So what’s next for the 2012-2013 off-season champion Dodgers?

Danny Knobler says Anibal Sanchez has been discussed, but Buster Olney says the Dodgers aren’t going to be signing any more pitchers.

As far as Sanchez goes, I’m inclined to believe Olney, because while I believe the team’s budget is comically high, I do believe they have one and that it would simply be overkill to get Sanchez.

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On the Chris Capuano/Aaron Harang/Ted Lilly trade front, Buster Olney says the Pirates have talked to the Dodgers about Capuano.

Despite the fact that the trio aren’t all that valuable to the Dodgers anymore, both Capuano and Harang have value to teams with stricter payrolls, because at the price free-agent starters are going for, a couple 2-3 WAR guys with 6 or 7 million dollar price tags are going to be a worthwhile investment.

I’ve had trouble gauging potential return though, because we’ve never really seen Ned Colletti trade for minor-leaguers in recent years. Either way, hopefully Logan White and De Jon Watson are in charge of that aspect of these trades.

Then again, Buster Olney says the Dodgers are interested in Joel Hanrahan, so that could be an option as well. If that’s the extent of the deal, I see no reason why the Pirates would hesitate, honestly. Clear win for them.

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.

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Via Eric Stephen, Alfredo Silverio and Ozzie Martinez have signed minor-league contracts and received invites to Spring Training.

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Bill Shaikin reports, per Ned Colletti, that Yasiel Puig will most likely begin the 2013 campaign with AA Chattanooga.

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And now we wait for the moves of the Winter Meetings.

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Greg Zakwin is the founder of the site Plaschke Thy Sweater Is Argyle. Follow him on Twitter @ArgyledPlaschke.

In March, I wrote that international spending needs to be a priority for the new owners, referencing the Dodgers disappearing presence on the international stage and also their lack of draft spending. Well, so far, so good.

From 2007 to 2011, the Dodgers draft budget ranked 26th in the league, which is incomprehensibly low for a team that was still in the upper tier as far as payroll was concerned. Couple that with their lack of investment in the international market, and it was a recipe made in player development hell. Considering the constraints in place, Logan White, Kim Ng, and De Jon Watson did remarkably well to pump out MLB talent and hold the system at respectable levels even after years of neglect, but change was absolutely needed. Luckily, it seems to have come.

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Whether you agree with their moves or not, it’s hard to argue that the new owners aren’t trying. The controversial inking of Yasiel Puig put the team back on the map, and they have already spent on other international prospects as well. As the Dodgers re-enter the market in earnest, it’ll be interesting to watch the coming years to see if they can score more name prospects than before, especially now that connections are more important than ever with the implementation of an international spending cap in the new CBA.

Then there’s the matter of the draft, where according to Baseball America, the Dodgers ranked fourth in draft spending relative to their bonus pool allotment in 2012. The team went almost $200,000 over the limit, resulting in a tax of about $150,000. Also, the team signed a record percentage of draft picks while under Ned Colletti.

So despite the ownership’s efforts coming off as more of a public relations ploy at times, the player development focus thus far can only be considered a success.

R.J. Anderson looked at Ned Colletti‘s trade history over at Baseball Prospectus and wondered why Dodgers fans are so worried about him.

Colletti’s evaluation mistakes cost the Dodgers two middle-of-the-rotation starters, an All-Star catcher, and a good fourth outfielder at most. But what about the flip side? What about when Colletti correctly evaluated his own prospects? Silver wrote, “One of [Colletti's] strengths seems to be knowing when to bail on his own players.” In the time since, Colletti has reaffirmed that notion. Some of Colletti’s better trades have come when correctly identifying the lemons in his own bunch. He traded Bryan Morris and LaRoche to acquire Manny Ramirez (easily the best deal of his career), used the intrigue of Joel Guzman to land Julio Lugo (whom, for whatever reason, fell to pieces, mitigating an otherwise clever deal), grabbed Jon Garland for Tony Abreu, got Jim Thome for nothing, and added Ted Lilly and Ryan Theriot for Blake DeWitt and two prospects who were unable to make the Cubs’ top-20 list this preseason.

Tagging Colletti as a good or bad general manager adds no value. What can add value is breaking general managers down to tools and skills. Colletti seems to understand that future value is worth less than present value, particularly when his team has the ability to compete now and the resources to compete later. Proper evaluation is the engine in Colletti’s machine. That means the Dodgers have to continue to land potentially useful players and continue to evaluate and harvest the potentially overvalued prospects. Every once and a while, Colletti is going to miss on a player. It happens; even John Schuerholz, the master of farm system self-evaluation, lost a few times.

