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 »
The Dodgers promoted a number of front office personnel, most notably future GMs (of the Dodgers, I hope) Logan White and De Jon Watson. White will now serve as Vice President Of Scouting, while Watson takes on the role of Vice President Of Player Development. —– Via Eric Stephen, Alfredo Silverio and Ozzie Martinez have signed minor-league contracts and received ... 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 »
Grantland: Part 1 of Jonah Keri ranking the 50 best players in terms of trade value. No Dodgers here yet, but Carlos Santana finds a spot at #43. The other two catcher rankings are the ones likely to elicit the most hate mail. In the first draft of this list, I had Santana considerably higher. Twenty-six-year-old switch-hitting catcher, career .806 ... 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 »
Los Angeles Times: Steven Cohen has been implicated in an insider trading scheme. Tuesday the Wall Street Journal reported that Cohen had been implicated in a massive $276-million insider trading scheme. Remember him? The guy who was once the front-runner for the Dodgers? Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnd that’s why some of us didn’t want him as owner. —– The Book: Tom Tango argues ... 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 »
The Dodgers television contract will total between $6 billion and $7 billion over a 25-year span, thus potentially tripling the sale price of the team, according to Deadline‘s Nikki Finke. Insiders tell me that Fox Sports is close to clinching the exclusive TV rights for the Los Angeles Dodgers by paying between $6 billion and $7 billion over 25 years ... 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 »
Chad Moriyama Dodgers, Sabermetrics, Scouting