FEBRUARY 21: The Dodgers announced the completion of the deal. Sierra will earn a $6MM signing bonus and then salaries of $1MM, $2.5MM, $3.5MM, $4MM, $5.5MM, and $7.5MM, per another Heyman tweet. He will have the ability to opt into salary arbitration if he becomes eligible.
FEBRUARY 20: Sierra and the Dodgers are expected to complete their deal soon, Jon Heyman tweets. It will be in the $30MM-$31MM range.
JANUARY 12: The Dodgers have reportedly agreed on a six-year deal with Cuban righty Yaisel Sierra. Jon Heyman tweeted that a deal was in place after Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reported this morning that agreement was close (Twitter link).
Per Passan, Sierra is expected to receive a guarantee of around $30MM. The Dodgers “pulled ahead” with an offer of between $30MM and $35MM over six years, MLB.com’s Jesse Sanchez reports (Twitter links). The other teams that have at least made a “strong push” for Sierra are the Marlins and Cubs, he adds. (Miami’s pursuit was recently reported.)
Needless to say, Los Angeles has been remarkably active on the international market, and the addition of Sierra only continues that trend. The club already added Japanese hurler Kenta Maeda in the new year, signed and traded Hector Olivera last spring, landed a number of high-priced July 2 prospects (led by Cuban hurler Yadier Alvarez) over the summer, and then continued to pay 100% overages on large bonuses to Cuban prospects Yusniel Diaz and Omar Estevez.
Sierra, like Maeda and Olivera, is more or less MLB ready, though he’s probably more likely to see big league action out of a pen in the near term. The Dodgers’ rotation is already arguably somewhat overloaded, though, so Sierra could factor as a 2016 relief piece while looking to tap into his starting upside down the line.
The 24-year-old seems to come with a fairly intriguing ceiling. While he didn’t post good results in his most recent action in Cuba’s Serie Nacional, he is said to have a mid-90s fastball with a good slider. The ready comp is Reds’ righty Raisel Iglesias, with Ben Badler of Baseball America explaining (subscription required) that Sierra has more physical tools but less polished command than did Iglesias when he signed.
Sierra boosted his stock with a showcase in late October that drew a throng of scouts. And recent scouting reports have suggested that the righty has shown improvement in cleaning up both his delivery and command. As Badler noted today on Twitter, Sierra looks like a potential mid-rotation starter at his best.
It’s easy to see the rationale here from the Dodgers’ perspective. Even as the team increasingly eschews large commitments to veterans, it is putting its admirable financial position to work by doling out huge bonuses on the international market. While Sierra won’t require the team to pay a 100% tax, as he wasn’t subject to international signing limitations, the investment still represents a significant up-front cost that probably won’t yield a commensurate return on the field in the immediate future (if it ever does).
Of course, that’s precisely the gamble that all teams take when they dedicate resources to amateur talent. But Los Angeles is uniquely well-situated right now to utilize cash to accumulate young, controllable assets. With the strict limitations applicable to the draft, and the organization’s coming two-year ban on international signings of over $300K, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if we see yet more outlays over the next several months.
That’s the last thing the Dodgers need is another Yasiel…. Lol
It Yaisel. Not Yasiel…
Yeah! Big difference! LoL
One can spell, one can’t. One’s a criminal, the other a crinimal
I hate grammar nerds caryloyd why correct a grown man in the smart phone era
I hate people who say they hate things. Nerd.
Braves will trade for him next year and hope he makes the impact like Olivera.
Why not wait and see what Olivera really brings before you start bragging
So this guy, Maeda, and Kazmir for less than Greinke 34M a year
I’d take Greinke over that trio easily. Kazmir is a good starter, but he was in the indy leagues not that long ago. Who knows if/when the wheels fall off again? The other two have done nothing in the bigs yet.. I think I will take the guy that has won a Cy Young and is almost always in the conversation when he doesnt win.
That sort of applies to Greinke as well. Aside from Cy Young year with KC he wasn’t all that great. He typical had an ERA in the mid-high 3’s….which is good, but not “ace” type. He almost retired due to social anxiety disorder. Almost always in the Cy conversation? He won 1, finished 2,7, and 8th….and hasn’t received votes in any other year.
