Well it’s happening folks. The Dodgers are trading Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp, and Alex Wood to the Reds for pitcher Homer Bailey and a couple of Prospects.
Matt Kemp, Yasiel Puig and Alex Wood have been traded to the Cincinnati Reds, league sources tell Yahoo Sports. Homer Bailey is one of the players going back to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The return for the Dodgers clearly will be more.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 21, 2018
This clears about 40 (actually around 17-20) million dollars in payroll for the Dodgers. Honestly this is a terrible trade if it doesn’t end up with Bryce Harper in Los Angeles. Otherwise I am truly done with the Andrew Friedman regime. We’ll have more on this later when I’m not at work. What a stupid trade. (Unless the Dodgers sign Harper)
Stupid move. A 32 yr old rubber arm. 6 ERA?
Friedman is “Fried” in the brain
Dodgers are getting Bailey and 2 prospects and some slot money, they are also sending Kyle Farmer to the Reds in the same deal. So Farmer and his buddy Wood stay together. Dodgers just lost the biggest part of their RH power. So, I think this obviously means they are going to try and sign Harper. But they still do not want to go 10 years. It had better also mean they intend to deal for Realmuto, sign Pollock, and maybe trade for Kluber. But it does open up a spot for Verdugo unless he is included in a later deal.
If they get Kluber and Harper, cool, you’ve improved the team significantly.
If this is to sign someone like AJ Pollock or DJL, then I hope the Dodgers get new ownership
The Reds also got Farmer which sounds even worse. I predict the Dodgers will get more pitching and outfield help but none will be named Realmuto, Harper, or Kluber. They also do not need Pollack.
Does Freidman secretly work for the Reds?
In just two trades, here are the players we have traded them (with last years MLB WAR):
Jose Peraza (2.3WAR)
Scott Schebler (1.1WAR)
NR Brandon Dixon (-0.6WAR)
Matt Kemp (1.1WAR)
Yasiel Puig (2.7WAR)
Alex Wood (1.0WAR)
Kyle Farmer (0.2WAR)
Here are the players we got back:
Frankie Montas (0.3WAR)
Micah Johnson (-1.1 WAR)
Trayce Thompson (-1.0WAR)
Homer Bailey (-1.5WAR)
Jeter Downs (N/A)
Josiah Gray (N/A)
+7.8 WAR going out. -3.3WAR coming back. (WAR numbers from baseballreference.com)
Yuck is right, Scott.
LOL.
I think a more accurate exclamation would be a swapping of the “Y” in Yuck to an “F”
There had better be something else going on behind the scenes in order for this shitty deal to make any sense at all.
Or the FO could have just not offered Ryu a QO and therefore could have kept Wood and Puig and still traded Kemp for Bailey AND would still be in this same financial position.
The FO screwed up with Ryu and Puig and Wood had to go.
Interesting, Chilli. Of course they wouldn’t have Ryu in that scenario. Also….
One thing is that the Dodgers want to move OFs, thus moving Kemp and Puig for very little MLB level talent is considered a win. It opens ‘doors’ for players on the 40 and not.
Second, Bill Plunkett of the OC Register said that Puig, Kemp and Wood were some of the more vocal critics of the platooning system.
Actually I think the most vocal critics of the platooning system sit in Dodgers Stadium and post on Ladodgerreport.
What an FN mess
I think you might be half right on that.
Gentlemen, this is a salary dump, pure and simple. They did it to clear space. Homer Bailey will never don a Dodger uniform. He is going to be released as soon as the trade is official. What it means is that they are serious about adding Harper because otherwise as a trade it makes no sense what so ever. The 2 prospects they received could be used in a Realmuto trade. They are still in on Kluber from everything I have read. But, if Ol Andy does not sign Harper after doing this, Dodger fans are going to be screaming for his head.
[Vassegh] Andrew Friedman confirms that Bailey waived his no trade rights in this deal so that he would be given his release.
Looks like you are correct, sir.
Bailey probably being DFA’d was mentioned when the trade took place.
To me, it makes the trade even worse. Trade 3 players and get NO major league help/talent. Not even bullpen help.
The Dodgers didn’t have a big role laid out for Kyle Farmer in 2019. Of the catcher position, Andrew Friedman said, “I still expect us to add someone from the outside.”
Andrew Friedman laughed when asked to characterize Yasiel Puig’s Dodgers tenure.
“That,” he said, “is a very deep question.”
“We really like Joe’s ability to give us one-plus innings,” Andrew Friedman said of new reliever Joe Kelly. “He will be used in creative ways by Doc and Honey to take down more than three outs depending on the game situation.”
Andrew Friedman said the Dodgers liked Josiah Gray “a lot” going into the 2017 draft. That’s usually a good sign that they want to keep him. Plenty of teams liked Downs in the draft too, and Friedman sounded like he’d be extremely content to keep him.
Friedman noted the surplus the Dodgers had in OF/SP and how today’s deal helped gain flexibility and strengthen the system. “We still feel like we have a really good team but feel like we want to continue to add to it before we get to Spring Training.”
Wow, you guys act like the Dodgers have sucked since Friedman took over. If Darvish did not crap his pants in Game 7 against the Stros, is all good? You really can’t complain about a team winning 2 pennants in a row, but I guess you can. Let them finish the off-season before chopping off heads. In addition to winning 5 division titles in a row, our farm systems is also in decent shape. I appreciate the FO approach to sustainability over time. Do I HATE the fact we did not win either WS the last two years? (esp the first, it was soooo close), Of course. But the real point of sports is to entertain. The Dodgers have done that quite well since this ownership group took over. That being said, I also really hope they get Harper/Kluber!
Welcome to the site. Before bagging on us, maybe you want to take a look at our posts for the last 3 years. Most posters have been more astute than Friedman. And in fact we agree with the FO from time to time.
I think you misspelled delusional when you wrote astute.
Good one. Either way works in that sentence.
Cheeers.
It’s obvious both Wood and Puig were traded a year too late. Once again, no vision.
Bailey was still owed $23M in 2019, and $20M in 2020 w/$5M buyout. So Do Dogers eat that too, if he is DFA’d? If so, $28M-$43M down the drain?
Looks like making room for Harper (dump 2 OF’s, and salary dump), but also lost Farmer (possible Dodger back-up catcher and situational PH’r)
How long will those prospects waste away in Farm, waiting for a chance?
…The more I don’t like this deal.
I understand the shedding of untradable players (Kemp), but Kemp can still hit well. Can Homer Bailey still pitch well?
I think a little more credit is due to Friedman, in general, and we don’t know what the whole story is yet. Moves like this usually end up as a precursor to something much bigger. As Michael said, this was a salary dump and a weeding out process of players not really in the FO’s bigger picture. I will withhold judgement till the end game is revealed.
Pedro Moura has a lot of insight into the trade on The Athletic.
A lot is trading surplus.
A lot is about Kemp’s 2nd half.
Harper still unlikely because the team like limited term.
Guys, I don’t think Harper is coming, or Kluber. They’re just cutting expenses and we will be rolling with Kershaw, Buehler and Urias. Just my opinion.
And I would rather have Puig plus more better pitchers than to tie us up with a massive Harper contract.
My strategy is, more better pitchers, much less platooning (so we can carry more better pitchers). Let the position players play everyday during the regular season to prepare them for less platooning in the offseason (again, so we can carry more better pitchers). Eventually the baseball FOs will come around to this amazingly innovative yet unexpectedly antiquated and old fashioned unexpected strategery.