Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Dodgers Trade Zach Lee To Mariners For Infielder Chris Taylor

Chris Taylor

The Dodgers have announced that they have traded right handed pitcher Zach Lee to the Mariners for utility infielder Chris Taylor. Lee a former first round draft pick in 2010 never quite panned out for the Dodgers. The hurler was a former football standout before he chose baseball and signed with the Dodgers.

Lee made only one MLB start last season for the Dodgers and tossed just 4.2 major league innings. He had made 13 starts for Oklahoma City and was 7-5 with a 4.89 ERA. Overall he was 52-46 with a 3.98 ERA in 135 career minor league starts. He struck out 7.0 per nine and walked 2.4 per nine during his six seasons in the minor leagues.

Taylor is a 25-year old right handed hitter that was originally drafted by the Mariners in the fifth round of the 2012 amateur draft. Taylor is from Virginia and has played in parts of three seasons with Seattle. He batted .287 (39 for 136) with a 347 OBP in 151 plate appearances and played in 47 games. He played in 37 games in 2015 and batted just .170 (16 for 94) with just 4 extra-base hits. He was hit by a pitch during spring training of that year and spent most of the season at triple-A Tacoma. This season Taylor hit .311 (76 for 244) with 3 home runs and 29 RBIs in 277 plate appearances. The Mariners recently called him up to the majors and he’s had just 3 plate appearances and played in two games this season. He can play 3 out of 4 infield positions but primarily second base and shortstop.

Lee had severely plummeted on the Dodger’s depth chart and it was doubtful he was ever going to get a fair chance. He’s still only 25-years old and the Mariners have decided to give him a shot. Taylor gives the Dodgers some more infield depth and I would expect to see him placed on the Oklahoma City roster.

Scott Andes

Scott Andes: Longtime writer and Dodger fanatic

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Scott Andes
Scott Andes: Longtime writer and Dodger fanatic
https://ladodgerreport.com

58 thoughts on “Dodgers Trade Zach Lee To Mariners For Infielder Chris Taylor

  1. I hope this move isn’t bitterly criticized, ….but it will be.

    Sure, it’d be great to have Zobrist, and looking back, in retrospect, which is really easy, the Dodgers could have signed him. But the Dodgers don’t and they didn’t. So move on. I was hoping Kike would have filled that role, but he hasn’t.

    It’s a good move. It’s not Earth shattering. It does address the lack of a true back up SS…and puts Kike on notice..and perhaps offers a marginal improvement if Kike continues to not deliver.

    1. Is he a good shortstop? His stats don’t necessarily suggest that but I don’t know him. Doesn’t look like he hits much, and we already have so many infielders now. I’m not going to criticize this move. It’s Lee. Obviously he wasn’t going to get a shot here, so, who cares.

      1. He’s a backup SS – OK, but not great.

        He’s a utility guy who is a junkyard dog.

        That means I like him.

    2. Nothing here to criticize – 2 nothings exchanged for one another.

      I don’t expect that the Braintrust will make a move to substantively improve the team for 2016.

      1. I don’t either. The moves for ’16 were made. We have seen Thompson, Maeda and Kazmir, Urias is here and Montas is coming, Dan mentioned Puig might be moved. It’s possible. The guy is playing himself right off the team for the simple reason he cannot figure out high and tight low and away, which has been used to get the weaker hitters out for 100 years. He could be traded, with somebody like Calhoun and the flavor of the month pitching prospect for….. whatever…. or he could be used for a few more good prospects to stack the system for down the road maneuvering. A Blockbuster would be surprising to me. But, I like surprises. Don’t f*@% it up FAZ.

  2. I sure hope that F&Z did not stay up all night working of this trade.

    But there must be a blockbuster of a trade down the road and he will be needed one way or another.

      1. What fans call “blockbuster” and what FAZ call a blockbuster may be two entirely different things.

        So far bringing in Trayce Thomson is looking to be a very solid move and along with Montas may end up being a true net positive.

        I think there WILL be a significant trade (involving Puig?) but blockbuster? Time will tell.

      2. On Fridays per game Freidman was talking about having the resources to make a trade for a premier player.

        Trading for this guy further allows to trade one of the 2B in some type of package.

