The gap between the haves and have-nots in baseball have lessened because of revenue sharing and financial incentives not to overspend in the draft and free agency, writes Evan Drellich of the Houston Chronicle. The Dodgers, however, are utilizing a different model to maximize their financial advantage: buying front office talent. Drellich notes the $7MM average annual value Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman earns would make him the Astros’ third-highest paid player. “Big-market, small-market potential difference,” Astros GM Jeff Luhnow said. “There does seem to be increased competition for talented people that have had success in our industry. That’s not the first time we’ve seen it. It’s not the last time we’re going to see it. As far as front offices with different layers that don’t exist in our organization, it’s a way to get more people in the organization.” Luhnow also pointed out the distinction between a city’s population and its market size and how that affects a franchise’s financial resources. Houston is “the fourth-largest city in the country, but we’re not the fourth-largest market in the country, not even close,” Luhnow remarked. “We’re not ever going to be a small market necessarily, but our revenues are not proportionate with our city size relative to other big metropolitan areas.”
In other news involving MLB’s West divisions:
- Some rival evaluators believe Andre Ethier is by far the most likely Dodgers outfielder to be traded, according to Buster Olney of ESPN.com (on Twitter). However, Los Angeles will weigh their options. Carl Crawford and, perhaps to a lesser extent, Matt Kemp, also appear to be trade candidates.
- Rangers GM Jon Daniels told Jim Bowden of Sirius XM (on Twitter) he will “listen” on Elvis Andrus because of the club’s infield depth. Texas also has middle infielders like Luis Sardinas, Jurickson Profar, and Rougned Odor in the fold.
- Daniels went on to say the Rangers’ needs are at starting pitcher, catcher, left field, or DH and these vacancies are more likely to be solved via trade than free agency (link). Last month, our own Brad Johnson previewed the Rangers’ offseason.
- The Padres must consider trading one of their catchers (Yasmani Grandal, Rene Rivera, or propsect Austin Hedges) in order to improve their offense, opines Dennis Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune.
I’ve always like Ethier, but it doesn’t appear he has aged well. Dodgers will not get much in return for him.
As a White Sox fan, my choice would be Kemp between the three and even then, Dodgers would have to eat half that contract. Im not a fan of Eithier and don’t get the hype. Crawford would be nice, but at 33, all that money and his best asset is speed which will be declining, would not be a wise acquisition.
Ethier had some good -steady – yeas, nothing ever spectacular. Kemp, when healthy, can be fantastic.
You would do a trade in which the White Sox get Kemp around $10m per?
Might add Perderson and Kershaw to improve it?
He’s been consistently good for years. One off-year, perhaps due to the uncertainty of when he plays, and he hasn’t aged well? C’mon man.
I’m a Dodgers fan and it hasn’t just been one off year. He’s been declining for a while.
Some of that due to injuries, and it’s difficult to rate a season spent mostly on the bench, but I agree, he doesn’t seem to have bounced back.
Well yeah, but this year he started it as a starter and lost the job because of poor performance.
And because Crawford, who also started very poorly, surged. That put Ethier on the bench permanently. The other moves that defined his season was Puig taking over in CF and Kemp to RF. Any team taking on Ethier will get him cheaply enough to find out if he’s got enough left to be a regular.
I don’t know why other Dodger fans can’t see the decline of Eithier..
Yeah I am and I’ve seen this coming for a couple years.
Who in their right mind would trade for Crawford? The dodgers would need to eat 2/3 of the contract and not expect much back in any level of talent.
who wouldn’t want him for the 105 games he played he was a pretty decent player who batted .300 more then you can say for ethier who couldnt hit
1/3 of his contract pays him over $7 million a year so a 300 hitter in 105 games sounds about his worth. Dodgers got to be happy getting rid of their GM who brought in to many bad contracts.
RAJ is that you ?
.300 is the only stat that can be said for his benefit. .300 BA with a .339 OBP shows poor plate discipline. .767 OPS isn’t close to what 21.5 mil per season should buy. Below replace defense. Poor attitude.