Have you ever looked at Koufax’s stats for his first six years and compared them to his last 6 years? Though Greinke is no Koufax, his stats for the last three years may very well be the beginning of his rise to dominance. A 51-15 record with a 2.30 era made him the better choice over anyone LA signed in the aftermath of LA’s trainwreck decision to not sign Greinke.
My reference to Koufax was a rhetorical question. I believe that all Dodger fans have seen the lefty’s career stats.
Koufax was the best pitcher of all time, he just was abused by the Dodgers throwing him over 300 innings.
Err, Walter Johnson, Pedro, and several others beg to differ on Koufax being the best of all time.
Pedro is not in the same discussion as Koufax
When you consider the run scoring environment that Pedro pitched in, you are correct. He is on another level that Koufax couldn’t touch and did it for longer.
Yep. Koufax pitched in the best pitching era of all time. Pedro pitched in the worst pitching era since the 1930s – and put up numbers close to Koufax’s. Pedro was a far better pitcher, in context, than Koufax.
Trainwreck decision? Greinke is 32 years old. At that age, a pitcher is likely to either pitch like garbage, pitch mediocre, or not pitch at all. Look at Roy Halladay who is a better pitcher than Greinke fell off after his age 34 season. Cliff Lee and Pedro Martinez were not the same anymore once they passed their age 33 season. If I were an owner or GM, I too wouldn’t have given Greinke that type of contract that the D-Backs gave him. For all we know, Greinke can pitch like a God for the 2016 season than never pitch again the following five years. That’s the risk of signing someone in their 30s. Secondly, Koufax couldn’t pitch anymore after his age 30 season.
Just because they are Zack doesn’t mean they won’t be good to equal what Zack did. If kc can win with the rotation they had then the dodgers can with this one. Plus from the past WS the last one to have two ace like pitchers I believe it was with the Philly’s
Of course you’d take Greinke over that trio in 2016. But what about 2021, when the D-Backs are paying him like an ace at age 37? What about 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026, when the D-Backs are paying him $12.5M each year not to pitch for them?
His k:bb ratio is not impressive. Seems to be a bit wild for that much money.
166 walks in 300 innings too in Cuba. Only 221 strikeouts. Not to mention that MLB competition is obviously better than Cuban hitters
Sometimes I wonder if the Dodgers are bidding against themselves, with other teams knowing they will overpay anyway.
They have spent 150 million in 2015 alone on international talent the penalties obviously are not working, since they will still land Lazarito on top of this guy. The “brain” trust is just exploiting a flaw in the system why spend 150 million in free agency on one player when you can sign 8-9 cost controlled guys who should be in a draft.
I know this guy is not accountable toward bonus spending limits and would be a normal free agent, just getting it out for when they also sign Lazarito.
As with most Cuban players LA seems to have first dibs. But in Lazarito case since he is only 16 he will spend a couple of years in the Dominican. I could see him signing with a team with top facilities the Indians, Pirates, Mets, Cubs, and M’s I know have with new or recently upgraded academies in the DM. As long as the $$ are fairly equal. From what I’ve seen the Dodgers facility in the DM is substandard and looks like an old motel 8.
*emails Dodgers -upgrade domincan republic facility now!
You do realize however that the Dodgers will be out on the 2016 and 2017 classes and there will probably be new talent that everyone is raving about that they can’t have any reasonable chance of landing because of the $300k cap they will have to spend on any one international prospect? Additionally the likes of the Giants, Cubs, Angels, Red Sox and Yankees will all be out in 2016 as well. The Braves will have relatively little competition (aside from the Phils) this coming year and you will most certainly not be complaining when they spend on international talent. Furthermore, the Dodgers aren’t spending on free agents really, and they are trying to build a strong, youthful core. Will all these international prospects pan out? Definitely not. But when you have money to spend, why not spend it exactly on what your front office and ownership stated they would spend it on: rebuilding the farm system and developing strong youthful talent that leads to sustainable success that can be complimented by smart free agent acquisitions over the years.