        So yes a trade is brewing. We would hope it happens sooner (ASB) rather than later, trade deadline.

        And we wait.

      1. Whatever joy Cleveland is experiencing now will be short lived. Things might get weird again there very soon.

  3. I watch the Mariners when I do not watch the Dodgers. This is exchanging one AAA for another. Nothing to get excited about. This is an opportunity for Lee to make it with another team.

    There is no block buster trade coming. FAZ has not parted with the farm kids and they are not going to start now. Secondly, they have pitchers ready to come back soon. I could see Puig moved and that is all.

    1. Idahoal
      I think what you have said, makes a lot of sense.

      I really don’t see them, making a big move at the trade deadline either.

      They make a move, but I think it will be a move, to make the current team better.

      We all might not think, that the move, really made the team better, but they will do something.

      I just hope that the Pirates, can take a couple of games, from the Giants, when we are playing the Nationals!

      I wonder who is going to be ready to pitch first, and join the big team.

      Are they going to bring up De Leon, and Montas, before the Allstar break, or will they just wait for Ryu and MCCarthy, after the break.

      And I am concerned with Fien in the pen right now.

      He has given up three HRs, in the last week, and that is why the Twins, let him go.

      We don’t need another bullpen pitcher, that gives up, to many HRs.

  4. Please, please, please — I have to believe, just believe there will be something to get excited about . . . and the idea of a blockbuster trade is always a possibility. Maybe I just need some quiet time today, and continue to hope in my heart of hearts that they will . . .

  5. Idahoal, we lived in Tacoma from 1983-1986 and watched a lot of Mariners games. You are right — they would get excited about long fly balls and Alving Davis.

    Best memory from then — we were stationed at McChord AFB, and I created McChord AFB Night in the Kingdom — and got some 12,000 folks to drive up and see a game as the sponsored night. The Mariners showed an Air Force video clip on the big screen. Had the wing commander throw out the first pitch, I was with him and met Billy Martin under the little walk way from behind home plate in the stands. I was out on the field with the Commander for the pitch. Then my family and I sat in the owner’s box for the entire game.

    Ah memories.

    1. Cool story Roger.

      What kind of blockbuster makes this current team a believable contender? It’s true that anything can happen once you get to the playoffs. Guys can suddenly go off, or they can forget how to play (see Steph Curry). This current team could indeed make the post season. If as a Wild Card, who pitches that play in game, and how does the rotation set up after that? If we start on East Coast without Kershaw for Game 1 or Game 2 ……….

      Too early to make those plans. I’m not yet convinced we won’t be sellers. Mark is talking moving AGon again – and now I’m listening. The organization has about a month to figure this thing out. If we can continue to hit, we can compete. Will the old guys hold up through the increasing heat and grueling schedule? Will the young guys get enough at bats to really learn how to consistently hit Major League pitching? Stay tuned.

      In the next few days and weeks I’m on a Puig watch. If we can’t help this man to figure it out we need to trade him to somebody who can. Arizona can hit. Send him to the desert for Archie Bradley.

      1. The Red Sox put that Cuban that they bought about three years ago on waivers yesterday. They owe him 50 million dollars still, so every team has busts.

      2. Badger
        Is it like this? Puig has to come back and hit, or he is gone?

        And the problem I have with this front office making a big trade, is that there trade history, with the Dodgers, isn’t that great.

        And they have never been involved with a big market team, like Theo has.

        They have never acted like they know how to run a big market team yet. Theo has been successful drafting really good players. Friedman has picked up good players, at the trade deadline, from teams in the pennant race. But how well does this front office know how to run a big market team?

      3. Puig must hit or he is gone? Yeah, I think so. FAZ is entering FAZe 1.5 of the rebuild, continue to cut dead wood, and even though he is cheap, and will like easily put up the WAR to earn his money, he probably looks punk to them. I don’t know that, but it feels right.

        I don’t think market size plays into the base philosophy of these guys. They do what they do, they just do it with a larger budget. How will it work out? Who knows.

