After expected rumors of the Dodgers and Hyun Jin Ryu’s agent Scott Boras being far apart, the two sides eventually agreed to a contract worth $36 million over a six-year span, according to Jon Heyman. As far as incentives go, Ryu can earn up to $1 million per year based on innings pitched and can increase his base salary (via ... Read More »
The Dodgers have signed Zack Greinke to a 6-year, $147 million contract, according to Jon Heyman, with Gina Miller getting the scoop. The $24.5 million average annual value of the deal makes him the highest-paid pitcher in baseball on a per-year basis. If you’ve followed me in years past, you’d know that I usually do some type of efficiency analysis ... Read More »
The tide has shifted completely in the Zack Greinke sweepstakes with sources now almost universally agreeing that the Rangers are the favorites. Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi speculate that their push for Justin Upton is born out of confidence regarding Greinke. The Rangers’ fervent push for Upton, according to one rival executive, is an indication of their confidence in ... Read More »
The Zack Greinke saga is the story of the Winter Meetings, not only because he’s the top free agent out there, but also because he’s holding up the deals of other free agents, as they’re all waiting on him. Whatever he decides, it figures to be at least borderline historical, as Jon Heyman notes. Strong belief by people close to ... Read More »
Dodger prospects could be surprisingly active come Thursday’s Rule 5 Draft, as there are two prospects drawing significant interest and two who might be plucked. —– Ben Badler of Baseball America has tweeted on more than one occasion in the last week that Jose Dominguez is seen as a potential Rule 5 draftee. Additionally, John Manuel wrote about him on ... Read More »
The Dodgers made an offer to Hyun Jin Ryu, but it was rejected by Scott Boras, according to Ned Colletti. The Dodgers made a long-term offer to Korean pitcher Ryu Hyun-jin on Tuesday, but it was rejected by agent Scott Boras. “Predictably, it fell a tad short,” said general manager Ned Colletti. The Dodgers have until Sunday to sign Ryu ... Read More »
Zack Greinke news is dribbling in slowly, especially given that talks were expected to escalate quickly. The latest speculation is that the Dodgers and Rangers are out ahead, according to Bill Shaikin. The Dodgers and Rangers appear to be the favorites for Greinke, with the Angels as the dark horse, tweets Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times. So apparently ... Read More »
The Dodgers will offer Zack Greinke the most money to sign, according to Jon Heyman, because they have no concept of a budget. The Dodgers have an interesting strategy that’s been employed only rarely: Sign the best, no matter the cost. “They are like theSteinrenner Yankees of the ’70s,” one competing GM said. Rival executives are beginning to wonder of ... Read More »
Shohei Otani, who once declared definitively that he was headed to America, is having second thoughts about that decision after meeting with the Nippon Ham Fighters, which was the thing I feared the most at the time of the announcement. Shohei Otani, 18, who had vowed to sign in MLB, might now lean to staying in Japan, per Japanese media. ... Read More »
As most everybody knows by now, the Dodgers are in on Zack Greinke and desperately want him to be a part of the club. Dodgers executives met with Zack Greinke in Los Angeles yesterday, Yahoo’s Tim Brown reported last night. The Dodgers view Greinke as critical to their pitching staff, Brown reports. Greinke is believed to have enjoyed pitching for ... Read More »
The Rangers are favorites to land Zack Greinke, according to Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register. For what it’s worth, I was told today the #Rangers are the favorites for Greinke. It could all just be posturing now. Wait and see. That goes against what Jim Bowden of ESPN said though. Los Angeles Dodgers are considered the front runner ... Read More »
Kenley Jansen Kenley Jansen entered 2012 as the set-up man with elite stuff, freed up to face the opponents’ best hitters should they be due up before the ninth inning. It was the perfect scenario, considering the closer role is a vastly overrated entity. Though Jansen was slotted correctly, he quickly found himself as the closer following some early struggles ... Read More »
Clayton Kershaw After Clayton Kershaw‘s 2011 performance, for which he won the Cy Young Award, I wasn’t sure I could be more impressed with him going forward. That’s not to say I was certain he had peaked, but it would no longer come as a surprise to me or anyone else. What impressed me so much about his 2012 season ... Read More »
Didn’t realize it until I was done typing it up, but this is an exclusively Japanese player rumor update. Anyway, Kyuji Fujikawa is reportedly down to five teams, with one of them being the Dodgers. Fujikawa has reportedly met with the Dodgers, Angels, Orioles, Cubs and Diamondbacks. The Rangers are also said to have interest in the 32-year-old, who has ... Read More »
Andre Ethier Andre Ethier, in his age-30 season and coming off a couple of years in which he had to deal with injuries, spent time on the DL again this past season, which limited him to just 146 games. Oblique injury aside, Dre actually had one of his best campaigns as a pro, posting a ~3.1 WAR that included average ... Read More »
Chad Moriyama Dodgers, Sabermetrics, Scouting