The Dodgers clinched their third straight NL West championship in style last night as Clayton Kershaw threw a complete game one-hitter to whitewash the Giants. Kershaw struck out 13 and allowed just one walk in the 8-0 result. The Dodgers will move on to face the Mets in the NLDS, and home-field advantage has yet to be decided in what is sure to be a pitching-centric series. Here’s some more from around the NL West…
- Some members of the Padres organization like Ian Desmond, Justin Lin of the San Diego Union-Tribune tweets. Desmond is coming off a disappointing walk year though he might still represent a big shortstop upgrade for a club that has struggled to find productive middle infielders in recent seasons.
- The Padres aren’t likely to re-sign Justin Upton, MLB.com’s Corey Brock says in an interview with Marty Caswell of The Mighty 1090 Sports Show (video link). Brock isn’t sure the Padres ever planned to have Upton beyond this season, as the plan seemed to be to issue him a qualifying offer and then get a first round pick back when he signed elsewhere. The interview is well worth a full watch as Brock discusses several Padres topics looking ahead to the 2016 team, including Yonder Alonso’s future, big names on the trade block and the team’s manager search. For the record, Brock predicts that Ron Washington will be San Diego’s next manager.
- Aaron Hill tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic that he asked the Diamondbacks to look into trading him prior to the season. The veteran infielder made the request after he was told he’d be used in a part-time role, though Hill said he wouldn’t have asked if he’d known that he’d still be receiving significant playing time (111 games and 338 PA entering today). Hill admitted that the trade rumors swirling around him may have impacted his play, and if so, “that’s on me. The last couple months have been nice. Maybe it’s because it was after the deadline and things were a little clearer about where I was going to be the rest of the year.” Both Hill and GM Dave Stewart expect him to be back with the Snakes next year, though given Hill’s $12MM salary in 2016 and his .239/.290/.359 slash line over the last two seasons, a trade would’ve seemed unlikely anyway unless the D’Backs agreed to eat some money.
- A new contract between Tim Lincecum and the Giants is “more a matter of when, how much and in what form, rather than if,” according to Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News. Lincecum underwent hip surgery in early September that ended his season, though rumors have swirled since then that both he and his long-time team were interested in Lincecum remaining in the Bay Area. Indeed, Baggarly hears that “interest is mutual and strong” between the two sides in continuing their relationship.
I wouldnt touch Lincecum with a 10 foot pole.
I’m sure HE or prob MOST people wouldn’t touch you with a 100ft pole
I doubt Lincecum would let anyone touch him with a 10 foot pole.
I touch people with 10 foot poles all the time without their permission.
I bet he would if the ten foot pole was stuffed full of weed.
His stats the last few years are surprisingly decent given the publicity around his fall from the best starter in the game. I personally think that just from watching him pitch he should voluntarily move to the pen, where he will certainly shine, and eventually ascend to the closets role in San Fran.
What if the pole was included?
If Padres do go for Desmond he will surely have a QO attached, so they better finish bottom 10 this year. With Kemp and Myers the Padres don’t really need another RH corner outfielder on the roster anyways. Even if Myers moves to 1st, there are other corner OF options available and they’d need a LH one more.
It’s tricky. They have some logjams that will need to be sorted out. Wil Myers has shown that his best position defensively is first base, and he has the potential to be an above average defender there, while he’s below average at best in the outfield. Yonder Alonso is the incumbent, and Derek Norris has gotten a lot of time there too. Something has to give. I won’t be surprised to see Alonso, Norris, or both moved this offseason. Austin Hedges has been excellent behind the plate and not awful with the bat.
Ian Desmond is an interesting case. He’s coming off an awful season, so to get him on a walk year could be another Justin Upton scenario. Defensively, he’s on the decline, but he would still be a slight upgrade from Gyorko. Offensively, he has a higher ceiling than Gyorko, but this year casts some doubt.
While I am totally in favor of having Austin Hedges as the starting catcher in 2016, a .156/.207/.219 slash line and 24% K rate is most definitely AWFUL.
Derek Norris has been horrible at first base and Hedges hasn’t hit well enough to be our everyday catcher. Alonso and Myers are the only guys who can play 1st base and they are both chronic DL cases. I’m content with keeping those two behind home plate where they belong for now. Desmond would be a nice buy low candidate, but only if we can get a top 10 draft pick.
Padres absolutely can NOT forfeit their first rounder in 2016.
No way
They’ll probably have a protected first-rounder, and Upton leaving will give them another pick. I think a good offseason for the Pads might involve poaching both Desmond and Span from the Nationals. Span would be a left-handed, true CF who could lead off, which seems to check three boxes of their offseason needs.
What would they do with Melvin Upton? Does he take a corner OF or 4th OF spot? What do they do with him when Myers, Alonso, and Norris are all healthy? There isn’t room for Span without moving another OF/1B.
The biggest reason why Gyorko at SS makes any sense at all is to get Cory Spangenburg in the lineup. He’s best at 2B with a good glove, a lefty hitter, and since he started getting consistent playing time in mid-August he’s batted ~.300/.400/.500 with speed. He’s not a base stealer, but he’s a good baserunner who can get the extra base or even bunt for a base hit.
Lincecum is signing with San Francisco- no questions asked
Honestly, Timmy will ultimately end up as the Giants’ closer.