This isn’t to say that Dodgers fans should have blind faith in Colletti, just that cowering in fear seems to be equally as unreasonable.

Andrew Grant addressed the notion that Ned Colletti’s not that bad of a General Manager over at Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness.

Ned Colletti isn’t without his merits. He’s good at assembling a bullpen on the cheap and the Dodgers get more mileage out of their veteran utility guys than most teams, but these are minor things in the big picture. Colletti inherited a dream situation, the best farm system in baseball with a payroll in the upper echelons of the league and the more it has become his team, the worse it has gotten. If you compare Ned’s moves to Bobo the General Managing Chimp he looks great, but if you assume a base level of competence from your GM Ned falls massively. James Loney’s monthly home run doesn’t make him a good player, so all of Ned’s moves not failing miserably shouldn’t make him a good GM.

I was actually going to write something similar, including using the exact same links he used, but instead, I’ll just address the question of whether Dodgers fans are justified in worrying at the trading deadline.

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Despite my derision of him as a General Manager, Ned Colletti has, in my estimation, specific strengths and weaknesses. He is terrible at major free agent signings, but fringe/average on the minor free agent deals. He’s good at trading away major league talent (usually guys that he signed, unfortunately) for useful minor leaguers. And as Andrew showed, he’s basically average at trading away minor league players, but it’s rare that he gets value in return for all that he trades away.

Coincidentally or not, his strengths all seem to derive from scouting and evaluation of minor league players (trading for minor leaguers/drafting minor leaguers/trading away minor leaguers). Such opinions were earlier justified in quantifiable form by The Hardball Times. Now I’m not saying that all the minor league strengths are due to Kim Ng/Logan White/De Jon Watson, but that is their job description, and two of those three were with the team before any of us were aware Colletti existed.

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So with that established, I don’t understand how or why R.J. gives Colletti credit for getting present talent in return on trades as if that’s what happens all the time when Colletti deals away minor league players.

Looking at the trades he has made over the years, it’s a bit odd to use that angle. Manny Ramirez was a once-in-a-lifetime scenario in which the Red Sox had to dump a Hall Of Fame talent, even the most ardent fan of Ned Colletti would have to admit that, and that’s ignoring entirely the report that Frank McCourt was the one who made it happen because he wanted to sell tickets. Andre Ethier was Colletti’s shining moment, and despite what Nate Silver said, I loved the trade at the time. Again though, that’s clearly not a deadline deal where he acquires current talent in exchange for future talent. Quite the opposite actually, and it’s certainly not what Dodgers fans are worrying about here.

So why are they worried? Because essentially, he has lost an All-Star catcher (a good one, at worst), two middle-of-the-rotation guys, and an outfielder who would have definitely started for the Dodgers over the years in return for what? Greg Maddux and Casey Blake for two months? Neither of which vaulted the Dodgers to the next level in the present or future.

As such, I would say Dodgers fans are justified to be worried about Colletti at the deadline. That is, unless David Wright decides to push over a Mets employee, bad mouth the Mets in the press, and quit on the team or Bobby Abreu blows his top and becomes a clubhouse cancer, forcing a deal for a minor league prospect. Because while the odds are good that he’ll both get nothing that helps the team and give away nothing that matters, more often than not, when the players involved have mattered, he’s come out on the losing end.

True Blue LA: Eric Stephen has the 2012 Spring Training roster.

True Blue LA: A review of the 2012 off-season for the Los Angeles Dodgers to make me cry.

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ESPN: Jon Weisman has an interview with De Jon Watson about the Dodgers minor league system.

ESPN: Keith Law ranks the Dodgers system 12th in baseball.

If pitching wins championships, the Dodgers are in pretty good shape going forward, as their system is loaded with power arms but is relatively light on position players.

Surprising, but I guess he likes the abundance of pitching in the system more than most.

Minor League Ball: John Sickels notes the lessons he has learned about evaluating prospects.

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FanGraphs: Bradley Woodrum separates sabermetrics into three branches and shows which teams use which branches.

The Dodgers are the only team with one branch.

Awesome!

Clayton Kershaw

Was there anyone else to begin this review with? Just 23-years-old and consistently underrated and overlooked by the mainstream media entering 2011, Clayton Kershaw silenced all of his remaining critics with one of the best seasons for a pitcher in recent memory, Dodger or otherwise.

