	71 G	3-2	47 saves	1.83	104	11	213	2.5
SP	Kenta Maeda	32 GS	16-11	175.2 IP	3.48	179	50	112	2.4

Trades that the Dodgers Completed

• Traded P Mike Bolsinger to Toronto for P Jesse Chavez
• Traded 1B Yordan Alvarez to Houston for P Josh Fields
• Traded P Grant Holmes, P Jharel Cotton, and P Frankie Montas to Oakland for SP Rich Hill and OF Josh Reddick
• Traded P Tommy Bergjans and C A.J. Ellis to Philadelphia for C Carlos Ruiz
• Traded UT Howie Kendrick to Philadelphia for 1B/OF Darin Ruf and UT Darnell Sweeney
• Traded C Carlos Ruiz to Seattle for P Vidal Nuno

Impending Free Agents

• OF Josh Reddick - signed with Houston for 4 years, $52 million
• P Jesse Chavez - signed with the Angels for 1 year, $5.75 million
• SP Brett Anderson
• CP Kenley Jansen
• 2B Chase Utley
• SP Rich Hill
• RP J.P. Howell
• 3B Justin Turner
• RP Joe Blanton

Top Prospects

POS.	Name	Level
1B/OF	Cody Bellinger	AAA
SP	Jose De Leon	AAA
OF	Alex Verdugo	AA
2B	Willie Calhoun	AA
P	Yadier Alvarez	A
OF	Yusniel Diaz	A+

Team MVP

• Clayton Kershaw is the best pitcher in baseball and probably the best player in the game behind Mike Trout and therefore the most valuable Dodger.  He was injured for a good portion of the season, only making 21 starts, but was spectacular in those starts, still finishing fifth in Cy Young Award voting.  He put up historic numbers, accumulating 172 strikeouts and just 11 walks, a ratio of 15.64 strikeouts per walk, a number that would have obliterated the season record of 11.63 held by Phil Hughes had Kershaw pitched enough innings.  Kershaw is somehow managing to get better as his career progresses, posting the lowest ERA, FIP, and WHIP of his career.  Kershaw also pitched differently than he has in the past, throwing his slider more often in 2016 than ever before, up to a third of the time.  His slider is also his best and most valuable pitch and one of the most devastating pitches in all of baseball now.  With every season Kershaw pitches, he continues to further cement himself as one of the greatest of all time and may be in a category with Sandy Koufax and Greg Maddux by the time he retires.  Kershaw is scientific with how he pitches and is the true definition of an ace.  The only area where he has struggled in his career has been in the playoffs, causing him to wrongly earn the accolade of not being a big game performer.  This season, however, he changed this opinion.  Although he had a 4.44 ERA in the postseason, the Dodgers bullpen actually allowed a quarter of his earned runs. During the NLDS against the Washington Nationals he threw in three game over in a period of just six days, including starting on three days' rest and saving game five on just two days' rest. In game two of the NLCS against the eventual World Series champion Chicago Cubs, Kershaw started just three days after earning the save, throwing seven masterful innings and only allowing three baserunners en route to a 1-0 win to even the series.  How he pitched in that game against the best team in all of baseball should be enough to quiet critics, but only the future will determine that.  The only other player in baseball in his category is Mike Trout, who is also continually honing his craft to become a better player.  Kershaw is the highest paid player in all of baseball at $35 million per season and yet is still underpaid.  Fangraphs calculated the value of Kershaw's season to be $52.3 million, significantly higher than his salary.  He is under contract through the 2020 season but has an opt-out clause after the 2018 season which would allow him to become a free agent that offseason. Who knows if he will exercise this clause as he doesn't seem to be a person driven by money, but if he does exercise it, he could be paid between $45 and $50 million per season and the Dodgers should just bite the bullet and pay him, because without him, their rotation would be a mess.

Success/Failure

• Success - With a $200 million payroll like they had in 2016, the Dodgers need to make a deep run in the playoffs every season to justify the amount of money they spend.  If it were a normal year and the team had remained relatively healthy, then only making it to the NLCS would be a failure.  However, considering the amount of injuries their roster sustained and how many players first year manager Dave Roberts was forced to play, the Dodgers getting through the Nationals in the NLDS makes this season a success.  They put 26 players on the disabled list, amassing over 2,600 days lost, by far the most in baseball.  Roberts was forced to constantly piece a starting rotation and lineup together and yet still they won the division by four games and his decisions resulted in him winning the NL Manager of the Year Award.  The team was led largely by a good pitching rotation, headlined as usual by Clayton Kershaw, and an elite bullpen.  Their offense struggled for much of the season and was composed almost entirely by left-handed batters, making them able to be shut down by quality left-handed pitching.  Towards the end of the season, after acquiring Josh Reddick, Roberts went to a platoon-heavy lineup, which is fine in a few lineup spots, but not for its majority.  Their best batter was shortstop Corey Seager, who lived up to the hype by unanimously winning the NL Rookie of the Year Award.  They also got a bounce back season Joc Pederson, who slugged 25 home runs by still needs to cut down on his strikeout numbers.  I think that the Dodgers finally have a solid core group of players that includes numerous big league hitters and they also have the best pitcher in the game and should be set up for the future.

Offseason Outlook

• I think that the Dodgers desperately need to either re-sign closer Kenley Jansen or they need to go after Aroldis Chapman or Mark Melancon.  Their bullpen was one of the best in baseball in 2016 and they will need to maintain that in 2017.  I think that they also need to re-sign third baseman Justin Turner, who was one of the few right-handed batters that was successful for the Dodgers.  I would like to see them go after at least one right-handed bat, preferably in the outfield.  The Dodgers, who still have a really good farm system after calling up Corey Seager and Julio Urias, could make just about any trade happen.  So far this offseason they have been linked to Tigers' outfielder J.D. Martinez, second baseman Ian Kinsler, and starting pitcher Justin Verlander.  All of these players would fill needs for the Dodgers and Martinez and Kinsler are both right-handed batters.  There have also been rumors that they may be the team to trade for Chris Sale, who would bring back the dominant one-two pitching punch that they have missed since letting Zack Greinke go via free agency last offseason.  I think that if the Dodgers can take care of some of their problem areas, they will be able to compete with the Cubs for the NL Pennant in 2017.

*All stats and information come from baseball-reference.com, fangraphs.com, rosterresource.com, baseballamerica.com, and spotrac.com