Baseball has moved beyond batting average being the main way to judge a player.
While most of your points are valid, being below replacement defensively is not. Career 12 uzr150, and the last two years have been 14 and 7. So i guess by below replacement, you mean, one of the best.
And no problems with attitude. Funny, but a lot of players seem to have “attitude problems” in Boston that don’t seem to appear when they play somewhere else.
He’s got pretty much the same contract remaining as Ethier. He’s the most appealing out of him, Kemp, and Ethier, imo.
They can get something back if he comes down to only $7MM a year. He still a solid 3 WAR player.
Last time he was a “3 WAR player” was five years ago, just before he received that phat contract. Not seeing how anyone could project that going forward.
Fangraphs has him at 2.5 WAR in 2014 in just 110 games so full season that’s 3 WAR.
Last time he played a full season was also 5 years ago. I don’t see how you can project a healthy season in ’15 either.
Fair. I think Crawford has 3 WAR talent though and if he can put up around 2 WAR the next 3 years could be worth 10 million a year to a team looking for speed, BA, and OF defense. To me the Mariners would be a great fit if the Dodgers ate half the contract.
Ian Kennedy for Elvis Andrus?
Padres wouldn’t be interested in Andrus. A light-hitting, $120 million shortstop isn’t what they’d have in mind for upgrading the offense.
When did Ruben Amaro become the Padres’ GM?
They would be interested in Heyward and that would be a good straight up trade for both teams.
Do the Padres need a shortstop? How about Alexei Ramirez?
Or Starlin Castro?
Padres, Mets, Cubs in a 3 team trade that sees Murphy going to Chicago, Castro to the Padres and ??? to the Mets? What do the Mets need? I havent paid any attention to them since the Madoff scandal.
I’ll say they need a SS .. Maybe Everth Cabrera to the Mets?? He had a good 2013 season but then. Injuries got in his way in 2014
Dump Yonder and keep Grandal at 1B…thats an upgrade right there
Although Yonder gets injured .. I think padres should keep him
Moving Grandal would be a mistake IMO. He can be a star as a catcher, but his bat doesn’t play nearly as well at 1B. I’d like to see them get a big bat at 1B and keep Grandal catching. He could still play a little 1B when he’s not catching. I’d try to trade Rivera while his value is high, or Hedges if the right deal comes along.
There aren’t too many big bats out there in the trade market or free agency.
Laroche at 1B and Grandal behind the plate is much stronger than Grandal at 1B and Rivera catching.
Definitely an upgrade but I’d go with Grandal over Rivera. More offensive upside.
Adam LaRoche would be a nice upgrade over Alonso. The Padres seem like the most viable (maybe even the only viable) suitor for him.
He would be an upgrade but I don’t know if I’d label him a big bat. Solid one that will likely see his numbers fall into mediocrity at Petco.
A decline? Maybe. Mediocrity? Not likely. He’s shown he can hit at PETCO and he’s aging pretty well, smashing 20 HR’s for the past 5 seasons or so. He would also become the best Padres hitter if we were to sign him
LaRoche has highest SLG and OPS of any batter with 100 ab at Petco, .315/.377/.622/1.000 in 143 AB. Small sample size, but it seems like he hits well there. I dont think his numbers would fall much if at all. If they do it would be more from age than ballpark. All his home runs in 2014 would be home runs in Petco, too.
Dream lineup for Opening Day
Heyward RF
Solarte 3B
LaRoche 1B
Tomas LF
Grandal C
Gyorko 2B
Maybin CF
Cabrera SS
We would have to give up one of our top 3 to land Heyward or J-Up and cash in with Tomas and LaRoche
I wish this could happen lol .. I
Who you giving up for JHey…I hope it starts with Cash.
1 year of JHey isn’t worth 2 years of Cashner, not even close.
