The Dodgers seem to love to give up their middle relievers to the Braves. I can think of a couple off the top of my head in recent seasons that have been shipped to Atlanta. Guys like Paco Rodriguez, Chris Withrow and even Jim Johnson are among a few of the arms that the Dodgers flipped to or let walk to Atlanta when they weren’t cutting the cheese.
#Dodgers trade P Josh Ravin to Braves for cash. They DFA'd Ravin a couple hours ago.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) November 21, 2017
#Dodgers P Grant Dayton claimed by Braves. Dodgers DFA P Josh Ravin, add P Trevor Oaks and P Dennis Santana to 40-man roster.
— Bill Shaikin (@BillShaikin) November 21, 2017
Now we learn that two more arms, Grant Dayton and Josh Ravin have both been sent to Atlanta. Ravin has been traded for cash (after being designated for assignment), while Dayton was acquired off of waivers. There is a bigger connection here since this is the first trade for former Dodger executive now current Atlanta GM Alex Anthopoulos since he took over the position.
Both relievers struggled during the 2017 season while dealing with injuries that severely curtailed their playing time. For Dayton he was an important cog in the Dodger’s bullpen in 2016 but eventually succumbed to Tommy John surgery after feeling something in his elbow while rehabbing in the minor leagues.
The fall from grace for Dayton is especially shocking considering how talented and promising he was. Dayton appeared in 25 games for the Dodgers in 2016 and posted a 2.05 ERA with 39 strikeouts against just 6 walks in 26.1 frames. Dayton allowed just 4.8 hits per nine and struck out 13.3 per nine innings. Dayton would also toss 1.2 scoreless innings in the 2016 NLCS against the Cubs. He pitched in 3 games during the series.
This year Dayton would struggle. He posted a 4.94 ERA in 29 appearances. In 23.2 innings pitched he saw his strikeout per nine rate drop from 13.3 to 7.6 and his walk rate rise from 2.1 in 2016, to 4.6 per nine in 2017.
As for Josh Ravin, he’s had a rollercoaster career filled with ups and downs. Those highlights included being suspended for 80 games for violating MLB drug policy. He came down with strep throat during spring training last year, and then broke his forearm in a car accident.
The right hander originally signed as a free agent with the Dodgers back in 2013. He made his MLB debut in 2015, pitching in nine games and posting a 6.75 ERA. He appeared in 10 games in 2016 and then appeared in 14 games in 2017. This season he struck out 19 and walked 9 across 16.2 innings pitched while posting a 6.48 ERA. He appeared in 33 games for the Dodgers with a 5.05 ERA and struck out 11.1 batters per nine innings.
It’s a shame to see more Dodger arms being sent to the Braves, and it’s a shame to see both hurlers being jettisoned between the minors and the big club, but such is life for a big league middle reliever. The Dodgers added two young pitchers (Trevor Oaks, Dennis Santana) to the 40-man roster to replace the recently departed relievers.
I really liked Dayton, he will be missed, and Ravin has some nasty stuff…
Manfred socks it to the Braves. Former GM banned permanently from baseball for subjugating the MLB’s foreign players signing rules. Braves lose 13 prospects and 50% of their signing ability and can only sign players for 10,000 dollars. One of the players made a free agent is one of their best prospects, Kevin Maitan, an infielder from Venezuela. More suspensions and fines coming.
Wow that is a lot of signees made free agents!
Joe Morgan wrote a letter to HOF voters pleading with them to ignore the PED users. Only 1 1/2 hours left for MLBPA to reach an agreement on the posting of Ohtani. Will Venable leaves Cubs front office to move into the 1st base coaching job.
It looks like Joe Morgan’s letter may have had an impact on the sportswriters. We shall see.
I hope not.
You cannot, in good conscience, compare a Barry Bonds to a Willie Mays….etc., etc.