      4. Did you see Pedro Martinez’ advice for the Dodgers? –Trade off all the old men and play the prospects.

  6. Well the Padres took there series with the Nationals this week end, so we have a chance to do that too.

    We don’t have to face Max Sherzer in this series, so that it a plus too.

    The big bat in the National’s line up right now, is Murphy. They have two players, hitting 300, Murphy, and there catcher.

    Everyone else, on there team, is hitting about 250, or below.

    I don’t think that Harper is on a streak right now, so I hope he starts one, after they get out of town.

    To night’s game, should be better then yesterday’s game, because the heat will not be as bad, at night.

    I think Turner was tired, in yesterday’s game, so I expect him, to be hitting again, tonight.

    And the players, should start getting use to the heat, after playing in the heat, this last week end.

    It is suppose to be 100 at game time tonight.

    I hope all of you guys had a great Father’s Day, and a great week end!

  7. The Braintrust won’t make a big move to trade contributing big leaguers (eg. Adrian Gonzalez) for the reasons that Mark has previously given – they won’t “tank” because the fans would revolt. We fans are being boiled like a frog – placed in cold water which is being boiled so slowly that we won’t be able to tell until it is too late.

    They aren’t trying to win/won’t try to win in 2016 or 2017. They won’t trade a contributing piece this year but won’t make a big move to win this year either. They will do what they have done for the past 2 seasons – nibble around the margins, adding spare parts and calling it “depth”, and wait for a crop of prospects to ripen, bringing it up slowly for the next 2 or 3 seasons.

    We will see what we have in 2017 or 2018/19. By then, Ethier and Gonzalez (and maybe Kershaw) will be gone. The only players who will be left under contract will be Maeda and Kazmir. The roster will be made up of the kids promoted from the minors and whatever additional spare parts that the Braintrust decides to add as “depth”. Within a few years, as some of the kids become expensive, they will be traded for additional prospects or tendered qualifying offers and allowed to leave, creating the kind of roster churn that fans of the A’s, Rays, Pads and other “small market” teams have learned to hate.

    The Dodgers will contend for a year or two every decade before recycling the roster.

    Get used to it.

    But the team will make $$$. They have the big media contracts and the fans will keep coming out to the Stadium, like they did during the McCourt years. In that sense, the Dodgers will be successful.

    1. Sad but absolutely correct. Never go to a game or pay for SNLA. Tell everyone you know to boycott the Dodgers. Stick pins in your FAZ Dolls. Become a Giant fan, that’s as close as you’ll ever get to a World Series.

      1. They won the division for three straight years for the first time in franchise history, and now they’re just 38-33 and in second place.

        Oh, the humanity!!

    2. Yeah, you know I agree with rick’s take. I’ve been saying basically the same thing since last July and nothing they’ve done since then signals anything different will suddenly be employed. We nibble while others gobble. As will no doubt be pointed out, gobbling doesn’t always work. It didn’t work for Toronto last year and it hasn’t looked good so far for Arizona. So far so good for the gnats gobble, but a lot of time yet for that to go wrong. If we plug along keeping pace, anything could happen.

    3. The addition of the second wild card keeps .500 teams from pulling the plug until it’s too late. It’s another of Bud’s contributions to the decline of our game.

    4. I see it a different way. It’s those boom/bust cycles that the Dodgers are trying to avoid. Take the Blue Jays. They had their window of opportunity to win it all, and aggressively went after pieces and expensive rentals at the trade deadline. Now that window is closing. Bautista is getting older and closer to the end of his contract. They don’t have a new crop of players coming up in the pipeline. They’ll tank for a few years before they maybe get lucky and become competitive again. This is the way it is for most teams.

      There are exceptions: the Cardinals, the Spurs…..maybe the Cubs. The Cardinals have a knack for having players come up through the system and successfully contribute when others decline or are injured. They’re able to field playoff teams consistently year in and year out and avoid those booms and bust cycles. That’s what Kasten did with the Braves, and that’s the reason behind the mandate to build the farm system. You see it as an attempt to build sustained mediocrity on the cheap. I see it as more about building a dynasty.