Why put Heyward in leadoff? He would be more valuable hitting further down in lineup. #5 would be perfect fit. He has power that he doesnt get to utilize hitting leadoff. And Heyward would play CF with Smith playing LF or RF against all RHP and hitting 3rd. LaRoche is your proven power bat in that lineup and would hit 4th. Tomas 6th or possibly 7th with Gyorko 6th. That would be a contending team if they dont have to give up much in pitching to get that in budget. Probably be around $100 million payroll. Would have to move Quentin, Venable and Alonso to make that work.
didn’t take long for your dream to get squashed!
I would think the best catching setup for the Padres long-term would be Grandal and Hedges. The front office may be looking at it from a perspective of the best return, though.
Cashner + for Encarnacion. Pick up Tomas. Ride off into sunset. Wake up. Sob myself back to sleep.
Kennedy and Alonso for Encarnacion. But the Blue Jays just traded away their backup 1B, so not likely to trade Encarnacion now.
I don’t think they were likely to begin with, but if they were willing in the first place I don’t see why a 1B would be hard to replace. Laroche, Morse, Alonso… I’m sure they could find a serviceable one, all the while picking up a top end pitcher. Of course, I’d MUCH rather do Kennedy/Alonso + prospects instead of Cash, but I think they laugh Preller right off the phone on that suggestion.
LaRoche?
Seriously?
Im lost. What are you responding too?
Grandal is not playing 1B at all in DR this winter. Looks like the Padres asked him to get AB and playing time at catcher to get ready to play more at catcher next year.
Wow, Texas has one heck of an infield factory.
Let’s see if any of them pan out…
The big one is Profar…and the answer to that question with him so far is no. Injury bug is biting him hard.
Then why did they pay Andrus $120MM while not having a position for Profar and trading another one (Kinsler) for another bad contract? They haven’t cashed in at all on their infield depth.
Andrus is an average SS getting paid like a Star, I don’t see how much trade value he has at the moment.
Marcus Semien, Chris Beck, Dayan Viciedo and Daniel Webb for Andrew Cashner and Yasmani Grandal?
Seems pretty underwhelming for both. Viciedo’s defense would play terribly in Petco, Webb’s just another guy for a bullpen-rich organization, and Beck doesn’t really show any overpowering stuff. Semien is interesting, but it’d have to be more.
Padres want (and desperately) need offense. Semien is really the only one that fits the ball in that proposal. But he’s not enough by himself.
Viciedo who is only 25 years old hit 21 homers and that’s not even a career high. Add Semien who just turned 24 you get two young power bats, and Semien can play anywhere in the infield. Webb who just turned 25 in August has great movement and some nasty stuff. He needs to cut down on walks. Chris Beck is only 24 and could compete this year for a spot in the rotation. As far as the two that the Sox would get, how would they be underwhelming?
1. Viciedo had a -2.4 dWAR playing in one of the smallest parks in the league. Put him in one of the biggest and he’s even more of a defensive liability. The Padres cannot afford to add pop at such a high cost on the other side of the ball.
2. I agree that Semien could be a piece. No arguments there.
3. The Padres do not need another bullpen arm like Webb. Historically they’ve developed plenty of effective relievers within their organization and should not needlessly add another in trading our biggest pieces when our most glaring need – far and way – is offense.
4. See point 3, we don’t need pitching. I can name at least seven young Padres pitchers off the top of my head in Casey Kelly, Joe Wieland, Burch Smith, Robbie Erlin, Jesse Hahn, Corey Luebke, and Matt Wisler who are all competing for the 4 and 5 spots in the rotation; maybe just 5 considering Despaigne pitched pretty well this season. While Beck was highly-regarded in college, he does not crack the top ten in a minor league system that is fairly weak in terms of prospect depth.
The Friars need offense. That proposal just doesn’t provide enough.
Viciedo hit .231 in a hitters park, plays horrible defense and is not a fit for the NL Padres. Siemen is not a fit, because his best position, 2B, is filled by a guy with a long term deal that wont be moving off that position. And for the Padres to give up and ace and a guy that hit 15 home runs in an injury filled year they are going to want alot more back. The Padres need a power hitting 1B and OF that plays good defense. Come up with those and you might get Kennedy and Rivera. I think you can forget about Grandal. Too much upside. Forget about Cashner, they consider him the ace of their staff.