Morgan has always been against those convicted and those accused of using PEDS, so has Hank Aaron. Ohtani to be posted…….agreement reached with MLBPA.
Bonds was pretty good before he started taking PEDs. But I’d make him wait.
Ohtani or Otani? I’ve seen it spelled both ways. So let the games begin. I hope he doesn’t choose a Texas team. NY, Seattle or LA.
Just read a rumor – Stanton and Gordon to SF for Panik, Beede and Shaw. Stanton might be ok with SF. Nice city. Not like LA though.
Yeah, Braves hammered.
Package
Not the sports writers I witnessed, on TV.
And Morgan loses some of his credibility, because he wants Rose to be in the Hall of Fame.
It is spelled Ohtani on the back of his jersey in Japan. That was part of the offer I read about but it is strictly a rumor.
Badger
I wrote both versions of the spelling, but once I saw someone else right a different spelling, I changed to the OH version, but I have seen people spell his name both ways.
What is funny on TV everything time they show him pitching, he is striking out Puig.
Let the Giants pick up Stanton. I always wondered whether he could hit as many HRs at Dodger Stadium. We can pick him up after Puig becomes a FA, if Stanton is still mashing in SF.
If the Giants get him there is no way they will trade him to LA. I think he has an opt out after 2020, but I doubt he uses it with the massive contract he has………
Yes, agreed Michael, but stranger things have happened and Stanton’s contract will hamstring the Giants. I am just saying that even if Stanton signs with the Giants it’s very unlikely he plays out his contract with the Giants.
Maybe, but there is no way he is walking away from that kind of money in 2 years because there is nobody dumb enough to sign him to another massive contract. And he would not be signing with the Giants, he is under contract for 10 more years 295 million dollars. Depending on how much of his contract Miami is willing to eat, there is also no way those 3 players are enough to pry both Gordon and Stanton away. Also why would you want a guy who is 3 years older than Puig? And who has a history of injury?
The Marlins aren’t in a position to make a lot of demands on return. There are only a few teams that would be willing to take an anchor of that size on to their boat. All we’ve heard are rumors, and that includes the rumors of which cities Stanton will reject. The Marlins backloaded that contract with intent to win now but it didn’t work out. The tragedy of losing Fernandez doomed any chance they had to win in that window. Now, they are forced into a salary dump. Good luck with that. Who is going to take on over $200mm for an over 30 injury prone slugger AND give up top prospects? Stanton’s options might be limited. It might come down to St Louis or Boston or you stay in Miami and lose badly until your opt out year. This situation could get very weird as time marches on. I think my offer, 2 proven ML starters with Miami paying the last year of the ridonkulous contract THEY dreamed up is more than fair. I think the rumor of what SF offered is fair too. Miami wants to rebuild? Suffer fish. It’s of your own making.
YF
That isn’t a bad idea, since he has that opt out in two years.
We would get to see what he does in the next two years, and see if he can stay on the field and have another big couple years.
What is bad the Marlin’s are shopping him, after the best season he has ever had, at the top of his value, and he has not been consistent is the problem.
That former owner didn’t help Stanton by back loading that contract, so much.
My scenario is, Stanton goes to SF and Stanton shows he can hit in SF, but after two more years when it is obvious that SF needs to completely rebuild, we pick up the rest of his contract AND get some low level prospects or international slot money.
Pretty good article about the Dodgers depth at catcher in the minors on yardbarker. Of course Smith and Ruiz are the top 2 guys. Most scouts think that Ruiz, who is 19, could catch in the majors right now. He is supposed to be a defensive whiz. Smith rates with a contact bat and a cannon arm. They have a couple more at the A level who are a little older, but have battled injury problems. This brings up the possible movement of Grandal this winter. He is eligible for arbitration, and then free agency at the end of the year. His strikeout’s went up and he had his highest total ever of passed balls. Time to move him is now. I personally think he takes his bad at bats out on the field with him. He seems to lose concentration sometimes. Since I think his value as a pitch framer is way over rated, he needs to move on.
