When Dodger fans woke up on the morning of October 29, 2018 following the painful four-games-to-one World Series loss to the Boston Red Sox, there was a hue and cry among them to burn Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman at the stake. But as the days (slowly) passed and Dodger fans (slowly) came to grips with the fact that the actual best team in baseball had rightfully beaten their beloved Dodgers, another hue and cry began – for the aforementioned Andrew Friedman to go out and get another top-tier starting pitcher.

Although the pickings were slim for top-tier free agent starting pitchers, one of the first names mentioned among Dodger – and baseball – fans was that of 31-year-old free agent left-hander Dallas Keuchel, who had just come off an impressive season with his now former team, the Houston Astros, who had beaten the Dodgers in the 2017 World Series.

When the 2018 off-season was in full swing (pun intended) with then free agents Manny Machado and even more so Bryce Harper stealing the lion’s share of the headlines, Keuchel’s name was being heard far less often among Dodger – and baseball – fans as being a ‘must-have’ guy.

…and then pitchers and catchers reported for spring training.

It took only a matter of days for Dodger fans to realize that their team’s pitching staff – both starting and relieving – wasn’t just good, it was very good … even with the likelihood that Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw will begin the 2019 season on the Injured List.

Once spring training games actually began, it became abundantly clear that guys named Walker Buehler, Rich Hill, Hyun-Jin Ryu, Kenta Maeda, and the surprise of the spring, left-hander Julio Urias, were all having a very good spring and in position to lock down spots on the Dodgers Opening Day starting rotation; with guys named Ross Stripling, Caleb Ferguson, Dennis Santana and young phenom Dustin May close behind. And this doesn’t even include Kershaw, who hopes to be 100 percent healthy shortly after Opening Day. As a result, the name Dallas Keuchel had suddenly became Dallas Who?

Please understand that in no way is this meant to be a knock on, or take anything away from Keuchel, who is a two-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove winner, World Series champion, and the 2015 American League Cy Young Award winner. But he and his agent – baseball’s Antichrist Scott Boras – have simply priced themselves out of the market; especially for the Dodgers who, quite frankly, no longer need him.

On Tuesday morning, MLB Trade Rumors reported that Keuchel (and Boras) were having difficulty finding any team willing to give them the money and, more importantly, the number of years they were seeking, presumably something in the 5-year / $122 million(ish) range. That’s a bit long – and much – for a 31-year-old arm that has seven years and 1,189.1 innings pitched on it and will be 36 years old when the contract is up. That being said, the MLBTR piece suggests that there might be several teams interested in the Tulsa, Oklahoma native and Astros seventh-round draft pick in 2009 out of the University of Arkansas if he/they were willing to accept a shorter term contract with presumably a higher average annual value (AAV) … including the Astros.

But as it stands right now and by every indication, the Dodgers are no longer interested in Keuchel, and understandably so.

Sorry Dallas.

…and Scott

Play Ball!

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