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Best Free Agent Signings by Friedman

                           Andrew Friedman is entering his 11th year as the President of Baseball Operations for the Dodgers. Since he got the job in November of 2014, he has signed a lot of free agent players. Some panned out, many did not.  Ned Colletti made some decent signings when he was running the team, but he is more known for two of the worst signings than he is for signing a good player. The bad ones?  Andruw Jones and Jason Schmidt. His most remembered would probably be Justin Turner in 2014.  

                          One thing Andrew has that Colletti did not, is an ownership with DEEP POCKETS. His first major signing was Brandon McCarthy in Dec of 2014. McCarthy got 4/48 from LA. Production wise, this was not one of AF’s better moves. McCarthy would pitch in 33 games over the three years he was a Dodger with an 11-7 record and 4.51 ERA. He was sent to Atlanta in the Kemp trade in 2018. 

                          That first season, he loaded up on pitching, mostly relievers. He did sign starter Brett Anderson to a one-year deal. AF got more from Anderson for the 10 million than he did from McCarthy. Anderson made 31 starts and had a sub 4 ERA, with a 10-9 record. He started one game in the LDS against the Mets and lost. But most of his signings that year were what I like to call, AAA fodder. A few would be called up to fill in for injured players. But none made a huge impact.

                          One notable free agent he signed in the fall of 2015 was outfielder, Andrew Toles. We can only wonder what could have been with Andrew. In 16-17 and 18, he would play a total of 92 games as a Dodger. Those 92 games were pretty impressive. Toles had been released by the Rays for disciplinary reasons. He started the 2016 season with high A Rancho, he was promoted to Tulsa and finally to OKC. He was called up on July 8th. He played in 48 games, hitting .314 with 3 homers and 16 driven in. In 11 games in the post season he hit .364. 

                           In 2017, he was the Dodgers leadoff hitter and starting CF against RHP. On May 9th, he tore the ACL in his right knee. He had season ending surgery and was on the IL the rest of the season. He hit .271 in 31 games with 5 homers and 15 driven in. In 2018, he would play in only 17 games. He spent most of the year at OKC, hitting .306 in 71 games. Andrew did not report to spring training in 2019 and was placed on the restricted list. He finally did report on April 30th but left 30 days later to be with his family. 

                           It was finally reported that Toles was dealing with mental health issues including bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Toles at one point was living behind Key West Airport. He was arrested by police when he refused to leave. Since 2018, the Dodgers have signed Toles to a contract so that he can have access to the team’s health insurance. He is still on the restricted list and in the care of his father. I think giving Toles a contract just so he can have his health checked is one of the classier things the Dodgers have done. 

                           They signed Kenta Maeda in the spring of 2016. This was one of the more creative contracts they would give out since there were concerns about Maeda’s arm and possible injury issues. But they got a lot of bang for their buck from Kenta before he was finally traded to the Twins. One of those under the radar type signings that paid dividends in 16 was Joe Blanton. Blanton became a trusted back of the pen piece and pitched in 75 games for LA logging 80 innings with a 2.48 ERA, 7 wins and 2 losses. Joe pitched well in the LDS against the Nat’s, unscored on in 4 games. But the Cubbies lit him up in the LCS. 

                           Going into 2017, AF concentrated on bringing back his own free agents before anything else. Rich Hill, JT and Kenley were his first priority’s, and he had the three of them all under new contracts by Jan 10th, 2017.  On the 17 of that month, he made another under the radar signing when he inked reliever, Brandon Morrow to a deal. Morrow at the time was a 32-year-old MLB veteran with 10 years under his belt. He had a contract that would allow him to declare for free agency if he was not called up by a certain date.

