2014 Rosterbation: What's left?

[Villain]

Looks like the 2014 roster has almost taken shape:

Starting Rotation
1. Clayton Kershaw (L)
2. Zack Greinke (R)
3. Hyun-Jin Ryu (L)
4. Dan Haren (R)
5. Josh Beckett (R)

Outfield
6. Carl Crawford, LF
7. Matt Kemp, CF
8. Yasiel Puig, RF
9. Andre Ethier, all three.

Infield Starters
10. Andrian Gonzalez, 1B
11. Alex Guerrero, 2B
12. Hanley Ramirez, SS
13. Juan Uribe, 3B
14. AJ Ellis, C

Bullpen
15. Kenley Jansen (R)
16. Brian Wilson (R)
17. Paco Rodriguez (L)
18. Chris Withrow (R)
19. Brandon League (R)
20. JP Howell (L)

Bench
21. Tim Federowicz, C


DL
Chad Billingsley until May/June (Tommy John).

Beckett is in italics because I don't know what to expect from him.

==============================================​

Still have a bunch of bench spots open. Right now, the only two expected guys on the bench are going to be FedEx and whoever is the 4th outfielder of the day. So where should the Dodgers turn their attention (as far as bringing in new players)?

1. Bench. Obviously, this is the biggest area of need. As it stands right now, there are zero infield backups outside of catcher. Offensive-heavy free agent options would appear to include the likes of Eric Chavez as a lefty and Jeff Baker as a righty. I think the Dodgers would be wise to include some plus-defenders in their searches. Internal options include Justin Sellers, Dee Gordon, Scott Van Slyke, and NRI guys like Josh Bell.

2. Bullpen. A lot of Dodger minds out there still think the Dodgers will add another arm to the pen. Now that Howell and Paco appear to have spots, it will probably be a righty. Ned has shown interest in adding a true long-reliever. Could this mean the return of Jamey Wright? Internal options include Jose Dominguez, Javy Guerra, and Seth Rosin.

3. Starting Rotation. The Dodgers already have 5 guys penciled in and Bills is supposed to be back in May or June. Still, the club doesn't seem to have much faith in Josh Beckett and all indications point to interest in signing another starter. Will it be a massive free agent? Masahiro is everyone's first choice, but everyone includes the Yankees, Cubs, Mariners, Braves, Dbacks, and basically every team in MLB. Safe to say - he will get a huge deal. Should the Dodgers consider alternatives to Tanaka? Other FA pitchers out there include Matt Garza, Ubaldo Jimenez, Johan Santana, and many others. Likely internal options include Stephen Fife, Matt Magill, and the aforementioned Josh Beckett.


Note: Seth Rosin was acquired via Rule 5, so if he is to remain with the club he must be kept on the 25-man Roster all season.

 

[Villain]

The Diamondbacks have picked up Eric Chavez and the Angels have signed Raul Ibanez. The market for power lefties (or at least, lefties who can run into one every now and then) is shrinking very rapidly.

In my opinion, this only makes the presence of Carl Crawford and Andre Ethier that much more important. Benching one or both of those guys against a tough lefty starter (in the NL West - Corbin, Bumgarner, de la Rosa) allows the team to have two very capable pinch hitting platoon hitters to bring in off the bench once the other manager goes to the bullpen.

That brings up another hole in the roster, though. If both of those OF guys are starting on the bench, who's the third man out there?

My preferred option won't be hard to sign, simply because he's already on the 40-man roster: Scott Van Slyke. SVS, on a night when the regulars are out there, gives the team a very capable masher-of-lefty-pitchers to call upon from the bench. He can also serve as 1B on occasion to give A-Gone a day off while also being available for LF when the team needs to bench the lefty OF guys. The question becomes - will the organization go for that?

The negative side of the coin on have SVS on the bench is really that it hurts his value. If the Dodgers are showing that they only value him as a part-time starter and pinch hitter, then his value as a prospective trade chip is diminished. To me, that's fine. Honestly, I don't think anyone would push that hard for him anyways so I'm all about getting him some big league at-bats and leave the should-be-retired Micheal Youngs of the MLB world to the Rockies, Marlins, or whoever.

In the free agent pool - Jeff Baker also stands out on a crappy-defense-righty-bat-who-mashes-lefty-pitching. I would still like the team to sign him. Baker can play 1B, 3B, and corner outfield. This team would probably use him most at 3B to rest Uribe.

 

[Villain]

Also, while we're here, there's this on Dee Gordon:

Dee Gordon prepares for utility role with Dodgers - latimes.com

Gordon is taking grounders at shortstop and second base, to where the Dodgers moved him last season. He is also taking fly balls in center field, which is where he played last month for Tigres del Licey in the Dominican winter league.

.............

Gordon's best chance to make the opening-day roster could be as a utilityman. Gordon said he's open to that.

"If that's what I have to do," he said. "This is a great team."

If the team goes with Gordon as the utility IF/OF option, that adds another lefty-bat to the bench and a deadly pinch-running option.

