November 14th, 2019 at 11:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka Being considerably older than 35 years of age I can absolutely positively assure you that 35 is not old … unless you are a major league baseball player, that is (although I most certainly wouldn’t tell that to 46-year-old Bartolo Colon).
So why on earth, then, would the Dodgers even be considering replacing soon-to-be (on November 23) 35-year-old third baseman Justin Turner with soon-to-be (on December 8) 34-year-old Atlanta Braves third baseman Josh Donaldson, as was reported by MLB Trade Rumors on Wednesday afternoon?
Granted, Donaldson had a much better year defensively in 2019 than did Turner, considerably, in fact. However, and to be quite frank, the last thing the Dodgers need is another .259 hitter, as compared to Turner’s .290 batting average in 2019; especially one who is almost as old as Turner.
The obvious, or at least most obvious answer is that the Dodgers could put Donaldson’s three-time All-Star and former Major League Player of the Year glove at third base and move JT over to first base. That being said, the trickle-down effect is that Max Muncy would then most likely move to second base and (ugh) Gavin Lux and possibly even Matt Beaty sent back down to Triple-A Oklahoma City, where neither has anything left to prove. Doing so, however, would create room on the Dodgers (new) 26-man active roster for the 34-year-old Donaldson instead of the 35-year-old Turner. It would also undoubtedly cost the Dodgers a pretty penny.
But wait… there’s more! – and you’re going to love this one. Late Wednesday night, oft-incorrect USA TODAY baseball columnist Bob Nightengale tweeted this out:
There is no disputing that acquiring 29-year-old 2019 World Series hero Anthony Rendon would be a huge upgrade to what will already be an exceptionally good 2020 Dodgers team. The obvious problem is that it would (will) take a mountain of gold to get him to walk away from the 2019 World Series champion Washington Nationals for the MLB/MLBPA agreed-upon $17.8 million qualifying offer by Thursday night’s 5 p.m. ET deadline. Add to this the fact that the Dodgers would have to outbid several other teams very interested in the Houston, TX native and Nationals first-round draft pick in 2011 out of Rice University – and for substantially more than that $17.8 million QA amount. That being said, it has been widely reported over the past week that the Dodgers are currently well under the collective bargaining threshold, so there’s that.
(Photo credit – David J. Phillip
At risk of redundancy, acquiring either Josh Donaldson or even the bigger prize of Anthony Rendon would mean that someone has to go – presumably someone with options and presumably back down to Triple-A OKC.
Then again, having a right-handed hitter with a career slash line of .290/.369/.490/.859 (and a slash line of .319/.412/.598/1.010 in 2019) at the Hot Corner certainly wouldn’t hurt, would it?
Stay tuned…
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Ron, all this is mute if in fact Rendon decides to accept that QO and thus return to FA after 2020
Paul, is it possible that you mean “. . .all this is moot. . .”?
Getting the 26 year old Rendon sounds a lot better than the 34 year old Donaldson. I’d be surprise to see that happen, though.
Rendon is 29, not 26 — will be 30 next June. Some players are “old” at 31 (AJ Pollock for example) while others continue to be stars in their mid 30’s. When healthy, Donaldson was the premier third baseman in MLB. For three years, $75M he could be a bargain. Would not necessarily result in Lux and Beaty going back to OKC. Trade Pederson for pitching help, or a couple of prospects, and move Muncy to LF, Lux at second base, Beaty as a backup at 1b, 3b, and OF
Donaldson would be a good alternative to Rendon should Rendon accept the Nat’s QO. WSS But I am wondering if the Braves are seriously thinking of extending Donaldson after it’s known he fit well there, had a good year and maybe he wants to return there, IDK.
Fixed. Thanks.
Don’t forget Dodgers would forfeit their second-highest pick and and have their international signing bonus pool reduced by $500K upon signing either of these guys.
Probably not a big deal if Rendon wants to sign with Dodgers on a high AAV, low number of years contract, but seems like it makes Donaldson less likely. But, I thought the same thing last year on Pollock.
Braves just signed Will Smith, 3yrs, $13M/yr. Braves only have to give up their third highest pick, but still makes Smith more expensive than just the dollars. The QO probably took the Dodgers out of the Smith sweepstakes.
Cheap price to pay for Rendon, or Donaldson. Perhaps Dodgers can trade for Shane Greene from Braves?
Shane Greene? Maybe, not sure what the Braves plans are for him.
Does seem like Friedman will be building the bullpen same way he always has, cycling through a lot of guys and seeing what sticks. I liked Will Smith, but not with the QO attached to him. Maybe the bullpen value this year is bounce back candidates, like Brandon Morrow. The bounce back candidate I’d like to see Dodgers checkout is Blake Treinen.
Let’s sign two of Cole, Wheeler or Ryu and also sign an incentive laden contract with Rich Hill (for the bullpen). That would give us a lot of potential starters, with 2 + aces and lots of bullpen options.
Bottom line: We fans are shooting in the dark. We don’t really know the health of the players, don’t get a chance to scout them, etc. I do feel confident the 2020 Dodgers will be a good team.
Because it’s so easy to see whose available via free agency we often miss all the trade possibilities, which are endless. But we do know how this FO works and we can be pretty sure that they would rather upgrade via trade than they free agency. Is there a young team controlled or under contract 3rd baseman on some team that needs a pitcher of outfielder? Or a proven pitcher w a couple years left on his contract that would provide stability until we know what May, Urias and Gonsolin can provide?
It may not happen but IMHO it’s 100% as their first option.
You’re right!
This is the way the Friedman front office operates. Great scouting, analytics (spin rates. launch angles, etc.) and player development are areas that allow the Dodgers to find CHEAP young controllable players who haven’t been getting it done, but have “potential”, Chris Taylor for example.
I’d only add, that the Dodgers equally value and seek out CHEAP unwanted free-agents, Max Muncy for example.
We’ve got a good team going into 2020 with lots of options. Find a couple diamonds in the rough and we’re set, even if it looks like the Dodgers are having a boring off-season.