                          To tell the truth, he was not exactly wowing anyone at OKC. He was 0-5 with a 7.20 ERA when they finally called him up. He did have 6 saves at the time. But in LA, he was transformed. Morrow pitched in 45 games. He won 6, lost none and had 2 saves. He struck out 50 in 43.2 innings. What was most impressive, he did not allow a single homer. In the Dodgers playoff run he pitched in 14 games out of 15. He pitched in all 7 games of the World Series. His ERA in those games was 3.95. He was touched for 1 homer in the LDS and 2 in the World Series against the Astros. But all of that damage came in one game, game 5 in Houston where it was later shown that the Astros were stealing signs. Also signed early in the year was a former A’s player who was out of the game. At the end of April, they signed Max Muncy to a minor league contract. Muncy would play 110 games at OKC that year, hitting .309 with 12 homers and driving in 44. 9 games into the 2018 season with OKC, he was called up to Los Angeles. He has been with the Dodgers ever since and has hit 190 homers for LA. 

                        If you look back, up to this point, the Dodgers had not signed a single franchise changing free agent. Most of the signings were role players or AAA fodder. How long could Friedman keep this up and not have the fan base screaming for his head? In 2018 he brought back Chase Utley, a move most LA fans loved. In March of 18, they signed a young Cuban player, Andy Pages as a amateur free agent. In April they signed Daniel Hudson. Huddie would pitch in 40 games. He and Utley were the only two free agents of any consequence. Hudson would leave as a free agent and help DC win the championship in 19. He would return to LA in 2022. 

                     He resigned Ryu in Nov of 2018. And in December of that year, he signed Joe Kelly, not one of his more popular signings, but certainly one of his more colorful. Mariachi Joe is quite the character. He signed AJ Pollock to a four-year deal in January of 19. Pollock would play well during his time as a Dodger. In December of 2019, he signed Blake Treinen. Treinen, despite missing significant time in 22, has been one of the most reliable relievers since he signed with the team. He has pitched in 29 post season games for the Dodgers. He has a 3-2 record with 4 saves. During his time in LA, he has pitched in 154 games with a 17-12 record, 9 saves and a sparkling 2.29 ERA in 149.2 innings. I sincerely hope he is re-signed this winter. 

                     After losing the 2019 LDS to the Nationals, the Dodgers had a lot of holes to fill with many players becoming free agents. They signed Alex Wood, bringing him back a year after trading him to the Braves. Wood would pitch in just 9 games for the 2020 team. The big move came of February 10th when they made the trade with Boston for Mookie Betts. Just before the season started on July 23rd, they signed LHRP Jake McGee. McGee would pitch in 24 games for the Dodgers. He had a 3-1 record and a 2.66 ERA. He pitched 4 games in the playoffs. 

                    After winning the World Series in 2020, some key players left via free agency. Kike, Joc Pederson. They re-signed Treinen and JT. The big signing was 2020 Cy Young winner, Trevor Bauer. Bauer got a huge 3-year deal for over 100 million dollars. It would prove to be a costly signing. As usual, Freidman also signed guys like Steven Souza Jr, and Kevin Quackenbush. But the most significant free agent signing, at least to me, was the signing of Albert Pujols on May 17th, after his release by the Angels. Tio Albert would become a fan favorite and have some really big hits for the Dodgers. 

                   They chased the Giants most of the year and would finish 1 game back in the West, the only time they have not won the division since 2013. Friedman made his big move at the deadline when he traded for Scherzer and Trea Turner. Scherzer was a need since Bauer had been suspended. Turner was a bonus. In August the Dodgers finally signed a pitcher fans had wanted for years, Cole Hamels. But Hamels would never suit up for the team. He did pick up Evan Phillips off waivers in August. 

                     They beat the Cardinals in the wild card, then defeated the Giants in five games in the LDS, but with the pitching as depleted as it was from injuries, the loss of power hitter Max Muncy to injurie on the last day of the season, they just could not muster enough pitching to beat the Braves after they went down 3-1.  They had some more big-name free agents leaving that winter.  Scherzer, Jansen, Pujols, Seager. Taylor was also a free agent, but AF resigned him to a 4-year deal.

                    Scott Alexander was a free agent, along with Kelly, and Knebel.  So, Friedman started signing some pitchers beginning with Andrew Heaney on a 1-year deal. After pitching for the Nationals for three years, he signed Hudson. Kershaw was resigned in March along with former Giants reliever, Reyes Montoya. March also saw the signings of Yency Almonte, Tyler Anderson, Danny Duffy and Jake Lamb. Then Friedman finally landed a big fish free agent. Freddie Freeman, fresh off of a World championship with the Braves, was signed to a six-year contract. 