      The problem with your As and Rays comparison is that frugality was a necessity. I don’t think we should assume that Dodgers are going to be as cheap as possible just for the sake of being cheap. The value of the Dodgers franchise, with its history and its fan base and the expectations for winning is more than just a P&L statement. Being a playoff contender, winning a World Series, having a star that is the face of the franchise – all of these things build the brand and build value to the franchise.

      If they let Kershaw walk and the Dodgers stick to being barely a playoff team, then you’ll win the argument. I don’t think that will happen. It was this current ownership group, after all, that signed him to his current contract. There are important legacy reasons that add to the perceived long term value of the team for keeping a sure bet Hall of Famer as the face of the franchise for his entire career. The names Koufax and Drysdale still add value to the brand. Adding to Kershaw to the Rushmore of Dodger greats is part of the equation.

      1. Not so much an argument as an opinion. If you are right and I am wrong that’s OK by me. I will point out that even the Cardinals have not been able to build championships solely by relying on their prospects. And the current division alignment is a very short period in the history of the franchise.

      2. I agree that the way to a dynasty is through the farm. The thing is that you can’t supply all of a team’s needs through the farm.

        Every great Dodgers team relied in part on players obtained from outside the system. The Garvey/Lopes/Russell/Cey teams had Andy Messersmith, Dusty Baker, Reggie Smith, Tommy John, Burt Hooton, Jerry Reuss, Mike Marshall, et al. The Boys of Summer had Preacher Roe, Billy Cos, Andy Pafko. The last Dodgers champion team in 1988 had MVP Kirk Gibson for heaven’s sake.

        The Dodgers have had a window to compete for a championship close. They have lost Zach Greinke to a team in the Division. They have replaced him with the likes of Scott Kazmir while the rival Giants have signed Johnny Cueto and are competing for another title (grumble grumble).

        There is no doubt that the front office has been given a mandate to reduce an unrealistically high major league payroll and it is $85 MM lower this year than last. I expect it to continue to go down. No Ethier or Crawford on the payroll after 2017; no Gonzalez (and maybe no Kershaw) after 2018. Will the Dodgers spend what they need to spend to fill in the 25 man roster to enable the team to compete for a title? I doubt it this year or next – in 2018? 2019?

        This front office hasn’t done it yet. Not with the Dodgers; not in their former iterations with other teams.

        A couple of other points:
        1 – While the front office did sign Kershaw to his current contract, it wasn’t this front office and he wasn’t 30 when he signed it;
        2 – Some prospects make it – most don’t. The Dodgers haven’t been great in developing talent (especially position players) in recent years.

        Here is Baseball America’s Top 10 Dodgers prospects for 2016:
        1 Corey Seager 1 SS
        2 Julio Urias 4 P
        3 Jose De Leon 23 P
        4 Cody Bellinger 54 1B
        5 Kenta Maeda 50 P
        6 Grant Holmes 72
        7 Alex Verdugo 100 OF
        8 Austin Barnes C
        9 Frankie Montas P
        10 Jharel Cotton

        Let’s look at the list for just 2 years ago (2014)
        1 Joc Pederson 34 OF
        2 Corey Seager 37
        3 Julio Urias 51
        4 Zach Lee 95 P
        5 Chris Anderson P
        6 Chris Withrow P
        7 Alex Guerrero IF
        8 Chris Reed P
        9 Onelki Garcia P
        10 Ross Stripling P

        How about a few years ago? Here is 2009
        1 Andrew Lambo
        2 James McDonald
        3 Ethan Martin P
        4 Josh Lindblom P
        5 Scott Elbert P
        6 Ivan DeJesus 2B R-R 1987-05-01
        7 Dee Gordon SS
        8 Josh Bell 3B
        9 Chris Withrow P
        10 Nathan Eovaldi P

        How about 2002?

        1 Ricardo Rodriguez P
        2 Chin-Feng Chen -LF
        3 Joel Guzman 1B
        4 Ben Diggins P
        5 Joe Thurston 2B
        6 Hong-chih Kuo P
        7 Willy Aybar IF
        8 Jose Rojas P
        9 Joel Hanrahan P
        10 Jorge Nunez SS

        The point is that you can’t have all of your eggs in one basket. Draft, sign and develop players, sure, but you have to do more than that. Prospects are just that – not sure things.