Consistent from start to finish, Clayton improved in every respect from his fantastic 2010. First and foremost, he cut a walk and a half off of his 2010 mark, and has seen a three-year improvement in that area of his game (4.79/3.57/2.08 BB per nine). He set career highs in tERA (2.52), FIP (2.47), and SIERA (2.81); induced more ground balls than last season (40.1%/43.2%), while giving up less fly balls (42.1%/38.6%); and continued to master the craft of creating weak contact. With his already amazing ability to get hitters to swing and miss, Kershaw also generated more infield popups, in 13.3% of his opponents’ plate appearances to be exact. An infield popup serves the same purpose as a strikeout, as no runner who may be on-base will advance, and it does in fact speak to his skill at creating weak contact, a point that can’t be emphasized enough.

Kershaw, who has seen a four-year incline in his WAR (1.4/4.1/4.7/6.8), struck out 9.57 per nine innings pitched, and combined with his limiting of free passes, saw his K/BB ratio leap up to over four and a half and his WHIP reach a new low of 0.977. Keeping hitters off-balance with a four pitch repertoire that features a fastball, slider, change, and Public Enemy Number One, Clayton is in line to finish first or second in the Cy Young voting.

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Considering that he’s young, has had tremendous success already, and captured the pitching Triple Crown in 2011 (two of which are meaningless categories, though that of course does not diminish his dominance this season), he’ll be in line for a lengthy raise as he hits arbitration for the first time.

With the season he just had, proving conclusively that he could control his walks and be a workhorse at the same time, as he made 33 starts and surpassed the 200 IP mark for the second consecutive season, the Dodgers would be wise to sign him long-term. They would have been wise to do that prior to this campaign, of course, but better late than never.

Chad Billingsley

Chad Billingsley entered 2011 on the heels of his best season as a pro, one in which he posted a career best 3.18 tERA and a FIP of 3.08, another professional low for the righty. He had washed away the complaints of many that he lacked the intestinal fortitude and mental stability to pitch successfully, deep into games, and in high-pressure situations (though, of course, we know that those claims never carried any water to begin with). His performance earned him a new multi-year, big money contract, and the Dodgers entered the season with one of the premier one-two punches on the mound in either league.

Unfortunately for Chad and the Dodgers, 2011 proved to not be another step forward for Chad. His numbers fell across the board, as he missed fewer bats, allowed more free passes, and saw his home run rate nearly double as his BABIP remained steady with his 2010 mark. While there were undoubtedly games where he was singled to death, as it was put by one Dodger blogger, Bills simply did not perform as well as he is clearly capable of. His tERA, FIP, and SIERA all increased from their 2010 resting places (4.18, 3.83, and 4.26 in 2011, respectively), but most troubling of all were his strikeout and walk ratios. He whiffed a full season low 7.28 opposing batters per nine while walking a full season high of over four per nine.

Bills struggles resulted in a WAR cut in half from the previous year (2.1, down from 4.5) and questions about his mechanics and health. Still shy of his 28th birthday, Billingsley has every chance to rebound, and much like his poor second half of 2009 led to his best professional season, said rebound in 2012 would not be the least surprising to me. In fact, I’ll call it right now, as I fully expect Chad to be productive as Kershaw’s running mate next season, provided he is in fact healthy.

Hiroki Kuroda

Hiroki Kuroda, in perhaps his final season as a Dodger, was once again solid, though he followed Billingsley in having a down year from 2010. His WAR fell from 4.1 to 2.4, his K/9 IP dipped down to 7.17, and he allowed a whopping 24 long balls in over 200 IP.

Again though, at the progressing age of 36 and as a third starter, Hiroki was not the issue. His 4.22 tERA left much to be desired, but his FIP was 3.78 and his SIERA checked in at 3.66, and as always, his control was impeccable (2.18 BB per nine, and a K/BB ratio of over three and a quarter). 13.1% of plate appearances ended in an infield popup, though he induced far fewer ground balls than in 2010 (51.1%/43.2%).

Should this in fact be his last season in Los Angeles, Kuroda departs with a career FIP of 3.55, over three strikeouts for every walk issued, and 12.2 WAR over four seasons. All in all, a very good big league career for the Japanese import, and Kuroda’s consistency will be missed.