                    They kept signing guys right up until spring training bringing in Kevin Pillar and Hanser Alberto. Alberto would set a MLB record for appearances by a position player as a pitcher with 10. The last move before the season started saw LA trade AJ Pollock to the White Sox for Craig Kimbrel.  Some signings after the season started did not work out like the signing of former Yankee, Dellin Betances and signing Pedro Baez who had been let go by the Astros. The Dodgers would win 111 games in 2022. Led by Betts, Freeman and Trea Turner. They got a great season out of Tyler Anderson. Then they got knocked out in the LDS by the Padres. Probably one of the more embarrassing losses they had ever suffered. 

               Andrew had more holes to fill and work to do after the 22 season. They lost Anderson, Heaney, Trea Turner, JT, Kimbrel, Price, Alberto, Bellinger and Rios to free agency. Bellinger had been non-tendered. A surprise to some, but not to others. The plan was to replace Turner at SS with Gavin Lux, Muncy would take over third for JT. Vargas was expected to play either second base or left field. 

             They started reloading with some relatively low-cost replacements by signing Jason Heyward and then David Peralta. Heyward was paid the MLB minimum by LA since he was still under his last year of his long-term deal with the Cubs. In December they brought in Noah Syndergaard, then they signed JD Martinez to be the full time DH, again on a low-cost contract. They were finally able to release Trevor Bauer but still had to pay his salary. 

             The best laid plans to not always work out. Lux was injured in a spring game in February and lost for the year. Vargas, who started spring with a broken finger, never did get untracked. James Outman made the team out of spring training and became the regular center fielder. Heyward would play RF sometimes to allow Betts to play second, and Miguel Rojas played the majority of the games at SS. Peralta usually played LF against RHP with Chris Taylor out there against lefties. But they brought in some help at the deadline when they brought Kike back and traded for Amed Rosario. He made another under the radar signing when they signed Ryan Brasier. He would become an important part of the bullpen. 

            The team won the division again, winning 100 or more for the fifth time since 2017. Once again, they were embarrassed in the playoffs. Injuries to the pitching staff had hamstrung them enough that one of the best pitchers they had was rookie Bobby Miller. Kershaw tried to make a go of it but got hammered in game one. Lance Lynn, the big deadline pickup gave up 4 homers in one inning in the deciding game 3 against Arizona. They had lost Julio Urias, to a suspension by the league for violation of the spousal abuse clause. Urias is a free agent who has not been allowed to sign with any team until MLB makes their final judgement, and he fulfills all the conditions ordered by the court. 

         The Dodgers went into last winter looking to bolster the offense against LHP, shore up the starting pitching, and bolster the bullpen. Martinez, Brasier, Kershaw, Kike, Heyward, Peralta, Rosario, Urias, Hudson, Kelly, Lynn, were all free agents. Heyward, Kike, Kersh, Brasier, Hudson and Kelly were all resigned. Then on the 11th of December, AF landed the biggest free agent he will probably ever sign, Shohei Ohtani decided to sign with the Dodgers. A massive 10-year-700-million-dollar deal.

           Of course, what we did not know at the time was that 680 million of the deal was deferred to the back end of the contract. He will then receive 68 million a year for the next 10 years. He wasn’t done. On December 27th, they signed Japanese star, Yoshi Yamamoto to a 12-year contract. They traded for Tyler Glasnow and immediately extended him. Shohei was signed despite him not being able to pitch until 2025. Then in January, he signed Teoscar Hernandez to a one-year deal. Teo would prove to be a gem.  He added starting pitcher, James Paxton at the end of January and basically had re-tooled the entire pitching staff. We all know what a magical, and extremely stressful season 2024 was. 

            The pitching staff saw every single pitcher who started the season in the rotation go down to injury. Two pitchers who had been out for an extended period made their comebacks. Treinen became a huge part of the bullpen again. Walker Buehler missed almost two whole years to his second TJ surgery. And although his season stats were nothing to write home about, he stepped up his game when needed the most and fittingly pitched the 9th inning of the deciding win in game 5. 

