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The Dodgers have a wealth of options in front of them this winter. They could use their considerable resources to re-sign Zack Greinke, who opted out of the remainder of his deal to seek an even larger pay day. They could go younger and give even more money and years to David Price, who, while new to Los Angeles, would not be new to current President of Baseball Operations and former Rays’ GM Andrew Friedman. Will they hand jobs to their kids, like Corey Seager? Are they actually going to work to reduce their payroll a bit from 2015’s record $271 million total that only accounted for the 25-man roster? According to Peter Gammons, no one has any idea what it is Los Angeles has in mind.
Given their dollars and kids, the Dodgers can do just about anything. They could make a trade for nearly any piece they wanted, and they have the cash to avoid playing that game if they want to just focus on free agency. It’s unclear just who they will target now, though, with the major move of the offseason so far the hiring of new manager Dave Roberts. The thing is, it won’t be unclear for long: Thanksgiving is now behind us, and the winter meetings are now just 10 days away.
Price has been the popular man on the pitching market to this point, at least from a rumor standpoint. If he signs elsewhere -- the Blue Jays? Red Sox? Cubs? -- then that takes that option off the table for Los Angeles. Of course, if the Dodgers really want him, is there anyone who will outspend them for the lefty? And just because he’s younger doesn’t even mean he’s the best deal, given Greinke’s constant comparisons to Greg Maddux in terms of how he’s expected to age due to a deep repertoire and his mind for pitching. We might not know today what the Dodgers’ angle for this winter is, but they’re going to show their hand -- or someone else will show it for them -- very soon.
- Jose Bautista's ridiculous bat flip from the playoffs is now an ugly Christmas sweater.
- Dave Roberts left his position as hitting coach of the Padres to become the Dodgers' manager, which made space for Mark McGwire to leave his spot as hitting coach of the Dodgers to fill that role in San Diego.
- Don't blame Alex Gordon if he doesn't return to the Royals -- remember, the guy from Kansas City who won't give him a comparable offer is exponentially richer than Gordon will ever be.
- The Pirates are open to trading players with just one year left on their contracts.
- The Astros aren't chasing Chris Davis, because their lineup is already made entirely out of whiffs and dingers.
- The next round of collective bargaining should begin soon, as the current CBA expires on Dec. 1 of 2016. Jayson Stark detailed the major issues that will be discussed and negotiated.
- Jose Reyes pleaded not guilty to the domestic abuse charges he was arrested for on Halloween. If you haven't read Meg Rowley's feature on MLB needing to get this right, well, here it is.
- Add the Nationals to the list of teams interested in signing Ben Zobrist. You might as well just assume all 30 teams want him.
- Jeff Sullivan thinks he knows how to make James Paxton into a pitcher who can help the Mariners.
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