Dodgers opening week rotation announced, Billingsley to DL

Mar 272013
 

The Dodgers have announced their opening week starting rotation, but as we know things are always subject to change in Dodgertown. April 1st is just around the corner and the Dodgers opening series is against none-other than their arch rival San Francisco Giants. Still looking for Los Angeles Dodgers Tickets? Opening week tickets are still available, don’t wait. It is looking like the Dodgers will go with only four starters for now, and it appears that right hander Chad Billingsley is going to spend the beginning of the season on the DL. But not for his elbow injury, the good news. The elbow appears to be healed as of right now, which is nothing short of a miracle at this point. Billingsley is recovering from an elbow injury that usually requires Tommy John surgery, but he seems to be in the clear, unfortunately a fingernail bruise on his pitching hand is causing some trouble, so to the disabled list he goes.

Opening day, April 1st, the Dodgers will be going with 2011 Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw. Free agent signee  Hyun-jin Ryu will get the start on April 2nd, and Josh Beckett will start the third game of the series on April 3rd. The Dodgers have an off-day on April 4th, and then begin a three game set with the Pirates on April 5. Here’s where things get tricky, Zack Greinke, assuming he’s cleared to start will make his Dodger debut on April 5th. Greinke has been dealing with elbow pain over the last few weeks, but the Dodgers got some good news after pitching pain free last Wednesday. If all goes according to plan, Clayton Kershaw would make his second start on April 6. From there is a complete mystery at this point. The Dodgers have off-days on April 4, and 8, which means they won’t need a fifth starter until the 13th at the earliest. That should give Billingsley’s nail plenty of time to heal and then the Dodgers would then slide him into the rotation.

Where does that leave Ted Lilly, Aaron Harang, and Chris Capuano? So far not even a whisper, but that doesn’t mean anything. It’s fair to assume that at least one of the trio will be dealt. The Dodgers also have to decide what to do with the bullpen if they do decide to hang on to the surplus of starting pitching. Of course, Scott Elbert and Ronald Belisario are both out of options, so that brings a whole other issue as it pertains to the Dodgers 25-man roster crunch. Who should stay, and who should go?

 03/27/2013  Posted by at 6:56 pm Dodgers News, Dodgers Rumors, Thinking Blue No Responses »

Trade Storm Brewing In Dodgertown

Dec 192012
 

Last week we heard from Dodgers GM Ned Colletti saying the Dodgers are probably done spending, more or less, according to Mark Saxon of ESPNLA. The Dodgers still have some holes to fill and if the above is true, there is a major trade storm brewing in Los Angeles.

The Dodgers have Dee Gordon on the trading block and the Mariners have been the biggest aggressor in the pursuit of the Dodgers shortstop. The Dodgers have been putting out “feelers” to see what kind of return they could net for Gordon, but the Dodgers don’t seem very inclined to trade him unless the return is overwhelming. Gordon could probably net a big haul and I wouldn’t be surprised if he isn’t on the roster come next spring.

Chris Capuano, perhaps the Dodgers most sought after trade chip this winter. He has one guaranteed year left on his current deal with the Dodgers, so it makes a lot of sense for teams looking for rotation help without having to worry about spending big money on a multi-year deal. So far the Rangers are said to have interest, the Pirates remain in the mix as well, and the Dodgers are still interested in adding Joel Hanrahan to their bullpen via trade, according to Buster Olney. Jon Heyman also confirmed the rumor in his latest post. Hanrahan has one year left on his current deal as well, so a trade between the Dodgers and Pirates makes a lot of sense. As for the Rangers, I wonder if the Dodgers could pry Ian Kinsler away with Jurickson Profar waiting in the wings.

Heyman says the Dodgers could add Chris Perez or Bobby Parnell to their radar if things don’t work out with the Pirates. The Dodgers have been connected to Nick Swisher as of late, pointing to the fact that the Dodgers are not done revamping the roster.

Danny Knobler says the Dodgers are shopping Andre Ethier and looking to replace him with Michael Bourn. The Dodgers are looking for a leadoff hitter, further pointing to the fact that the Dodgers don’t envision Dee Gordon being the starting shortop/leadoff hitter in 2013. However, the Dodgers aren’t expected to trade Andre Ethier to make room for Swisher or anyone else in their outfield, Heyman adds. One person connected to the Dodgers said it’s almost 100% certain that Ethier will open the season as the starting right fielder, barring an injury of course. Nick Cafardo reports that a Dodgers official emphatically denied the recent rumor of a Ethier for Jacoby Ellsbury swap. Ethier’s name has been running wild on the hot stove and the Dodgers have repeatedly denied that they are not shopping their All-Star and have “zero intention” of trading him, tweets Ken Rosenthal.

Aaron Harang, has been reportedly shopped very heavy since the Winter Meetings, but Harang remains a Dodger with Christmas just a few days away. Perhaps nobody wants him for Christmas, I know I sure don’t. Interest in the Dodgers pitching surplus should heat up now that the Pirates, Mariners, Indians, Twins, and Blue Jays among the many teams looking for starting pitching.

Then there is the other Dodgers’ starter on the outside looking in, Ted Lilly. Once one of the better left-handed pitchers in the game, he’s now coming off an injury plagued season and is no doubt highly favored to have a new team come next spring. Although I wouldn’t rule out the Dodgers moving him to the bullpen at this point if they can’t find a serious buyer right away.