Exactly. They have a greater margin of error for busting bc they have more guys and they only need 2-3 to hit to be worthwhile.
Of course they are.
Off topic, but Dodgers related:
Is anyone concerned with the lineup the Dodgers are putting out there?
Second base is kind of a hole with Utley and Kike, Grandal and Pederson slumped big time in the second half, Puig is a wild card (who may be suspended) who was benched in the NLDS in four games, Gonzalez/Ethier are about to be 34, Seager is an unproven rookie.
Maybe I’m nitpicking, but it seems like alot of question marks for a 300 million dollar team.
The payroll is not 300mm anymore. It’s under 200mm including projected arbitration numbers.
The line-up will have a full year of Seager instead of Rollins. That is huge upgrade.
“The payroll is not 300mm anymore. It’s under 200mm including projected arbitration numbers”
Not sure where you get that it’s under 200m before projected arbitration. Cot’s Baseball Contracts (ran on the Baseball Prospectus site) has them at 204.7, Spotrac has them at 201.3
Nowhere near $300m, but it’s still egregious that a team feels the need to spend $200+ million.
Typo on the payroll my mistake guys. Thanks
Truebluela has them at 173 MM not including arbitration figures. Eric is pretty knowledgeable so I’d trust him.
That’s also not including Maeda or Kazmir’s money. Their Arb projections are well over 20 million(Jansen alone at 11.5) so they’ll definitely be over 200
After salary arbs it’ll be around 240 including 40 man assuming Maeda gets full they sign Sierra close to 6 mill. That includes dead money attributed to Tabata, Moorse, Kemp, Arrumbarrena, and Olivera’s signing bonus.
It’s kind of hard when Colleti has to make a statement and pigeon holds this roster with CC and then reups Kemp and Ethier. Had high hopes for Kemp but his injuries hurt his value. I like Ethier but it’s hard to justify spending so much on an aging vet who can’t hit Lefties. I think Kershaw is self explanatory. Then you have the international staff that was jettisoned after terrible contracts to Guerrero and Arrumbarrena. The FO has done a great job getting younger (eating salary to get under 200 next year). If the Dodgers had an amnesty clause like the NBA that would be beautiful to get get CC off the books. But they are stuck with CC and Guerrero for the next two years. That’s 27 mill( 54 mill) of dead money right there.
Right, a lot of dead money in there.
Just because Kikè is not a big name, doesn’t make him a bad player. He’s a solid hitter, greater defender everywhere he plays, and just 23 years old.
i love Kikè
I still don’t understand how he can get away with spelling his name like that. Even if it is pronounced differently, it is still spelled like an anti-Semitic epithet..
I think it’s just… how his name is spelled?
Enrique.
i believe in latin cultures this is a fairly common nickname for enrique, and they don’t have that slur in spanish so it’s not weird in that context. but yeah, it’s a bit awkward. that accent mark is key.
i’ve been calling him “kee-kay” just to steer as clear of it as i can
It’s pronounced Keekay anyhow. Although the accent mark was added when he was in the minors just to avoid controversy.
yeah sorry that was unclear i just meant i write it that way, on the internet, so people don’t think i’m racist
I know, Just pointing out that his given name is Enrique and apparently it’s still his official name for baseball.
Kike is only 4-letters. Clearly not a big name.
Saltlamacchia, now that’s a big name.
300 mill -__- dodgers have solid depth all around, one guys not hitting theres a number of other guys who will fill the void.
You bet. At least one or two question marks at every position. The rotation may be deeper but not stronger, and the bullpen still needs work.
“The rotation may be deeper but not stronger, and the bullpen still needs work”
I agree with the first part, Im not sure if Kazmir+Maeda equals Greinke. And Ryu, Anderson and Wood all have injury question marks surrounding them
Honestly, I think that bullpen will be much better once Montas gets there, Him and Jansen in the 8th and 9th sounds nasty.
