December 29th, 2019 at 8:00 am 
by 0799291000348 * * *
“Sometimes the best trades are the ones you don’t make.” – Bill Veeck
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As true as it was when extremely colorful Hall of Fame former MLB owner Bill Veeck said it back in October of 1948, it is also applicable to making trades and signing MLB free agents to this very day. Perhaps Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman is hearing the ghost of Bill Veeck whispering in his ear as he navigates his way through the minefield that is the free-agent and trade markets of 2019, as he looks to improve the 2020 Dodgers roster.
To date, Friedman and the Dodgers have added only right-handed free-agent closer Blake Treinen to their roster after the Oakland A’s declined to tender him a contract for the 2020 season. That’s it. Right-handed starting pitcher Gerrit Cole is now a mega-millionaire after signing a ludicrous 9-year/$324 million contract with the New York Yankees and right-handed starting pitcher Stephen Strasburg re-signed with the Washington Nationals for a ‘home team discount’ of 7 years/$245 million. 2019 World Series hero third baseman Anthony Rendon turned up his nose at the ‘Hollywood lifestyle’ (whatever that means) when he signed a 7-year/$245 contract to play with the Angels of Anaheim; and injury-prone former Dodgers rockstar left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu recently elected to relocate to Toronto, Canada for the next four seasons for a cool $80 million.
On the trade front, it appears that other teams believe the Dodgers only have four prospects, in some combination, worthy of being acquired: middle infielder Gavin Lux; right-handed starting pitchers Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin; and catcher Keibert Ruiz. You can’t blame those teams for inquiring – nothing ventured, nothing gained. But neither can you blame Friedman for saying no, the Dodgers are not interested in trading their top prospects for a player who, at best, would be a one or two-year rental.
Dodgers fans would love to add an elite player to the 2020 roster like four-time Indians All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor or Red Sox four-time All-Star right fielder Mookie Betts, but only for a reasonable and responsible package of players in return.
The Dodgers not only have their core group of players returning from their remarkable 106-win 2019 season (sans Ryu and left-hander Rich Hill), but they will have Messrs. Lux, May and Gonsolin for a full season, each capable of winning the 2020 National League Rookie of the Year title. And previous top pitching prospect Julio Urias is ready to move into the starting rotation. Improve the bullpen and the current Dodgers roster – as is – is once again capable of winning 100+ games in 2020.
The Dodgers are operating from a position of extreme strength in talent and depth. As such, the only thing that can derail them from postseason play for the foreseeable future would be to make a really bad trade.
As long as Andrew Friedman continues to pay attention to Bill Veeck’s voice in his ear, the current Dodgers team – as is – is in great shape.
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Author’s Note: If you are unfamiliar with Bill Veeck’s storied and colorful career as a MLB owner and innovator, do yourself a favor and check out his Wikipedia page. As he often said to help people pronounce his name correctly: “It’s Veeck, like in wreck.”
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Great piece, Jesse. I couldn’t agree more!
Ditto
Absolutely Agree! What’s more valuable than a top prospect? An above average Major Leaguer, with 4/5 years of club control. How do you get such valuable players? You don’t make knee jerk reaction trades. Betts or Lindor or Clevinger would be great, but not if it takes 3/4 of their top farm hands. Look at the situation in Chicago, San Francisco, and Boston. Yes, they won championships, but built on homegrown talent and their windows started to slam shut when their supply of high upside kids stopped on account of knee jerk trades. It’s law of large numbers; more chances in playoffs means greater chance for world series, and more top prospects, better odds of developing above average major Leaguers. Jesse nails it when he says LA is in a position of strength. No need to bow to other teams demands!
Excellent examples (Chicago, SF, Boston)
Mookie Betts is the one guy who I think would make a demonstrable upgrade to the team. It’d be a tough pill to swallow, but if Ruiz, Gray and Joc Pederson would work for Boston I’d jump on it. Probably get another draft pick after a QO so the next draft could recoup for prospects.
I love Betts as a player, but for 1 season I cringe at giving up that combination of players, in particular Ruiz who I believe will have a terrific career as an offensive catcher with very good defensive skills. The Bosox may be holding out to include David Price in a Betts deal.
Great piece…I would add that losing Lux for Clevinger, however, would be a worthwhile consideration
I am not as sold on Clevinger as others. Good pitcher, but I think May will be just as good no later than 2021. A question I have; why would Cleveland trade a top of rotation pitcher, who will only make around $5M in 2020, and has three years of team control? Could it be that they are concerned about his back issues early last season? Or, his career losing record against teams with better than .500 records? Bottom line, I would not trade Lux even-up for Clevinger.
I’d like Dodgers to land Clevinger A LOT, but I’m with you Jessie, I don’t think I’d trade Lux for just him. However, Lux and minor pieces for Clevinger, Hand and Lindor would get me thinking.
Clevinger has been good the last three years. His best year was 2019,
IP: 126, ERA: 2.71, W/L: 13-4, WHIP: 1.06.