Agreed Michael. We need to trade Grandal and go with the kids. And we should should our surplus at catcher to help land an impact player of two. Lots of teams need catchers.
Maybe the Marlins already know that Stanton won’t ok a trade, to the Giants.
The Dodgers have a good hand here. Stanton has already said publicly (on Jimmy Kimmel) he grew up a Dodger fan “so if that’s where they want to go…..”
Obviously he would ok the move to LA. If that’s it, then he’s stuck with the Marlins and they’re stuck with him.
The Marlins are in a box. Like I said earlier, they front loaded the contract so they could build around him and Jose Fernandez to win now. It didn’t work. Now they’d be lucky just to find a team to take on the $290mm left on that deal. You want prospects? Ha! Lighten that load and we may consider it.
The Marlins and the Dodgers could work together to make this happen. Will they? Why do I doubt it?
Because FBZ is very very vanilla. They depend too much on sabermetrics and very little on excitement. They could easily afford Otani and Stanton and Kershaw reupping but they just can’t or won’t pull the trigger. That has always been their MO.
I know the Giants owe a lot more future money, then the Dodgers do.
I would like to see the Dodgers go after Gerritt Cole of the Pirates. They guy has serious stuff and is a grinder. I think they will more likely be looking at trades than free agents. They have signed a couple of minor league free agents already, Banuelos and an outfielder from the Mets I have never heard of. Whether or not they pursue Stanton or Ohtani is a matter of conjecture. Friedman and Zaidi have never pursued a high priced free agent from another team since they have been in power and I doubt they do it now. Ohtani makes a lot of sense, but I think the Yankees have the inside track on the guy because of the fact that when he is not pitching, he can DH in the AL. He would not have that luxury as a Dodger and position wise, the Dodgers are pretty well set most everywhere.
Cole would be great, but I am not sure how we would get him, and I am not even sure whether the Pirates are thinking of themselves as rebuilding or not. Joc and Grandal certainly will not move the needle for Cole.
This is his last arbitration eligible year. So he can be a free agent at the end of the year. Pittsburgh has some needs and they might bundle him with say McCutcheon even though they have exercised Cutch’s option. We have an overload of outfielders, lots of lower level talent, and even some fringe guys who cannot be optioned like Font and Segedin. I think a multiplayer trade could be possible, and the Bucs might even take a 1 year flyer on someone like McCarthy or Kazmir. Never can tell. I get the feeling though that FBZ likes to trade with teams that they have dealt with a lot. They did get Watson from Pittsburgh last season, so the familiarity is there. Friedman likes trading with the Rays, so Archer could be an option too or Orodozzi. Although I think that Archer would take better prospects. I read a story the other day where they were guessing at who the award winners were going to be in 2018. Two that stood out were they think Calhoun will be the AL ROY and Dave Roberts will win the Manager of the Year award……
It’s a good idea but it’s not the FAZ model. Look at what they’ve done and then predict. What they’ve done is McCarthy, Kazmir, Anderson, Hill, Maeda and Wood. There were about fortyleven Beachy’s and Latos’ thrown in there but the blueprint is clear. They scour the wires for mending or rebounding arms, they don’t trade prospects for top line pitchers about to cash in. Cole will make only $7.5mm in ’18 so the Pirates have no reason to move him. It would cost a lot to get him. McCutchen in truth is one of the most cost effective players in all of baseball. He’s put up 40 WAR for $50 million. He only costs $14.5mm next year, a bargain, so if the Pirates were to move that (projects at 3+ WAR for ’18) it’s going to cost more than FAZ would be willing to pay. I’d love to see him here, but we don’t really need a CFer. The Pirates might move him in a deadline deal if he comes out fast in the first half. It’s a contract year so I suspect he will be ready.