Not worried about Wood or Anderson. Ryu say he expects to be ready for spring training but it seems likely he will be put on a go-slow return path. If we are to believe the party line, the Dodgers see Montas as a starter, though his lack of strong secondary pitches argue against that role. Either way he is pretty wild so more a work in progress than an instant add-in. Still my biggest concern now is the lineup. Lots of issues there, with very little being done to address them.
It’s not so much “holes” as question marks, except at 2B. Grandal, Pederson, and Puig are talented but can’t be banked on for solid, sustained production. Turner is also a question related to health. Offensively the Dodgers could be really good, or a real disappointment.
I don’t think they’ll be a real disappointment. Essentially they have some depth there. Barnes is knocking at the door behind the dish. You don’t really need Pederson to hit .300 if he shows a .250 line that’s still good as long as he grows in his Sophmore year. Thompson the same thing provided they play great defense. Seager will be a definite upgrade. Johnson will hit but can he play 2nd or do they have to transition him. I think we’ll see Turner playing a lot of 1st when Gonzo gets days off for stubborn lefties. Puig played well for the most part when healthy, but that’s the qualifier. I think they’ll be fine hopefully Ward being a new voice can reach them. I feel McGuire’s voice ended up becoming stale. Part of the issue will be hoping they high priced one dimensional OFs can remain healthy in a platoon.
If you don’t concern yourself with:
1B. Big falloff in production last two months of the season.
2B. Aged rehab case platooned with utility player.
SS. Rookie season.
3B. Knee surgery.
LF. Who actually plays that position?
CF. Under the Mendoza line and a ridiculous swing wth SO rate to match.
RF. Who actually plays that position?
Middle relief. Beats me. They will tap on somebody’s shoulder.
Setup. Spin the bottle and pray.
Otherwise, it’s all good.
Go ahead, tell me the season doesn’t start tomorrow.
What joy do you get from even following the team? Last August, while still in first place you ranted about how this was the worst team you have ever seen and how they were going to miss the playoffs because they had a 5 game losing streak. They ended up winning 92 games and winning their division by 8 games. That was the second largest margin of any division winner in all of baseball. For over a year now, all I’ve heard from you is how much you hate the new FO, yet they’ve continued to win while also building one of the best farm systems in the game. The Dodgers’ future is as bright as any team outside of maybe Chicago and all you do is complain. Honestly, it’s a pretty weak shtick.
Not really close to what I actually said.
eh. there’s a “bad offseason” narrative around the dodgers right now so people are looking on the dark side. but if you go through any team and list the downside for all their players it sounds scary.
so like, yeah, you can’t count on ethier or crawford, but you have both of them, so you only need one of them to be decent, and ethier was good last year. grandal had a bad stretch run but we know why, he was hurt, he got it fixed, plus they have ellis & barnes. and so on
No narrative required, All you need to do is ask yourself if any position is improved over last year. Just go down the list.
C: grandal -> grandal, same, hopefully no bum shoulder / 2 months of .087 this time
1B: adrian -> adrian, same.
2B: kendrick -> utley/kiké. less certainty but 2 guys to hit upside with
SS: rollins -> seager, clear upgrade for me
3B: turner -> turner, same guy, some health uncertainty w/ knee
LF: ethier/crawford -> ethier/crawford. same, 2 guys again, ethier was good
CF: joc/kiké -> joc/trayce. no one knows but i still like joc
RF: puig/whoever -> puig. can’t be worse
SP1: kershaw -> kershaw. same
Sp2: greinke -> kazmir. big downgrade. this is why everyone is flipping out
Sp3: anderson -> maeda. personally i like this.
Sp4/5: mccarthy/bolsinger/frias/wood/latos/horror -> ryu, anderson, wood, bolsinger, mccarthy, urias, etc : i think we’re doing really good down here.
downgrades: SP2, maybe 2B.
upgrades: Sp3-5, SS.
overall analysis: pretty similar, really
C: A push if Grandal is healthy (??)
1B: Take a look at Gonzales in Aug-Sept. and ask yourself whether or not he could be wearing down. Without him in the heart of the order, what have you got (?)
2B: Utley, age alone is an issue (?) Hernandez, best used in super-utility role (?)