               Ohtani recorded the first 50-50 season in baseball history, he achieved that in a game where he went 6-6 with 3 homers and 10 RBI’s. They lost Betts and Muncy for extended periods of time, even the everyday Freddie Freeman was forced to miss a couple of weeks when his son became very ill. He was then hobbled by a bad ankle going into the playoffs, but he overcame that to have a monster World Series. 

                 Going into the off season this year, LA has several roster issues to address.  Kike, Flaherty, Teo, Buehler, Kelly and Treinen are all free agents. I do not think all six of them will be back. I do believe that they bring Treinen back. I hope they resign Buehler. But Kike, Flaherty and Teo, are iffy at best. I would love to see Teo back for at least 3 years. Kershaw has already said he will be back for one more year, just when is up in the air with his shoulder surgery. Will Ohtani be ready to pitch by the beginning of the year? He too had shoulder surgery on his non-throwing arm. 

               Rumors are rampant at this point. Many fans want them to sign Juan Soto, others not so much. Where it once seemed like they were a lock to sign Japanese star, Roki Sasaki, a lot of chatter on baseball sites say otherwise.  They supposedly met with Soto and Boras on Tuesday, but Soto is not expected to sign before the winter meetings. Most likely it won’t be until after Christmas. They are rumored to have interest in Snell, Burnes, Adames and just about every other free agent out there. But as usual, Andrew is pretty silent on these things. One thing is for sure, the team that takes the field next March to defend its title, will have some new faces. Just who? We will have to wait and see. 

 

Born June 14th, 1948, in Los Angeles California. AKA The Bear

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dodgerram

Okay, since the Sasaki decision probably will not come before January or February to MLB (and increasingly looking like the Dodgers are not the clear cut favorits to land him)here is my offseason approach and what I would do:

  1. Offer Snell 3 years 115.
  2. Trade for Robert jun. Outman, Lux, Knack, Hope. That puts Edman at ss.
  3. Resign Striker 2 years 32 million with a player opt out after year 1.
  4. Offer Soto 13 years 650 with opt outs after years 3 and 5. Tell him to make his decison quickly and if does not agree turn around and bring back Teo .
  5. Try to bring in Sasaki when he gets posted. He would be cheap for some years.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Badger

Good work Bear. Thanks.

So if we don’t get Sasaki and we don’t get Soto (I think we will and we won’t) I still think everyone will be chasing us. I say that because I trust Friedman will do what is necessary to keep this team pushing 100 wins. He has the money, he has a few superfluous Major League players, he has a few interesting prospects and importantly he has a top of the lineup with 3 Hall of Famers in it.

I’m still sitting here thinking “up the middle”. Can’t help it. I’ve thought that way since Little League in Canoga Park. And up the middle includes pitching by the way. The way they did it this year sure looked awkward but in the end it worked. Re-run that? That won’t be the plan but you know how plans can work out.

So, crystal ball predictions … again – 17 different starters, most of whom have 5 inning objectives, a new shortstop, a new starter (maybe 2) Betts at second and a new center fielder though if it ends up being Edman I’m ok with it. Would rather see him do what he did this year. The guy can play anywhere. Let him do it.

30 days til Winter starts. Oh crap. At least I live where it doesn’t freeze. That’s a plus. I have 4 million neighbors. That ain’t a plus

Bobby

Who the hell is Striker?

Ted Striker, from the movie ‘Airplane’?

Last edited 17 days ago by Bobby
Badger

Buehler. I’m no sure where that handle came from.

Last edited 17 days ago by Badger
Singing the Blue

I think Mark came up with it a few years ago.
He thought the name Striker suited him better than Walker.
See what he did there?

Bobby

The guy won Game 3 and got the save in Game 5. If he wants to be called Walker I will call him Walker.

Bumsrap

But he’s not from Texas

Jeff Dominique

100% agree. I dislike it when people come up with their own nicknames and continue using it as if that player accepts it. Walker will go by Buehtane or Ferris.

Bobby

Well, until July, when Jackson Ferris comes up. And then we’ll have some problems (or a million memes)

Bluto

That’s not a Roger, Roger!