Cashner is worth more than that group by a good deal. And there’s some talented players in that mix.
Nope.
Of course Daniels will “listen” on Andrus. If someone was willing to take that contract, I’d be listening pretty hard. Especially if they were also willing to send something decent in return.
I can’t imagine anyone taking on the contract in full. Maybe if there hadn’t been two consecutive years of defensive decline, but there was.
The one he really should be trying to get rid of is Prince Fielder
Fielder’s injury and surgery was very serious. I can’t see any way he gets traded without demonstrating that he can actually play.
Had the surgery personally. He will be fine and worth every penny of that contract. I am now stronger than I was at any point in the three years leading up to the point of needing surgery. It explains his regression in the two previous years. He works too hard and has too much pride to not come back and be a beast.
I appreciate the perspective and it’s certainly a good narrative, but no team is assuming the contract without seeing him play.
I mean from the standpoint of don’t trade him as he will live up to the contract especially with Detroit chipping in 6 mil a year.
He will be worth every penny of that contract? He hasnt been worth it so far
Hence the reason I said “will be”. That is future tense inferring that I am referencing his future worth.
What crystal ball are you using? Certainly you arent using history to infer something positive about the future.
One bad start to a season that was obviously effected by a pretty big injury means he hasn’t lived up to it so far? Most people come back stronger after his surgery. I think he’ll be just fine.
My crystal ball is my personal history. 2 years before surgery I stopped getting stronger, thought I was getting older. This relates to Fielder’s first year in Detroit. Then I started getting weaker but didn’t know why. This was like his second year. Then came the pain and eventually surgery much like him this year. 6 months later I was back to where I was 2 years before. A year later I was the strongest I have ever been. Compared to the extra value he will provide over Kins and then only being $18mil a year for a power hitter, I think he will be worth every penny of the contract. This year was the price of the trade and insurance paid most of it. I bet the Rangers paid no more than $10 mil. And Kinsler showed that he was continuing his downward slide in the second half.
And more than likely he goes back to 35+ HRs and playing 162 games. This was the first time he was injured and is not baseball related like a shoulder or knee or something that will get a lot of wear and tear because of the wear and tear of the sport.
so do you think Fielder is proving his worth? Guess my crystal ball was pretty accurate.
He’s a 2 War player right now and a negative .8 defensive player. How were you right? Clearly you don’t know what a win is worth. But hey thanks for checking up and still being wrong. Get back to me on another 3 months.
Keep Grandal at C (I think the injuries hurt his defense this year), put Rivera as his backup, trade Hedges, and dump Alonso.
Grandal offers the potential for premium offense at a position where it’s relatively rare. I don’t think it’s wise to move him to 1B when you can get a guy like LaRoche or a hybird OF/1B-type every offseason who will give you just as much (if not more) offense and better defense.
Frankly, I don’t have confidence In Hedges’ offensive ability to be an everyday starter. I guess it all depends on how much you value defense. But he does have the most value in terms of return between him, Grandal, and Rivera.
If I was Preller, I’d package Hedges and a pitching piece(s) to whomever loses out on the Russell Martin sweepstakes. Both the Cubs and Dodgers have some exciting, young, controllable talent.
Rangers need a DH? Interesting. We have Moreland and Fielder sharing first and I would assume whichever one isn’t playing first will be at DH. Fielder will be playing full time at first barring injuries or rest days so Mitch will be the DH unless I’m mistaken.
Moreland just isn’t very good and is pretty much a waste in an offense-only position.
Coming of a bad year but he can offer some pop to a team in need.
I wonder what the Rangers would send to the Phillies for Cole and Chooch.
I wonder if Texas would even be willing to take all that money back.
That’s true. I don’t really know much about the Rangers payroll situation. Though I do know the Phillies have said they would include cash in deals. Don’t know if that applies to Hamels though.
“The gap between the haves and have-nots in baseball have lessened … writes Evan Drellich.”
Wow, I *hope* nationally-read baseball writer Evan Drellich didn’t write that. (“The gap HAS lessened.”)