That is an astute analysis of the current FO regime. But the Bucco’s are thinking about moving him and have been contacted by a couple of teams. Whether or not this Dodger FO would even think about it, well I doubt it too. My point is, they need another QUALITY starter, not some retread off the frippen junk heap. A guy who can give you 200 innings. This piecemeal crap has got to stop at some point. Lots of media types are talking Kershaw, Hill, Wood, Maeda and Ryu as the rotation. Well, Ryu will be 2 years removed from his surgery, so with a stamina buildup he could be better than last year. But expecting everyone to get through the year healthy, especially Kersh who has broke down 2 straight seasons with back problems, is a little bit too much wishful thinking in my book. Hill will be 38, I see DL time on his horizon. Buehler has skills, but did not show that much when he came up. Urias is a question mark, I trust neither McBrittle nor Quagmire. I just do not see the Dodger rotation having seasons comparable to last year. Maeda is arguably their healthiest pitcher.
Man you know I agree with that take but we’re talking about Friedman here. He’s looking for what he got out of Hill – 2 years, 246 IP, 5 WAR for $18.6mm. His pay goes up to $16.6 then $18.6 as it is backloaded (of course) so they may look to move him and replace him with another front loaded contract. Trying to think like FAZ ain’t easy for a guy like him. So, we look at their tendencies and go from there. I already listed my guesses, none of whom are 200 inning pitchers. FAZ wants 125 inning starters, 5 of them + Kershaw, and a beefed up bullpen.
Michael
You know I think we need another top starter too, especially for the post season.
But Cole didn’t pitch more innings in the last two years, then Kershaw did, so I don’t know he will be any more reliable, then the starters we have, except McCarthy.
Also Cole’s era was over four and his era was probably that high, because he gave up 31 HRs last year.
But I agree with you, we need a top pitcher, not just another average arm, for our rotation.
I agree Badger. But do you trust Kershaw to be healthy all year? I think he has peaked as a pitcher. He has the drive to be better, but not sure his body holds up to the abuse. Pitchers today are not geared for the long outings as we both know. How many, and this I would love to know, 6 inning plus outings did our guys throw last year? The Dodgers had 2 complete games. Kershaw threw one, and the other had to be Hill’s 10th inning loss to the Bucs. That was the first time since 2010 that Kersh did not have more than 1 complete game. Thing of the past, I know. No team in the NL had more than 3. And only the Cardinals, Giants and Nats did that. Of course the reason this is all possible is the 10 day DL. Your pitcher gets gassed, you put him on the 10 day with some mystery ailment and call up a fresh arm. The team has already morphed a little with the free agents and Dayton and Ravin gone. And outside of Buehler, there are no real top flight prospects at AAA. Stewart and Stripling, and I would include Oaks in this are all in their mid 20’s now, so they are no longer prospects. The best kids are at AA and lower. One name at AAA is probably going to make a push to be in the BP and that is Joe Broussard. He was flat nasty last year and from the reports throws some gas. They will probably give Banuelos a real shot at being one of the lefty’s out of the pen. Like you said when you read about the signing, he fits the profile this FO loves. But sooner or later, and I think sooner, the fan base is going to tire of the patching of the tire instead of buying a new one. Oh, by the way, have a wonderful Thanksgiving my friend. MJ I know his ERA was high, but it would be lower in Dodger Stadium. Pittsburgh’s stadium is pretty much a launching pad……He is a gutty pitcher.
Fangraphs projects Kershaw to start 32 games and pitch over 200 innings. I’ll take the under on both.
I still believe we will be looking to get 5 inning starts from 10+ well rested starters. How they do that? The same way they’ve done it the last 3 years. If you google the Dodgers projected starting rotation, up pops 12 names, 13 if you add Oaks. That’s without any moves. We got lots of ponies, only one horse and he’s been lame a few weeks the last two years.
Thanks for the well wishes. We just powered down a veggie feast the wife put together. Game on the background, took a long hike in the red rocks earlier – life is good today brother.