Jeff Dominique

Roger Craig, Roger McDowell? 😃

Duke Not Snider

And don’t call me Shirley.

Bluto

Rosenthal’s latest in the Athletic ($$$$) basically plays the historical model. Dodgers looking at everything, but not likely to pay top dollar.

Not sure what to make of his mentioning Betts to SS. Could be idle speculation, could be informed.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5935761/2024/11/21/blake-snell-free-agency-dodgers-mlb-offseason/?source=user_shared_article

Blake Snell’s early suitors, Dodgers’ evolving plans and more MLB offseason

Last edited 17 days ago by Bluto
Bluto

Per Hoornstra

The Los Angeles Dodgers are considered the favorites to sign Roki Sasaki within the baseball industry. ESPN’s Buster Olney, speaking on the Baseball Tonight podcast, recently said that opinion isn’t just overwhelming; it’s unanimous.

Pitcher Dallas Keuchel, who played with Sasaki on the Chiba Lotte Marines, took it a step further, telling Joel Sherman of the New York Post “I heard some, some rumblings about a done deal with the Dodgers — you know, having a plan for him.”

Badger

Roki dokey. Make it so.

Bumsrap

You put your left foot in with that one Badger.

Badger

That’s what it’s all about.

Sam Oyed

No hokey pokey

Last edited 17 days ago by Sam Oyed
Dionysus

No more yankee my wankee

Duke Not Snider

I think the Dodgers will land Sasaki.
But I could also imagine him deciding he doesn’t want to labor in the shadow of Shohei and Yamamoto. Perhaps he earn more yen in endorsements by choosing another team and building an independent identity.
That’s what I’d be telling him if I ran the Padres or Yankees.
He might prefer Darvish to Shohei and Yoshi.
The NY teams would also be great for endorsements. And how about the Cubs? Imanaga and Suzuki could help him adjust…

Bumsrap

I assume pitchers still run a lot between starts. If so, would Ohtani playing a defensive position be too tiring for a pitcher in a 6 man rotation? Eventually first base? I doubt it would be good for him to fire a ball from the outfield without warm up throws.

Bumsrap

I hear Soto is working on a knuckle ball.

Bumsrap

I guess Alana and I share the same love for Muncy. I really like Edman though. Arenado? Yikes.

I’ll get excited when she mentions getting Royce Lewis to play third for the Dodgers.

Last edited 17 days ago by Bumsrap
OhioDodger

Well, Alana is dead right about Soto. Dodgers could sign Teo, Adames, and Buehler all for Soto money,

Not sure what she is thinking with the proposed Muncy Edman trade. Arenado ship has sailed. He is on the down side. I don’t get everyone’s desire to get rid of Muncy. He has greatly improved his defense and I good for 30 HR and 90-100 RBI each year. I do think he should platoon against tough lefties.

Last edited 17 days ago by OhioDodger
OhioDodger

Seems like a no brainer to me.

Duke Not Snider

They all warm up before games, don’t they?
It would be very cool to see Ohtani as a position player at some point.

Jeff Dominique

I continue to read reports that Dustin May is a non-tender candidate. That makes zero sense to me. His projected salary arbitration figure is $2.135MM. For the Dodgers that is less than pocket change. If he is no longer a LAD favorite, he is worth more in a trade than just releasing him. I cannot see any MLB team who would think his $2.135MM salary would be too onerous.

I have read where some indicate that the Dodgers could use that $2.135MM to re-sign Blake Treinen. You mean that the Dodgers would not sign Treinen because they are paying May $2.135MM??? This a year after the Dodgers paid Joe Kelly $8.5MM???

Bumsrap

May can’t run a grill I guess. Apparently the Dodgers don’t think he can stay off the IL.

Bluto

I try to read a lot of Red Sox and Dodger news, I haven’t seen a sentence towards non-tendering May.

i too would be surprised

Dionysus

He’s not

Duke Not Snider

Latest news is that May has been signed. Yes, maybe a move to the pen could help him stay healthy.
Treinen deserves a nice bump. Pay the man. He was a playoff hero.
And now there are reports that the Yankees are interested in Walker Buehler, which makes all the sense in the world. (If you can’t beat him…)
Buehler is an interesting case. Before the playoffs, he was looking like a back-end starter at best. The speculation was that he might get a one-year “prove it” deal.
Now stock in Buehler is rising.
Dodgers way wind up regretting not offering him the QO!