Instead, how about a free-agent that had
IP: 152, ERA: 2.72, W/L: 16-3, WHIP: 1.06 in 2017.
This guy is 3 weeks younger than Clevinger. And has been known to show-up BIG TIME in the World Series.
Who is this guy? Lefty Alex Wood. It’s been very quiet on the Alex Wood front, I gotta believe the Dodgers have been in close contact with Alex.
Wouldn’t it be something if Alex is our big starter signing and he rebounds into his 2017 form? I also wouldn’t mind (if the Dodgers are good with it) if we added a right handed masher named Yasiel Puig.
Options, lots of options.
I think bringing Wood back would be terrific (assuming good health) as long as he is willing to pitch wherever needed bullpen or starting. Low base, with incentives based on starts and innings pitched). Taijuan Walker on a minor league contract with spring training invite for a bullpen spot? Lux as the key piece for all 3 Indians would make Friedman blink. it has now been more than a week since Indians asked teams for their BAFO Lindor offers.
I would not mind taking a shot at Alex Wood but remember, and I heard on MLBN and others that Puig still is very inept at hitting against LHP. He is a RH bat, no doubt but some of the platooning we saw with Dodgers in 2018 was because Puig just could not touch LHP to save his life and he’s a RHB no less.
NO PUIG! Sorry for yelling.
The beauty of a potential Wood signing is that he would be cheap with possible big upside. Probably can be acquired on an incentive based contract. I agree he needs to be open to starting or relieving. The Dodger organization is short on lefty pitchers so if Wood is healthy seems like a no brainer.
Rehab pitchers, like Wood, Walker, Shelby Miller and Rich Hill are right up Friedman’s alley. Dodgers already still have good depth with starting pitching with a lot of upside. I can understand why they passed on a lot of high priced free-agent starters, but can see them acquiring one or two of these guys for insurance.
I’ve was always a Puig fan, the guy has the ability to carry a team. The potential is off the charts, but admittedly he’s a prima donna. He lost me when I read he wasn’t cooperating with analytic defensive positioning. Got to be a team player. However, like most things in life, “at the right price” I wouldn’t mind him coming back, if management and the players were OK with it. Like most Dodger fans, I wasn’t very excited about Matt Kemp coming back, but that worked out OK.
Good point about Puig’s reverse splits, but in 2019 he OPS’d .791 against lefties and .782 against righties. He also shows up in the post season.
I was all for Puig his first couple of seasons, thinking that he was going through a tough OJT learning Major League Baseball at the highest level played in the world. He reminded me of Bo Jackson in terms of strength and athletic ability. Then came the temper tantrums, the sullen demeanor on the bench, seemingly looking for any excuse (perhaps even feigning injuries) when he made mistakes in the field, at bat, and on the bases. I have no proof, but believe that the worst thing that ever happened for Puig was having Hanley Ramirez on the team in his first two seasons. Ramirez was so talented, but his attitude was so horrible. For me, I would not have Puig on the team if he would play for the major league minimum.
Nice job Jessie!
Bill Veeck was ahead of his time. His Wikipedia page is well worth reading. A true visionary. He probably had a big influence on Charlie Finley.
How about reinstating an electronic version of “Grandstand Manager’s Day”. We could find out (for real) just how good of managers fans really are. To listen to some fans, they are never wrong.
That is a terrific idea! Someone with the technical capability should take that idea and run with it!
I would not trade Lux or May in any trade. Next yr Betts is a free agent and we can sign him if we want and not lose a player. Dodgers were up by 2 runs in game 5 needing 6 outs.
Should have beaten the Nats the eventual champion.
Maybe we can trade for a solid starting pitcher without giving up May Lux Urias and Ruiz. Then go to spring training as is.
Agree with you. But for a reasonable package (one that does not include Lux, May, or Ruiz) then Betts would be a huge addition to the Dodgers.
Jesse, the feeling I get is that Boston may just hold on to Betts this year simply because they realize they cannot expect a real haul for guy that will go FA for sure after 2020. I would not mind Betts either, but not for guys named Lux, May. As far as Ruiz goes, IDK yet but with the depth Dodgers feel they have something could work but again, I think Betts stays with Boston, gets a QO for 2021, then goes to FA and Boston at least gets that draft pick compensation.
It seems that Boston is committed to getting under the CBT threshold for 2020. They are not going to trade Chris Sale, or Xander Bogaerts, so that leaves Price ($31M AAV), and Betts (~$28M). The best deal for Boston (IMO) is to package Price and Betts, and get a good return now. There is no doubt that Boston can get a better return than a compensatory draft pick in 2021 by trading Betts now, or certainly before the 2020 trade deadline. It may be wishful thinking on my part, but I think the Dodgers can acquire Betts for a reasonable package that does not include Lux, May, or Ruiz IF it also takes Price. Dodgers could take on all of Price’s contract if Boston would take both Maeda and Pollock as part of the trade package.