With teams extending players before they reach free agency, the players you need may not be on the free agent market. The days of small market teams being the farm systems for big market teams are over.
That’s how it should be. Makes the MLB more competitive.
Yup, the old split infinitive. I don’t know how anyone can say it grammatically, though, since in reality the gap seems to get wider every year.
As a fellow Dodger fan, I’d like to presumptively conclude that you’re kidding. Else, if you’re sincere in identifying that as a split infinitive, I can only say that we are not in (subject/verb) agreement.
You’re right, the correct diagnoses isn’t a split infinitive, it’s a tense verb agreement.
John Danks for Andre Ethier? Bad contract for bad contract. Gives the whitesox a left handed bat and the dodgers a back of the rotation starter.Also, it gets rid of their crowded outfield.
That doesn’t seem like a bad deal. Then he can DH and we can get another OF and go with a rotating DH
Kemp should be traded since he actually has value and can contribute. Of course it is a lot of money and LA would chip in some, but for his price compared to Ethier and Crawford he can actually be a difference maker on a ball club. Any team willing to spend +$100M on hanley or pablo should at least consider Matt Kemp.
Kemp would give you the best return. You would have to eat a lot of his contract. Hanley is not good defensively anymore and is injury prone and is a DH. I don’t see him getting 100 mil. Sandoval gets a lot of money because there aren’t very many good 3b.
He should be traded because he’s the most useful? I guess the Dodgers aren’t in need of useful players.
The Dodgers shouldn’t trade Kemp. He has the most value in a trade.
Of the three, he has the most value, period. Talk of trading him makes no sense if for no other reason than the Dodgers don’t have an equally or more productive replacement available. Trading Crawford makes only a little more sense, but not enough to do it unless they get back something else they need even more.
Johnny, Jordan, & Tyler Flowers for Matt Kemp. Ethier’s got Alex Rios type passion. none at all
We would have to get Grandal or Castro first before trading Flowers. Also, Dodgers would still need to kick in $50 million of the near $108 million owed Kemp. If healthy, with Eaton and probably Micah Johnson batting ahead of superstar Jose Abreu, Matt Kemp, Avi Garcia, Castro/Grandal, Ramirez, Gillaspie and a left handed hitting dh, that’s a lot of boom booms at USCF.
That’s probably more contract than ChiSox will take on, but We could surely take a run at Justin Upton. Would love a C.Yelich, C.Dickerson, or C.Blackmon here in left too, any 1 of dees tree C’s.
Jaime Garcia, Randy Choate and John Lackey for Kemp and $30 million. Garcia if healthy can be as good as a #2 in the rotation. Granted that is a big IF, is on his last year of contract so low risk. If he performs well he has options on his contract the Dodgers can pick up. Lackey is being paid the minimum this year and has shown to be a big game pitcher. After next year Dodgers open up @ $80 million in payroll with Kemp gone. Brings Kemp down to 5 years at @$65 million, a reasonable risk that won’t sink the Cards if he doesn’t perform well.
Let’s just imagine a middle infield of Andrus and Andrelton Simmons for a second.
Go get him Atlanta.
I read the SD article and he didnt say anywhere that they MUST consider trading a catcher. Lin said that they MIGHT consider trading from a position of strength. Unfortunately, the Padres have NO catchers MLB ready today and there is little on the trade or FA front. Rivera is 31 and has never hit particularly well in his mostly minor league career, so he wouldnt be a great candidate to be the #1 catcher in SD or anywhere else. The Padres biggest strength is pitching and they have 2 big trade candidates – Kennedy who will be a FA after the season and is due to make $10mm and Benoit who is 37 and is a luxury on a team not expected to contend and will make $8 million.
If the Pads trade one of their catchers, it better be high on Rivera rather than low on Grandal. If Preller could talk Daniels into a Sardinas or Odor for Rivera deal, I would be tickled pink!!
been thinking maybe a dodger OF not named Puig for Andrus… maybe other throw in pieces, but LA needs a SS and to me that’s a bad contract for a bad contract and fills a need for either team