Maybe the 31-year old right hander is a fit for the Dodger’s bullpen? He certainly checks off all the Andrew Friedman boxes. He’s coming off a subpar injury plagued 2019 season. Check. Last season he posted a 4.91 ERA and allowed 9 home runs in 58.2 frames.
He’s cheap. Blake Treinen a right handed reliever earned just 6.4 million dollars in 2019 and is projected to command under 10 million per season. That’s a check. No pun intended the cheaper the better for Friedman. He’s from the Oakland A’s (or if he’s from the Tampa Bay Rays). Any player that used to play for either of those clubs becomes instantly valuable to Friedman who does not have the imagination, or wherewithal to consider players from other clubs. That is a triple check.
In all fairness and all jokes aside, Treinen could be a huge diamond in the rough. In 2018 he had one of the best seasons for a reliever posting a 1.82 ERA while punching out 100 batters against just 21 walks while recording 38 saves. He was one of the best until inconsistency and injuries derailed him last season.
Of course we have said something similar about the majority of Friedman’s pitching acquisitions. Joe Kelly turns out to be Joe Kelly. They all end up being busts, or they get hurt. With the exception of Rich Hill, and Kenta Maeda, Friedman simply can’t be trusted anymore to acquire good pitching. No more former Tampa or Oakland pitchers. No more injury riddled guys. No more journeymen. It’s time for someone else to make these decisions.
This would be another typical “dumpster dive” acquisition by Friedman. Always looking to the MLB scrap pile for a player that will make him look like a genius if Treinen resurrects his career. If he fails, it did not cost much as a $20M elite free agent.
We have seen too many of these “dumpster dive” acquisitions backfire. $1-2M wasted, but just pocket change to The Dodgers, so “no harm no foul” with the Dodger Brass.
Well relax gang. AF made his big free agent signing. LHP Casey Crosby signed to a minor league deal. Renfroe traded to the Rays with a prospect for Pham. Avila signs with the Twins, Kendrick back to the Nats, Winkler signs with the Cubs and Morrow and the Cubs discussing a minor league deal.
On another blog I posed the question of what are the percentages that Freidman and Dodgers leave San Diego’s Winter meetings empty handed? Michael, what % would you give it? My % is at least 95+ % that FO walks away next Thursday when these meetings are over with zero to show for it.
Tend to agree with you Paul,
Lots of dumpsters full of juicy bargains, around Winter Meeting time. AF is probably the only executive who, “if he shows up” to the Winter Meetings, he is nor wearing a Armani suit…. he got on a Dodger Blue Hazmat Suit, and Dodger Blue Goggles.
I would say 75%. He has rarely done any kind of business at the winter meetings except for the first year he was in charge. I think he will talk the talk, and end up saying the same thing he said last year. Nothing lined up that the team felt comfortable with. I expect no major trades, maybe a fringe signing since the agents of all the free agents will be roaming the halls. I think the biggest splashes will come from other teams. The only team they have been in any kind of talks with is the White Sox centering around Pederson. But what and who they would get back is not really known. And no one on the Sox could be considered a blockbuster or really a big difference maker. If he resigned Ryu, that would be big news. Hill has said he thinks there are a lot of obstacles in the way of his returning to LA. His 2 top choices are the Red Sox and Dodgers. But he wants to start. Not happening in LA.
This says alot from what Freidman told Bill Plunkett from the OCR:
“So they have the wherewithal to make a big move this winter – do they have the motivation?
Friedman accurately points out that the Dodgers could take their current roster, unaltered, into the 2020 season and “be a serious contender for a championship.” But the Dodgers have been serious contenders for years now without winning that elusive championship and that goal only seemed to get farther away with this fall’s first-round exit.
“I don’t feel like we need to shake things up just to shake things up,” Friedman said of the need for changes to put the Dodgers over the top. “I actually think this was as focused, committed and driven a group as I’ve been around. So I don’t feel like we need to shake up to change the complexion of our roster in terms of personality or talent.
“But we’re open to exploring different ways to increase those chances.”
And is why I believe no major moves will be done to improve this team. Dodgers won 106 games in 2019 playing in a relatively weak division but as we all saw were completely exposed in October, and honestly I am not even sure I can bare watching another October meltdown.
Well the moment of truth is now close. We will see if AF actually does something. Cole offered 7/245 by the Yankees. LA not touching that number, so unless the Angels up the ante, Cole is headed to the Bronx. My belief is that he makes no major free agent signings, at least none of the top 3. I am not even sure he would open the pocketbook for Donaldson. If he makes a move, I believe it will be via a trade. But will the player or players received be an upgrade? Doubtful
Michael, you are probably correct here, and all one has to do is read those quotes I posted from that article that Freidman made these comments on originally. Because of this I don’t believe he and Dodger management are phased one bit about having seen the team get bounced in the last 3 years from the PS ON THEIR HOME FIELD.. and Roberts? I just got done with lunch so I am not about to get an upset stomach over talking about his mis management records in October.
I wasn’t asked but, I think there is about a 2% chance AF does a damn thing of note at the meetings. He is a full on bag lady and only shops at the dumpster(my apologies for insulting bag ladies by associating AF with them). Andy = no championships
True Blue , well said. And one reason as ya pointed out here is why I will most likely tune in to some shows recorded on my HD DVR..
No news out of the meetings so far. I do not have MLB network so I cannot watch it live. Have to check baseball tonight on ESPN later to see if anything goes down. Report on MLB trade rumors says the Mad Bum wants a 9 figure deal. Good luck with that. There is also some chatter than AF is trying to move Pollock, Kike and Pederson. They have rebuffed all inquiries as to the availability of Lux. He does get points for that. Rendon not looking likely and the same can be said for Cole and Strasburg. I do not think they need either of those guys to get better. Resign Ryu, who loves LA and will be cheaper, trade for another starter, sign a decent bullpen arm. Someone who has closing experience.
Michael
I am with you. I would love to see Ryu resigned but I think that Freidman will do nothing , not even resign Ryu. He is convinced that the current roster is good enough to win a championship. At least that is what he is telling us. Do nothing is the norm for him.
One off of the board. Strasburg back to the Nats on a 7 year, 245 million dollar deal with a full no trade clause and no opt outs. Some of the money is deferred. First big move of the meetings.
Michael, I was just going to report that. so now we can imagine that Cole will top that when he signs, most likely with Yankees. Rendon would be ideal but we now can be assured that Cole is now out of the Dodger picture. An impact RHB is still a need however as well.
pitching pitching pitching are the only 3 things that AF should be even considering.
“An impact RHB is still a need”
Why?
Because an all LH hitting lineup won’t get the job done. Dodgers are thus an easier team to match up against. Look at the last several WS winners.. (Cubs, Astros, Red Sox and Nats) you might notice that they did not have such a one sided unbalanced lineup that the Dodgers have had AND even Freidman himself expressed his dis pleasure with the LH hitter friendly lineup in this past NLDS.. Against the better LHP that is around the league and on October rosters, Dodgers fall or have fallen short because of it.
I don’t think that was the reason. We set a record for home runs and led the league in scoring . We were 30-22 against LHP. The winning pitcher in Game 7 against Houston in ‘17 was right hander Charlie Morton.
I want guys who can hit. Muncy, Bellinger, Seager and Verdugo can hit left handers. Joc can’t. So platoon him.
That said, I would of course welcome any right handed thumper Friedman signs.