    1. Wondering
      I think we have a good chance of bringing Turner back next year, especially, if he continues to hit.

      His slow start just might work in our favor.

      Turner might agree to a team friendly, kind of contract.

      Turner might do this, because of his slow start, and because this is his home town.

      And we know that Faz always,
      likes a good bargain.

  8. Guggenheim and FAZ share the same dream: A team where all 25 players are making League Minimum, a bit over $500,000. A team payroll under $7MM.

    1. What gets me is that I think this comment is serious.

      A relatively minor and insignificant trade for a utility infielder has somehow spurred a rhetorical race for the cynical bottom.

      1. I know you don’t believe that patch. I understand the hyperbole and so do you.

        What these FAZ guys want are more team controlled young guys putting up WAR numbers that allow us to carry some star quality players people will actually pay to go see. We will still have the Manny’s and the AGon’s and the Kershaw’s while guys like Thompson, Seager, Puig (when he was actually doing it) put up win numbers while making less. It’s about cost effective wins. It’s frustrating to watch the transition, but it is what it is.

      2. People started posting about possible “blockbuster” trades. Some of us don’t believe that there will be one for reasons previously stated. I agree that the trade of Lee for Taylor is insignificant – it is trading nothing for nothing.

    2. Why else would they hire guys from Tampa and Oakland to run the Dodgers? And isn’t that every owner’s dream?

  9. Wow, talk about some ridic opinions above mine.

    If some of you actually believe the nonsense you just wrote, then yes, maybe you should go become Giant fans. If you’re just drinking and venting, well then why the hell didn’t you invite me??????? I want in!

    Also, on a more fun note, I’ll be there tonight for Kersh/Strasburg. Anyone going want to meet for a beverage?

    1. Bobby
      I hope you have a really good time tonight.

      And I hope Kershaw, and the Dodgers win this game.

      Please have a drink for me, and raise your glass, for Kershaw tonight!

  10. No drinking but I guess you could call it venting… I’m glad that Scott, unlike some blog owners I could name, doesn’t take himself too seriously. Hyperbole is apparently allowed. If not, kick me out…

        1. Yeah I concur on Scott’s blog. Fun site, we’re allowed to vent, and we are not fed the company line; “smile and waive boys, smile and waive!”

      1. It’s a muti billion dollar entertainment industry which fights for your entertainment dollar 24/7. What occurs on the field is only a portion of it. So we are opining on what we see and hear. And you can bet FAZ is looking for anyway possible to charge $$$ for the right to opine about their product.

        1. I don’t know they have to fight for the $$ as the tv money is already there and the season tickets total is already 3 million I believe. What could happen, and I think has already happened more than once, is people just don’t show up.

    1. A little over the top, but I concur with the spirit of the piece. Drysdale pitched 100 innings at 19, but there were no pitch counts. If you really want to read about a pitching prodigy look up Bob Feller if you don’t already know about him. By cutting his innings short last year, it seems the team put their #1 pitching prospect a year behind in his development. Calling him up this year started the clock on free agency. Not Phi Beta Kappa.

      And doesn’t Forbes have proofreaders who know the difference between “bare” and “bear?”

  11. These come-from-behind wins are nice and surprising. But there are too many of them against weak opponents. Still, I’ll take them. Especially since the giants won’t lose. giants play slumping Pirates this week. Puig sat out the RC loss on Sunday. I guess he’s on his way back. Goodie. I agree with other posts that we have too many utility players, none of whom are good enough to play regularly. Another waste of $ by our Spenders. We have about 10 trade chips for other mediocre players. Based on our suits’ comments about an impact trade, it might be that finally they are willing to give up some of our fantastic prospects. Maybe they have seen enough of Urias (and so have others) that he is expendable. That’s what it will take to get someone good. When you think of it, if Urias is on an innings limit, he will be of little use for 2-3 more years. In that time, with the right players in return, we might actually be good.

    1. –The Dodgers are 13-18 against teams with a winning record and 25-15 against teams with a losing record.

  12. dodger rick, that is why they are where they are . . . way back. And until they get better players, they will stay there or even fall farther back.

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