 

[LucklessPadresFan]

Dodgers should be the clear favorite to take the NL West...heard they may be shopping Matt Kemp around.

 

[Villain]

Dodgers should be the clear favorite to take the NL West...heard they may be shopping Matt Kemp around.

They listened to offers for him, but, as expected, nothing sounded like a good deal for the Dodgers. The Dodgers value Kemp more than the teams who are interested in him, so for the Dodgers to move him the other team would have to give up more than they'd possibly be willing to.

 

[LucklessPadresFan]

If the guy can stay healthy, he could have a monster year and he and Gonzalez would be a lethal power combination in the lineup.

 

[Silas]

Doesn't seem that Kemp is going any where this season. Nor should he.

Too bad Chavez returned to Arizona.

I love seeing Gordon on base. If the Dodgers could get him on base consistently he would be a real weapon. Nice to see him willing to play multiple positions and increase his potential value.

I don't know if the Dodgers are looking at Jeff Baker, but I sure hope they do.

Also hoping the Dodgers can sign Jamey Wright.

 

[duke1861]

Doesn't seem that Kemp is going any where this season. Nor should he.

Too bad Chavez returned to Arizona.

I love seeing Gordon on base. If the Dodgers could get him on base consistently he would be a real weapon. Nice to see him willing to play multiple positions and increase his potential value.

I don't know if the Dodgers are looking at Jeff Baker, but I sure hope they do.

Also hoping the Dodgers can sign Jamey Wright.

I am going to be honest, if we sign Tanaka (like we should), there is no reason to believe that will not be the front runners for the World Series. A rotation of Kershaw, Greinke, Tanaka and Ryu will be the best rotation MLB has seen in years. Insert Haren or Beckett at the #5 spot and we will be in great shape.

 

[Silas]

I am going to be honest, if we sign Tanaka (like we should), there is no reason to believe that will not be the front runners for the World Series. A rotation of Kershaw, Greinke, Tanaka and Ryu will be the best rotation MLB has seen in years. Insert Haren or Beckett at the #5 spot and we will be in great shape.

That would indeed be an outstanding rotation, at least on paper.

Tanaka was just offered 8 million by his Japanese club. I can't imagine he would take that. We should know shortly whether or not he will be posted.

 

[HammerDown]

 

[Silas]

I'm sure the Dodgers will find someone even if it's internally. I'm not holding out hope that whoever fills out the bench will be a significant addition, but one can hope. I like the Jeff Baker possibility, also.

 

[Villain]

There are still a bunch of moves left to be made before playing San Diego this Sunday.

At least 3 spots need to be made for Dan Haren, Brandon League, and Zack Grienke. Then Beckett and Kemp will not take long to have their 15-day DL stints end so they will either need roster spots or another DL stint.

Looking at the roster for Australia, we can visualize who needs to go:

Bullpen Pitchers
Jose Dominguez
J.P. Howell
Kenley Jansen
Paul Maholm
Chris Perez
Seth Rosin
Paco Rodriguez
Brian Wilson
Chris Withrow
Jamey Wright

Starting Pitchers
Clayton Kershaw
Hyun-Jin Ryu

Catchers
Drew Butera
A.J. Ellis

Infielders
Chone Figgins
Dee Gordon
Alex Guerrero
Adrian Gonzalez
Hanley Ramirez
Justin Turner
Juan Uribe

Outfielders
Mike Baxter
Andre Ethier
Yasiel Puig
Scott Van Slyke

========

Obvious choices are Alex Guerrero and Jose Dominguez. Oh, how much I'd love if it could just be those two while League gets a DL stint. Bullpen guys who have options (can be sent to minors without risk of losing them) are Withrow and Paco, so they might be considered. Paco is still working on his mechanics, so he could have his demotion to AAA rationalized by that (especially with Maholm being able to come out of the pen).

Also, there is Seth Rosin (Roe-zeen). He's a Rule 5 pick, so if the Dodgers want to keep him, they need to either keep him on the 25-man roster or arrange a trade with the Phillies (Javy Guerra!). Otherwise, he'd be a perfect guy to send down to the minors.

There's also the question of backup catcher. Fed-ex is obviously better than Butera, but the Dodgers can't send Butera to the minors without the risk of other team claiming him. Now, he's terrible and so that might not seem like much of a loss, but the Dodgers have abysmal organizational depth at catcher. So if Ellis or Fed-ex get hurt, dealing with that void would not be fun.

 

[Villain]

Crawford took Guerrero's spot, and now there's a chance that Ryu could miss time with a cracked toenail.

That would make it easier to add keep Rosin on the 25-man, but that's not a price I want to pay to make that happen.

 

[Villain]

double post

 

[LASports96]

Dodgers Pitchers:

Ryu
Greinke
Haren
Maholm
Jansen
Wilson
Perez
Howell
Rodriguez
Withrow
Wright
League

 

[LASports96]

Dodgers Position Players:

Gonzalez
Gordon
Ramirez
Uribe
Turner
Figgins
Crawford
Ethier
Puig
Van Slyke
Baxter

Catchers:

Ellis
Butera