Ted Lilly

After coming over from Chicago at the deadline in 2010, Ted Lilly was signed to a ridiculous three year, $33 million dollar deal by Ned Colletti to be a fourth starter. And quite predictably, he flopped in a major way for most of the season. Competing with Matt Kemp to be the second Dodger to go 30/30 in 2011, Lilly couldn’t help himself in allowing home runs and stolen bases at a seemingly record pace. The lefty threw just under 200 innings and allowed 28 home runs and 35 stolen bases, with 4.24 tERA and a FIP of 4.21.

The 35-year-old did end strong, holding opponents to a .169/.250/.293/.543 line over the final two months of the season (though it should be noted he benefited immensely from a .208 BABIP).

Dodger fans have to hope and pray he can be half the man he was from August on, as he still has two years and $22.5 million remaining on his contract, will most likely be the third starter in 2012, and has a full no-trade clause for this upcoming campaign.

Rubby De La Rosa/Nathan Eovaldi

Rubby De La Rosa made his major league debut on May 24th, and would throw 60 and two-thirds innings over 10 starts and three relief appearances before succumbing to Tommy John surgery. The young righty was impressive in his limited exposure, whiffing 60 against 31 walks and displaying a nice collection of four pitches. Out for anywhere from 10 months to over a year, the Dodgers will be without his electric arm as he works his way back to the starting rotation.

With some major league experience and success, excellent swing and miss ability, and a strong minor league track record, if he rebounds from the arm injury, the Dodgers have a potential gem and fixture in the rotation for years to come, as he held opponents to a .225/.306/.364/.670 line with 33 Ks in 35 IP over his final six trips to the hill.

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Nathan Eovaldi replaced De La Rosa in the rotation before being moved to the pen as the season wound down and he reached his innings cap. Eovaldi posted a 4.35 FIP, but struck out just under six per nine while walking just over five per nine. Whether he settles into the rotation or the pen, Nate will need to refine his control and bump his strikeout numbers back up to what they were at a handful of minor league stops, including an 8.65 mark in AA prior to his call-up.

Minor League Strength

The starting rotation is a definite organizational strength for the Blue Crew. Along with young arms we’ve seen, like De La Rosa and Eovaldi, the Dodgers also boast minor league stud Zach Lee, as well as Garrett Gould, Allen Webster, Ralston Cash, 2011 draftee Chris Reed, and even the consistently frustrating Chris Withrow.

The Dodgers have shown the ability to draft and develop starters in abundance, an excellent quality and a testament to the work of Logan White, De Jon Watson, and their respective staffs.

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MLB: The Pirates have hired Dodgers assistant trainer Todd Tomczyk to be their head trainer, which still leaves the Dodgers stuck with Stan “He Looks Fine To Me” Conte.

MLB: Doug Mientkiewicz will be back with the Dodgers as an instructor. I have no real thoughts on this, because I don’t know anything about his coaching ability, and I don’t think anybody else does either.

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MSTI: Mike Petriello parsed through Ned Colletti‘s comments from an interview with Jim Bowden on ESPN. Solid analysis, but the best part by far is the Colletti truth-o-meter.

Beyond The Box Score: Among their 2011 NL West All-Stars are Jamey Carroll at 2B, Matt Kemp in CF, and Clayton Kershaw as the staff’s #1.

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MLB Trade Rumors: Ben Nicholson-Smith talks to Logan White. Don’t leave. Please.

MLB Trade Rumors: Both De Jon Watson and White have been connected to the Orioles vacancy at GM. Ugh.

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True Blue LA: Dodgers released a tentative 2012 Spring Training schedule.

Credit: The LFP

MLB: Dodgers don’t think Clayton Kershaw will be suspended.

MLB: Hiroki Kuroda had an MRI on his neck that didn’t reveal any damage. Didn’t know he was still having trouble with it.

MLB: Shawn Tolleson and Scott Van Slyke were named the Dodgers Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher and Player Of The Year. I’ll be profiling both of them in the off-season.

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MLB Trade Rumors: Ben Nicholson-Smith interviews Dodgers Assistant General Manager and Director Of Player Development, De Jon Watson.

Los Angeles Times: Dylan Hernandez on Jonathan Broxton and his future.

Abbott said Broxton is particularly bothered by rumblings that he might not be hurt.

Who the hell said that? I’m confused.

Baseball America: Jim Callis ranks the 2006 Dodgers draft class 3rd and wonders how good it would have been if the Dodgers actually signed Alex White and Paul Goldschmidt. So do I, so do I.

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The Atlantic: An outstanding article on college sports by Taylor Branch. It’s long and it’s worth it.