SS: Could be an upgrade, but it’s realistic to expect a rookie to play like a rookie (?)
3B: Will Turner’s knee be fixed (??)
LF: Pretty much any day you play Ethier in LF then you have to play Puig in RF (?)
CF: Already have Hernandez committed to that 2B platoon so on days when you prefer to have have his RHB in the lineup it can only be in one or the other position. (?)
RF: This was Ethier’s primary position most of last season but if he’s playing a lot more LF then they are going to have to give Puig another chance. (??)
SP: After Kershaw it’s all (??).
Pen: A push if somebody emerges as a reliable setup and middle relief (?)
Overall: If everything goes perfectly, about as good as last year. Unfortunately, perfection usually does not happen, and about as good as last year probably does not win the NLW this year.
yes, if you put the most negative possible spin on every position, things look pretty bad. i’m not going to argue about it
Well you could try to tell me where you thinkI am wrong… that would be discussable.
in a nutshell – the idea that the team will be about the same as last year if “everything goes perfectly” is absurd. they had most of the same players last year, and a *lot* of things went wrong, and they won the division anyway. for example:
* puig, one of the most talented players in the league, did almost nothing.
* joc completely disappeared in the second half.
* grandal hurt his shoulder but stayed in the lineup for two months playing like he was actively trying to sabotage the team.
* ryu got hurt.
* mccarthy got hurt.
* rollins hit like complete garbage.
* anderson was meh.
* they traded for latos and he pitched so bad he literally got released.
“everything going perfectly” would be:
* puig going back to being awesome.
* joc hitting like his first half all year.
* seager hitting like he did in september all year in place of rollins.
* utley having a throwback season
* ethier repeating last year, or doing even better
* ryu coming back like nothing happened
and so on and so on.
will all of those things happen? of course not. but any of them *could* and some of them probably will.
there will probably also be more problems; there always are. the team has a lot of variance, but also a lot of depth and options, to where if one thing is failing, they can go to another option. they also still have plenty of resources to make moves during the season.
you seem emotionally invested in viewing the situation negatively. i’m not sure why.
If you insist on putting it that way, then I can just as easily say that you seem to be emotionally invested in miracles. But that wouldn’t be fair, would it?
i’m just telling you what i see. not trying to slam you.
Saying I am emotionally invested in looking at this one way over another is a slam, whether you meant it that way or not.
I think most people are overreacting because the Dodgers aren’t “winning the offseason”. Which is a good thing because most winners of the off season don’t win. I think there will be some compliment pieces needed at the deadline, but this doom and gloom view is ridiculous.
No, some of use are just going down the roster and asking ourselves if we see any upgrades at any position. That isn’t “overreacting” it is asking a simple, sensible question about the likely success of this team vs. last year’s team. The fact that others don’t want to answer that question doesn’t make it an unreasonable one to ask.
Why are you requiring upgrades to a division winning team? How much upgrade do you need to see to feel comfortable?
Requiring, hmm. Other teams in the division are upgrading, so going backwards is the thing to do if 2nd or 3rd place look good to you.
You guys know that they resigned Kendrick right?
You know that most of these posts date from over a month ago, right?
Dodgers are in trouble. Rotation is shaky behind Kershaw and they still have a lot of holes offensively. Lots of prima donnas left on the team as well. Roberts is in over his head. I’m not as sold on Seager as every body else seems to be. Pedersen has good tools but trouble putting bat on ball. Dodgers are no lock to win that division.
LA DODGERS: Come to be blocked from the majors, Stay for the money.
They should have some tough 40 man decisions coming over the next few years, But they also have a lot of expected turnover at the big league level. I think everyone is hoping the 40 man roster is a big enough equalizer to stop this stock piling.
honestly they just need to Designate Crawford and Guerrero thats 2 unnecessary roster spots on the 25 man roster
I don’t see why! They only have EIGHT big league OF’s on the 40 man!
The Mets should have been in on him. these cost-controlled int’l signings have a lot of value (thus lowering some of the risk) based on the FA contracts being doled out for SP/RP the last few off seasons. Sandy was asleep at the wheel, again. I like the guy, but he has sucked in the int’l market.