Nick Punto is one of the newer names to hit the Dodgers’ trade block. The Dodgers have a huge surplus of infielders on the roster, so changes are coming way. The Dodgers have Jerry Hairston, Elian Herrera, Justin Sellers, Dee Gordon, the newly acquired Scott Schumaker, and then of course…

Juan Uribe, well, we could never get that lucky. The Dodgers upgraded their rotation to the best in all of baseball, at least on paper. So that took care of one item on my Christmas wish list for 2012. Now if we could only trade Juan Uribe, but I just know he will somehow remain a Dodger. A trade or release of Uribe and his $7MM is all I want for Christmas Santa.

 12/19/2012  Posted by at 9:17 pm Dodgers Rumors 7 Responses »

Dodgers Ready To Deal: Targeting Choo, Victorino, Out On Cliff Lee

Jul 302012
 

Update: 1:24pm The Dodgers are out of the Cliff Lee sweepstakes, tweets Ken Rosenthal. Remaining money too big even for the Dodgers and Yankees. The chances of a Dempster deal seem to going up by the minute. Meanwhile, Sean McAdam reports the Dodgers have talked to the Red Sox about Beckett.

The Dodgers have officially entered the Shin-Soo Choo sweepstakes and you can get my take on this by checking out my latest post over at Dodgers Nation.

Here’s the latest on all the rumors.

The Dodgers are officially out on Justin Morneau per Ken Rosenthal.  He’s batting .260/.322/.457 with 13 homers and 46 RBI in 78 games this season. I’m not sad about this one bit. I’ve never liked Morneau and I am glad the Dodgers are exploring other options. He’s got way too many red flags for my liking.

Cliff Lee is definitely available for trade tweets Jon Heyman. The Dodgers figure to go after Lee hard if this report is true. Lee would immediately be the the best available starting pitcher. Heyman says the Dodgers are said to have no interest because of the money involved. Lee is owed $25 million per season from 2013-2015 and carries a $27.5 million club option for 2015 with a $12.5 million buyout. The Dodgers have been linked to Lee previously, so I am not sure if this “no interest” is legit or not. My guess is it’s a ploy to help drive down the price. The Dodgers would’ve spent the same money on Hamels as a free agent so I don’t really see a difference here.

Buster Olney hears the Miami Marlins intend to keep Josh Johnson. This further points to the Dodgers going back to Dempster and checking in on Cliff Lee.

Jayson Stark hears the Dodgers are the front-runners for Shane Victorino. They prefer Hunter Pence, but the Phillies may hold on to him until the off-season. The Dodgers are more likely to acquire Victorino, but they’re also in on Pence, reports Jon Heyman.

Jon Lester is emphatically unavailable. The Red Sox are trying to dump Josh Beckett still, but so far the Dodgers don’t seem too interested.

Ken Rosenthal tweets that the Dodgers checked in on Brandon League, no word other than that. My guess is this could be a precursor to a Javy Guerra or Josh Lindblom trade. Scott Miller confirms the Dodgers are still in on League.

 07/30/2012  Posted by at 12:19 pm Dodgers Rumors 2 Responses »

Dodgers Reject Cubs Offer, Dempster Deal On The Rocks Again

Jul 262012
 

With Ryan Dempster next scheduled to pitch on Tuesday, the non-waiver trade deadline date, the Cubs are working hard to ship Dempster out of Chicago. The Cubs are moving closer to sending Dempster to the Dodgers and are discussing various trades including a multi-team deal. The Braves and Cubs had a deal in place, but Dempster blocked the trade, and said he wants to pitch for the Dodgers. Now that’s a guy I want to put a Dodger jersey on.

David Kaplan is reporting via Twitter that the Cubs are “moving closer” to trading the coveted right-hander to the Dodgers. The Dodgers and Cubs have been close to a deal on numerous occasions, but the Cubs felt they could get a better deal elsewhere. They were in fact correct, however, the Cubs have pretty much lost all leverage in talks because the only team Dempster is willing to waive his no-trade protection for is the Dodgers.

The Cubs are currently asking for one of the Dodgers more promising pitching prospects, Allen Webster. The Dodgers rejected this trade just moments ago.We heard in the original deal the Dodgers were offering Chris Withrow and Garrett Gould to Chicago, but that deal ultimately fell through obviously. It seems the Dodgers are standing their ground, as they should be, but it appears things could be souring by the hour. This thing is still far from over.

 07/26/2012  Posted by at 6:24 pm Dodgers Rumors 1 Response »

Official: Carlos Lee To Dodgers Deal Is Dead

Jul 012012
 

The Dodgers have officially pulled out of a proposed trade for Carlos Lee, tweets Ken Rosenthal. Well, this comes as no surprise, but the Dodgers definitely are not losers by pulling out of this deal. I seriously think the Dodgers dodged a bullet here. This announcement is essentially a “oh yeah, I’ll show you” type move by the Dodgers. It’s not like Lee was going to accept a trade to the Dodgers, as the prosposed deal involving Garret Gould was dead almost as soon as it was announced.

Speculation of “El Caballo” changing his mind is a waste of time. If the guy would rather raise cattle than win a World Series, well, that’s certainly his prerogative, and the Dodgers aren’t waiting around. As a matter of fact I’m sure the Dodgers have already been working on plans b, c, d, and all the way to z, so I wouldn’t expect it to take too much time before we hear some more whispers on the rumor mill.

I already said, I definitely think the Dodgers could do better than Lee, namely Edwin Encarnacion, Chase Headley, and Bryan LaHair. Preferably in that order. I am also perfectly happy with the Dodgers dealing Loney, and deploying Abreu and Rivera into a platoon at first base for the duration of the season if that procures a solid option at first base or left field. Seriously good news here, call it a divine intervention if you will, but the Dodgers should be counting their blessings right now.

 07/01/2012  Posted by at 7:41 pm Dodgers News 1 Response »
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