Jeff Dominique

Treinen has to be a big target for LAD. At one year younger than Treinen is now, LAD signed Ryan Brasier to a 2-year deal $9MM deal. Treinen has to be given more. But do they go 2 years $16MM to $18MM? Does his shoulder warrant two years? It is not my money, so I absolutely would.

Buehler? I get the impression that LAD would want him back on a one year deal. But they may be reluctant to offer 2-3 years, snd other teams will. If the Dodgers are only comfortable with a one year deal, I would not blame Buehler for leaving. I may be wrong, but I have never heard Buehler say he wanted to re-sign with LAD. Teoscar and Treinen have gone way out of their way and said the Dodgers are their overwhelming favorite team to sign with. Muncy signed a well below market value deal just to stay with the Dodgers. Kershaw says he wants to retire a Dodger. I get the impression that Buehler is more like Corey Seager and Trea Turner as they entered FA. They enjoyed being with the Dodgers, but they wanted to move on, and they got paid handsomely to do so.

Bradley

Adames Fried and Teoscar and I bet they bring Kenley back. I would rather have keke then Chris Taylor batting wise Keke is way better. They still need another outfielder not an expensive one. A mid range guy that gives guys a break some games. Some reason I like Max Kepler I think he might be the guy plays the corner outfield spot what is Pages cant hit consistently.

Bobby

In stunning news, Shohei Ohtani was the unanimous MVP pick for the NL. (Same with Aaron Judge in the AL)

Watford Dodger

TBF – Badger always wanted Lindor. He was right.

Badger

You remember that. Yeah I did. But, NY wanted him more.

Badger

I think everyone wanted Seager to stay Bear. But I also felt it meant to be. He’s an East Coast Southern kid, so, closer to his roots made sense.So did $300 million.

As you may recall, I had him penciled in at third and Lindor at short. Missed that one by a mile.

Last edited 16 days ago by Badger
Duke Not Snider

Fred Claire, if I recall correctly, was the Dodgers public relations chief before he was named general manager.
Maybe a PR man was fitting because Claire succeeded Al Campanis after he dug his grave in that interview with Ted Koppel. And when Koppel gave Campanis a chance to clarify his bigoted comments, he just dug the hole deeper.
I can only assume that Lasorda and maybe the chief scout had a lot of input in Claire’s decisions.
(BTW, I once had brief chat with Campanis at Dodger Stadium some months after that Nightline debacle. He had been dismissed of course, but management was apparently OK with him hanging around. Poignant.)
Campanis must not have had a No. 2–or maybe his No. 2 couldn’t be trusted around a microphone either. But it was still strange that the PR guy would get that job.
If memory serves, Claire brought in Dave Goltz and Dan “Full Pack” Stanhouse. Wait a sec…did he also bring in Rick Monday?
Anyway, Coletti was better than Claire. Funny that he came from the Giants–and later the Giants hired Farhan.
I think Uribe was one of Colletti’s good moves–while Justin Turner was really under the radar. As Turner tells it, fellow CSUF Titan Tim Wallach urged the Dodgers to sign him after the Mets stupidly failed to offer the UT guy a new contract. For Mets fans, JT is the one who got away.

Duke Not Snider

So Honeywell was non-tendered…
Sad for him, but not at all surprised. He did a good job and earned a ring–but he’s just one of those soft-tossing Yarbrough types who are easy to replace…. which is why he replaced Yarbrough.
Meanwhile, the Braves non-tendered Griffin Canning (acquired from the Angels for Soler) and the Halos non-tendered Patrick Sandoval, whois recovering from TJ surgery.
If Canning can’t get a big league contract, I could see the Dodgers taking him on as a project. Maybe he can learn a new pitch and move to the pen. Sandoval may be out for the season–but he’s a real talent and the Dodgers seem to like guys who’ve already had TJ.

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