For the second consecutive year, the Dodgers have had plenty of time to set their agenda for the offseason.
Their season ended nearly a month ago in dumb-founded shock at Chase Field in Phoenix and they’ve already begun the process of building the 2024 roster, signing Max Muncy to a contract extension and declining to bring back pitchers Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly and Daniel Hudson on club options.
Much more work needs to be done and that process begins to ramp up this week with MLB’s team architects convening in Scottsdale, Arizona at the annual GM Meetings from Tuesday through Thursday.
Here’s a look at what should be on the agenda for Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and GM Brandon Gomes:
UNICORN HUNTING
Open season begins Tuesday when free agents like Shohei Ohtani can sign with new teams.
Ohtani’s decision will be the high point of the offseason whenever it comes. The Dodgers are considered the favorite to sign him and a logical destination for the two-way star. Even the Dodgers think so if their recent hire of a new Senior Vice President for Global Partnerships is any indication. No player would open the door wider to global partnerships than Ohtani.
Ohtani’s elbow surgery complicates matters some and could lead to more creativity in his next contract rather than just rolling up a Brink’s truck loaded with cash (it might actually require two trucks). The Dodgers have shown a willingness to get creative in the past – even if it wasn’t successful (i.e. their spring 2019 offer of four years and $180 million was rejected by Bryce Harper). The idea of an opt-out-laden deal for the 29-year-old Ohtani has gained traction in the wake of his surgery.
STARTING PITCHING
In the runup to their National League Division Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Dodgers spoke of taking an “unconventional” approach to their postseason pitching plans due to the dilapidated state of their starting rotation.
As it turned out, they weren’t unconventional enough. They would have been better off not using their starting pitchers at all.
In the wake of that epic fail against the Diamondbacks – Clayton Kershaw, Bobby Miller and Lance Lynn allowed 13 runs while retiring 14 batters – a renewed commitment to building their starting rotation should be at the top of the Dodgers’ offseason to-do list. As it stands now, the Dodgers’ 2024 rotation would consist of Walker Buehler, Miller, Ryan Pepiot, Emmet Sheehan and maybe Ryan Yarbrough.
Blake Snell and Aaron Nola are the top names in a free-agent market that is thin on starting pitching (thanks in part to Julio Urias’ fall). But the Dodgers should be casting a wide net – one that includes the mid-level free agent market (Jordan Montgomery, Sonny Gray, Jack Flaherty, Kenta Maeda, etc.) and trade candidates (Milwaukee’s Corbin Burnes and Tampa Bay’s Tyler Glasnow, most prominently) as well as the international market (Japan’s Yoshinobu Yamamoto considered the ultimate prize).
Under Friedman, the Dodgers have been reluctant to spend on free-agent starters, preferring to bargain shop for the likes of Tyler Anderson, Andrew Heaney and Noah Syndergaard. That approach might have to change this winter.
INTERNATIONAL WATERS
The Dodgers’ scouting department has racked up the frequent-flyer miles over the past year scouting a pair of Japanese pitchers – right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto and lefty Shota Imanaga.
Yamamoto is the top target and ranks on the same level as Snell and Nola because of his age (25) and credentials. He has won MVP and Sawamura Awards (Japan’s version of the Cy Young Award) each of the past two seasons and the pitching Triple Crown (wins, strikeouts and ERA) each of the past three.
Imanaga is older (30) but he started for Team Japan in the gold-medal game against Team USA in this year’s World Baseball Classic (Ohtani closed) and had a 2.96 ERA with a 1.08 WHIP in eight seasons pitching for the Yokohama BayStars.
Both are expected to be posted soon.
MOVING PARTS
To say Ohtani’s decision will have ripple effects on the rest of the Dodgers’ winter would be underestimating the size of those waves.
If he does sign with the Dodgers, committing that kind of money to one player would obviously affect their resources for modifying the rest of the roster.
If Ohtani does not sign with the Dodgers, it could set off a series of decisions on the position-player side of things.
Do the Dodgers try to bring designated hitter J.D. Martinez back on another contract? He is likely to have other suitors – and definitely for more than the $10 million he made in 2023. Does Max Muncy become a DH? His defense at third base was below average and pairing him on the left side of the infield with a shortstop returning from knee surgery (Gavin Lux) next season might not be ideal. If Muncy moves – does that put the Dodgers in the market for a third baseman? Matt Chapman is a Gold Glove winner at third base and one of the better hitters on this year’s free-agent market. And there is always the annual speculation about a trade for Nolan Arenado. Do the Dodgers finally make that dream come true this winter?
But those are questions for a later day – like Dec. 4-7 when MLB reconvenes for the annual Winter Meetings.
