Scott Kazmir has revived his career over the last 3 years after seeing it almost end after his days with the Angels. The LHP has gone 32 – 29 record wise, but has dropped in ERA over the last 3 years from 4.04 in 2013 – 3.55 in 2014 – and 3.10 last year for both the A’s and Astros. Kazmir, who will turn 32 later this month, signed a 3 Year deal worth $48 MIL that he can opt out after next campaign. If that is the case, he will collect $16 MIL in 2016 for salary at hit the open market in a Free Agent class where he could really garner some big dollar offers.
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The Dodgers have finally entered the Free Agent Starting Pitchers frenzy this offseason In two moves over the last week they have inked Scott Kazmir to a 3 YRs/$48 MIL and NPBL stud Kenta Maeda to an 8 year pact – where terms were not disclosed until mid last week ($24 MIL is guaranteed – with incentives on performance that could bring that up to $10 MIL per year) .
These are decent deals to counter what the D’Backs did in picking up former Dodgers hurler Zack Greinke, and then trade for Shelby Miller, while the Giants inked Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija to help bolster both of their clubs.
An 8 year deal for a Japanese born pitcher is one hell of a risk for the Dodgers, but it also comes without giving up a player in forfeiture. It is a gamble worth taking if you are the Dodgers. Maeda will be 28 years old next season, and he at least has thrown over 1500+ Innings in the NPBL. over the last 8 years.
Before LA signed Maeda, the squad was looking at a depth chart of all 5 Left Handed Starting Pitchers.
The most troublesome part about the 5 of them are the health concerns on Hyun-jin Ryu and Brett Anderson/Scott Kazmir have also had significant stints with year long injuries over the past half dozen years.
Adding more guys to the Starting Staff will only help serve to be a nice safety net for a club that is vying for a World Series Championship.
The Dodgers may also see Brandon McCarthy come back midseason from Tommy John Surgery to add yet another Right Handed Pitcher to the mix.
You also have Julio Urias and newcomer prospect Frankie Montas that the organization picked up from the White Sox in the three player trade that involved Todd Frazier.
Mike Bolsinger also lugged 21 Game Starts in 2015 – featuring a respectable ERA of 3.62 despite having a WHIP of 1.362. He still may be a viable spot Starter for Dave Roberts in 2016.
Carlos Frias is listed in the Bullpen depth chart, but also saw 13 Game Starts for the franchise last year. This is beginning to look like the club will have enough Starters to make it through next campaign.
I say this knowing full well that the Dodgers goal is to not only make the playoffs – but also win in October.
Farhan Zaidi and Andrew Friedman have had several misfires in this winter so far with losing Greinke, blowing out the Hisashi Iwakuma deal – and dropping out of the Aroldis Chapman market once he was cited for domestic abuse allegations.
This is the first step the brass has taken to correct its path. While admirable to do this, they should still add 1 more proven Veteran to join Kershaw at the top.
Whether that is Yovani Gallardo or Ian Kennedy or someone else via trade, this should still be a top priority. In this case it would be a guy who could serve as the #2 man.
By agreeing on a deal to one more Starter it would also free up the club to stockpile the depth chart in order to make a bunch of midseason trades to upgrade the club.
Los Angeles will also be rumored in the Jose Fernandez direction. With Urias, Puig and a collection of other young prospects, they would have the wherewithal to complete a trade should Miami finally want to pull the trigger.
Either that, or even Sonny Gray might in play for the A’s if a package like that could be sent up the I- 5 Highway in California.
This should not be the end of improving this club going forward for the upcoming season. But it is nice they have thrown their hat in the ring, and spent some money.
The Dodgers paid a record Luxury Tax Penalty this year at 40% of dollars spent over $189 MIL. The total cap salary figure for the last campaign was over $314 MIL. This turned out to be about $43 MIL in fines. At a fourth year abuser in the next campaign, its is incumbent on the management to keep that total a lot less – with a 50% charge for every time they go over no until they can hover under again for one season. Having said that, this potential one year move for Kazmir (if he opts out) and Maeda costing way less than Zack Greinke’s $34.42 MIL AAV, this club may work this out so it they can be as good or better as the 2015 Dodgers rotation.
*** The views and opinions expressed in this report are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of mlbreports.com and their partners***
A Big thanks goes out to our chief writer Hunter Stokes for preparing today’s feature post.
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Tagged: andrew freidman, aroldis chapman, brandon mccarthy, Carlos Frias, chicago white sox, Dave Roberts, Farhan Zaidi, Frankie Montas, hisashi iwakuma, Hyun-Jin Ryu, ian kennedy, jeff samardzija, johnny cueto, jose fernandez, julio arias, Kenta Maeda, la dodgers, los angeles dodgers, Luxury Tax Threshold, Mike Bolsinger, nl west, NPBL, san francisco giants, scott kazmir, shelby miller, sonny gray, todd frazier, Tommy John Surgery, yasiel puig, yovani gallardo, zack greinke