Oh yeah cause I really want the mets to have ANOTHER cheap and awesome starter. You go straight to hell sir. Respectively.
So the Yankees are banned from spending on the international market because they went over the limit last year, and the Dodgers will be banned next year so they’re buying everyone they can….so what’s stopping these two teams with all the money just keep doing this every other year?
They get in the penalty box for two years.
it is a 2 year penalty limiting spending to a max of $300K per player, but I think we will see some significant changes to international signings in the next CBA (current agreement expires Dec. 2016)
I know he hates this but this is Keith Law’s scouting report of Sierra back in November/
“Sierra is one of the top Cuban free agents still unsigned and not subject to MLB’s international bonus-pool limits. He has a very quick arm, coming from a high three-quarters slot with a 93-97 mph fastball and a hard cutter-like slider that flashes plus but is nowhere near consistent enough. He has no changeup to speak of yet and well below-average control.
Cuban free agents outside the bonus pools have become very hot commodities, so I expect him to be wildly overpriced, but I think he profiles as a quality middle reliever if and when the command and control improve.”
So basically sounds like a guy who has two pitches (not a starter) and can only control one of them, “he profiles as a quality middle reliever” (so he isn’t good enough to be a closer).
Maybe this works out for the Dodgers, but I could also see him being in the same situation as Alex Guerrero in a few years.
Apparently every player can be called “overpriced” these days, pretty much no matter what.. Quite a stretch in this case. If the numbers being discussed are correct, he’d be getting journeyman bullpen money.
Spot on analysis! Baseball America report: He got moved back to the bullpen his final season in Cuba, when he got lit up for a 6.10 ERA with 55 strikeouts and 31 walks in 70 innings. He also led the league with 11 wild pitches, rather remarkable for a reliever. The main culprit is Sierra’s poor command and pitchability. He’s prone to allowing free baserunners, then when he gets behind in the count—especially if his slider flattens out—even bad Cuban hitters were able to do damage against him.
The Dodgers may as well buy all the international players they want right now. There’s no luxury tax on the international money, plus after July 2 they won’t be able to sign anymore for year.
Sierra qualifies as a professional free agent so international spending limit does not apply
Does anyone else not see why this guy is so highly rated?
Assuming the dollars and years are close to right, I don’t see him as being highly rated. More like probably useful and potentially improvable.
6/30 is pretty high rated
$5M/year is not huge in any baseball universe I know about.
He essential has a live arm and love fastball. Like he said they don’t throw sliders in Cuba. So a slider is new to him along with a change up. His slider looked impressive didn’t see much of his change up. That really marks him towards relief. It sounds like the way the used in Cuba could have contributed to wildness. It’s unheard of in the US to have a guy close 3 innings and have him start the next game.
Great point. Excited to see what the Dodgers do to him and what a great option for relief.
The Dodgers will eat his contract most probably. Nobody gives out a 6 year deal for a pitcher that is “unfinished” and needs to learn now to throw a slider in the bigs.
a 6 year contract for a potential relief pitcher that has to learn pitches????
Really!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Dodgers do love them some Cubans. If they cant get top mlb talent. Then why not try to.win with talented international players.
Yasiel
Yaisel
Yoenis
Yoan
Yasmany
Yunesky
Yadil
Yunel
Yuniesky
Yikes.
Yowsa.
What about Yadier?
Looking at Yaisel #2 stats I don’t see anything that leads me to believe he’ll be anything to write home about. baseball-reference.com/register/player.cgi?id=sier…
Well it’s a good thing the Dodgers did more than look at the stats before they doled out the contract.
Yeh, sub .500 in the Cuban leagues….a real horse at the front of the rotation!
Call them the Los Angeles Cubans…
Makes it all the sweeter when the Dodgers keep gagging
Has anyone told the Dodgers that spending the most money doesn’t get you a championship? It’s getting kind of ridiculous to the point that we almost need to set a salary cap in baseball. Every other sport has one. They are turning into the Yankees of the 2000’s.
