Of course, there is still the question of if the Dodgers would be inclined to pay whatever it costs. Just since a franchise is able to signal someone does not always mean that it makes the most sense, from either a fiscal standpoint or roster structure.
Even the Dodgers, as stated earlier, have more money than God. In accordance with Spotrac, their Opening Day payrolls in the past few seasons are outrageous.
2018 – $199.5 million (3rd in baseball)
2017 – $259.1 million (1st)
2016 – $268.7 million (1st)
2015 – $301.7 million (1st)
2014 – $246.3 million (1st)
2013 – $239.8 million (1st)
Those numbers are only plain absurd. In 2015, the Dodgers spent over two times as much on payroll than most but five teams. Exterior of a flukey”low” spending season this past year, they have not only lead the league for five straight seasons, however, have run away with this year in and year out. Spending over $300 million in a year is rampant.
So, obviously, the Dodgers can throw money at any problem (or player). They are probably itching to get back on top of the heap after not even cracking $200 million in 2018. However, does it make sense from a team-building view?
None of the group’s pending free agents on Spotrac are outfielders, so there’s no obvious gap to fill. Among the advantages of the Dodgers is that their positional flexibility, which adds to their depth but makes it more challenging to evaluate their offseason outlook. Cody Bellinger started 50 games in the outfield at 2018, and appeared in 81, but while his versatility is a nice bonus, he is finally an athletic first baseman, and he surely wouldn’t get in the way of Harper playing that reason.
Nevertheless, if the Dodgers keep Brian Dozier at moment, then Max Muncy would need to play with first, which pushes Bellinger to the outfield. Additionally, Chris Taylor can play second, shortstop, third, and the outfield. You are able to see where the headache comes in.
Still, for the purposes of this exercise, we’ll suppose Bellinger is off the table for outfield playing time, but keep in mind that Taylor could find his way out there occasionally.
Yasiel Puig, Joc Pederson, Kik?? Hernandez, and Matt Kemp are the remaining outfielders. Puig, Pederson and Hernandez are in their mediation years, and almost certainly will be kept around at reasonable deals. It’s difficult to assess the three of them relative to each other. Each hit 20-25 home runs, and every hit between .248 and .267. Pederson has fought to live up to his immense talents, and the exact same could be said for Puig. Hernandez is another Dodger who performs throughout the diamond.
Then you have Kemp, who would have been easy to rule out inputting 2018 but then proceeded to have one of the best comeback seasons in baseball. He struck .290 and forced his initial All-Star game since 2012, and he’s owed a ton of cash next season.
None of that includes Alex Verdugo, the Dodgers’ best potential and among the top 25 prospects in all of baseball. He should have been an everyday Major League outfielder in 2018, and there is no way Los Angeles can continue to keep him in the minors next year. He needs to play daily, and surely will get this opportunity.
In the end, the Dodgers have a lot of bodies to play the outfield already. That said, Puig and Kemp will no longer be under contract after next season, and outside of Verdugo there aren’t any straightforward future standouts from the Dodgers outfield. The fit for Harper, position-wise, is rather weak in comparison with the other contenders.
At the end of the day, however, none of their existing guys are always better than Harper, also when the Dodgers are eager to deal with a crowded outfield for a single season, things shore up well in 2020 and beyond. A future outfield with Verdugo and Harper are pretty appealing to any team, especially considering how relatively cheap Verdugo will probably be until he hits free agency.
Könyvek vétele, eladása.