That’s why they spent the money to resign Greinke.
Plenty of teams are spending nine figures a year on payroll.
It;s business.
Not based on an eyeball evaluation of the actual talent pal.
This guy could be a huge bust. His numbers in the Cuban leagues don’t translate to $30 Million plus.
They are spending money to fill up the minor leagues and create a god tier farm system that will eventually help the future ball club. This is exactly what every rich club will be doing if there was a salary cap. That extra money they make will go directly in making their farm system into the Dodger’s farm system. I’m not even a dodgers fan and even I can see this is the right thing to do. They don’t work out? Get someone else. Don’t be jealous because your billion dollar owner isn’t willing to open his wallet and your team doesn’t have a smart FO.
Yes, a salary cap. Because the owners need to make even more money….
Right there with Hittingnull. The vast majority of their moves/signings/trades/etc have been more focused on building our internal farm system. They have yet to commit more than $50 million guaranteed to any one player. Don’t believe me? Look at their major signings from last year and this year:
-McCarthy – $48 million, 4 years, $12 mi AAV
-Anderson: $12.4 million in 2015 by reaching incentives; accepted $15.8 million QA for 2016
-Utley: $7. mill one year
-Kendrick: $20 million, 2 years
-Kazmir: $48 million, 3 years, opt out after 1 year
-Maeda: $25 million guaranteed, 8 years, worth up to $106.5 million if he hits ALL of his incentives (which is highly unlikely, though I will gladly accept a scenario where he hits all the incentives)
I believe that is all their major free agent signings. All pretty small contracts considered the mega deals major pitching free agents have received.
They shouldn’t have salary cap. If they do revenue sharing becomes even more of a joke. How many leagues do big market teams finance smaller market teams out of their tv contracts and revenue. Especially when some smaller market teams use that money to finance a majority of their payroll. You can’t cap major and minor league spending. I think there should be an international draft. That draft will still not include Cuban players, Japanese, and KBO players so it’s still some of the same dynamic. A draft wouldn’t benefit them and would destroy their established leagues. The Dodgers are working out of a Colletti mess that coincided with a terrible owner spending pennies and trading away prospects to try and not spend money. The same former owner that now receive 14 mill of the parking lot profits each year. Baseball is fine. The fact will always remain that bigger market teams have more capital than smaller market teams. Teams are starting to realize that winning free agency doesn’t guarantee you anything if there is no foundation. Off my soap box now.
The international signing system is so dumb. Monetary penalties aren’t going to stop the high spending teams from signing EVERYONE. And yes, I know that they are “banned” from signing players to higher salaries for 2 years and blah blah blah. But now they’ve just created a cycle where the Dodgers will spend like crazy one year, the Yanks/Red Sox the next, and then some random team will probably jump in the following year and blow by the “limits.” And that doesn’t even mention handshake deals that the banned teams can have to make prospects wait until they are technically able to sign. Their needs to either be some sort of draft or have some sort of draft pick compensation attached to these larger salaries, like a QO.
Then again, I’m sure the league doesn’t REALLY give a crap about the big money teams signing most of the best international talent. They’ll happily sit back and just collect all the additional tax money.
All taxes on international spending are re-directed into the international development fund, I believe.
Thanks to Hittingnull for starting this discussion yesterday and to the rest of you for weighing in with insightful and unbiased thinking today!
Wow the Dodgers are spending money like drunken sailors these days.
$30 million plus for a sub .500 pitcher in the Cuban leagues?????
Crazy!!! And we hope his command comes around?????
Somebody above called them the Cuban Dodgers and that is a pretty apt description of the team payroll these days. Nothing here other than evaluating potential talent guys!
All of these Cuban ballplayers have never played an inning for any team in the majors yet they seem to command untold ritches when it comes to cashing in on all these “”showcases” they seem ready to hold for “scouts” !!! really.
When are major league teams going to learn not to keep all of us fans paying for their horrible decisions!!!
A potential mid-rotation starter for $5M/year. Wow, that is way over the line!
As a Dodger fan I hope they keep stockpiling arms. You can never have too many.