[Sundance]

Extensions

1B Jose Abreu - 3 years, $72,000,000
RP Emilio Pagan - 3 year, $15,000,000

Transactions

To Atlanta Braves - Minor league RHP Dauris Valdez
To San Diego Padres - RHP Nivaldo Rodriguez

The driving force behind this trade was that Valdez was just outside of the players we wanted to include on our 40-man roster. He’s good enough that I was afraid of losing him in the Rule 5 draft, so I took the preemptive step of trading him and getting some value back. He’s a 6’8 power pitcher who hits 100 mph with ease. There should be plenty of demand for an arm like that.

Rodriguez doesn’t have the ceiling that Valdez has, but he is a more developed prospect in my opinion. He has a three-quarters delivery and throws in the low 90s, but his off-speed pitches are much more developed. He also has some big league experience, having pitched with the Braves last season. Over 40.2 innings of work he had a 3.98 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and 40 K.

To Minnesota Twins - Minor league RHP Nick Burdi
To San Diego Padres - RHP Archie Bradley

Burdi is another player who was just outside of our 40-man roster. He has explosive stuff that leaves you fantasizing about what could be. Unfortunately, he just hasn’t put together all the pieces yet.

Bradley is a veteran arm that should help strengthen our pen. He has overwhelming stuff that can overpower hitters. But every once in a while his control lets him down and he’ll get tagged.

To New York Mets - Minor league RHP Jordan Humphreys
To San Diego Padres - CF Jake Mangum

One of the things that ultimately came back to bite us last season was our lack of positional player depth. I wanted to address that this offseason by adding to our bench. We give up a very competent, but ultimately average, pitcher and get a solid outfield option to add to our roster. Mangum has a great approach at the plate and should be able to hit for average at the big league level. He is also a huge threat on the base paths and should be able to come off of our bench and act as a sparkplug when we need something special. He played just 14 games for the Mets last year, but had some decent success in his small sample size - .339/.422/.464 with 3 doubles, 2 triples, and 3 stolen bases.

To Chicago Cubs - LHP Drew Pomeranz, minor league RHP Nick Thwaits
To San Diego Padres - Minor league 1B Aaron Sabato

Despite having a league leading 40 saves last season, the fact of the matter is that at the end of the year, when we needed him most, we couldn’t count on Pomeranz. We needed to offload him before he suffered a complete collapse as a pitcher.

Sabato can play either of the corners, and while not a blue chip prospect, should be good enough to play in the high minors, with occasional appearances at the big league level. He’s a pretty stereotypical power hitter. He’s going to strike out a ton, he’s not going to hit for average, but when he connects, he’s going to send balls to the moon. He’ll probably be stuck in the minors for most of his career with us, but if we can maintain a solid lineup, having a player that’s only going to hit .240, but can wallop 30-40 home runs might be plausible.

To Boston Red Sox - Minor league RHP Kyle Finnegan, minor league LF Grant Little, minor league RHP Miguel Diaz, minor league LHP Ramon Perez
To San Diego Padres - Minor league 1B Blaze Jordan

When I was taking a look at our organization this season, one of the things I wanted to do was to move along a few players that were bubble players, but who were never going to break into our team. All four of these guys fall into that category. The pair of pitchers were definitely the best looking prospects, but when taking a look at our current staff and pen, I just don’t see them ever breaking into the staff. Now that I say that, we’ll probably be disseminated by injuries again and will miss having those arms around.

Jordan is a solid prospect at first base and might be our long-term answer at the position. That being said, he’s still got a long way to go in his development. If he meets his potential, he should hit around .260 with 30-40 home runs and a lot of strikeouts every year. I’m very excited about his future, but it’s probably going to be a while before we see him in action.

To Portland Sycamores - RHP Taylor Williams, RHP Mychal Givens
To San Diego Padres - C Grayson Greiner

With the acquisition of some additional arms for our pen this offseason, a few guys had to be moved. This trade, and the ones that follow, all happened in April, right at the end of spring training. It was time to finalize our roster and some moves needed to be made. Some players were out of options, others refused to be demoted. So trades were necessary. Williams and Givens were both guys that could easily be on our roster, but when I made the final decision one who I wanted on our staff, they ended up as surplus to requirements.

Greiner is more organizational depth than anything. There were a couple of minor league catchers that I opted not to re-sign, so we needed some bodies down there. He’s a good presence in the clubhouse and should be serviceable as a backup if we ever need to call him up.

To Los Angeles Angels - LHP Zack Britton, LHP Tim Mayza, RHP Nivaldo Rodriguez, minor league RHP Aidan Maldonado, minor league LHP Erik Sabrowski
To San Diego Padres - Minor league RHP Camilo Doval, minor league SS Livan Soto

Wait, didn’t we just add Britton and Rodriguez to our roster this offseason? Yes, yes we did. But as I said above, this is now 4 months after we originally acquired them. As it came time to put our final roster together, there just weren’t enough spots to go around.

Doval is an exciting prospect. He could probably pitch at the big league level if we really needed him to, but we would definitely prefer him to spend some time in the minor and continue his development. He’s a two pitch reliever that should feature at the back end of our pen at some point. He has a live arm that struggles with control at times. But his stuff has such high potential and his pitches move so much that it’s worth the risk to stick him back there in high leverage situations. Definitely a high risk, high reward type of arm. Soto, on the other hand, is far from an exciting player. He’ll be a solid minor league player that could offer some potential as a backup infielder at some point. Nothing more, nothing less.

Additions

RP Nick Sandlin - Rule 5 Draft, Los Angeles Angels

I didn't go into this draft with any intention of picking anyone up, but when I saw Sandlin, I couldn’t help myself. He’s near his full potential, but there’s still a little bit of room for him to grow. He should have some of the nastiest stuff in the league with above average control. The one thing that is going to hold him back is that he is prone to the longball, but hey, who isn’t on our staff? The Angels had him playing at A+ level last season which seems crazy to me. He’s definitely someone that should have been in AAA at least, and picking him up feels like a steal.

CF Jesus Sanchez - Free agent, minor league contract

He was originally picked up by the Rays as an international free agent in 2014, and has spent the last couple of seasons bouncing back and forth between AAA and the pros. There’s not a huge amount of holes in his game. He does everything competently, while not really excelling at any one thing at this point in his career. However, it looks like there’s still some room for him to grow. With the proper coaching, he should develop his contact ability a bit further, which I think will really push him to the next level. Right now, he’s a bubble guy, but if he makes that last step in his development, he should find his way onto our roster.

RP Chad Green - Free agent, 2 years, $11,000,000

I feel like lady luck might have smiled on us with this opportunity. Green is coming off of his worst year as a professional since his rookie year in 2016. It looks like this caused the Braves to be reluctant to re-sign him. But their loss is our gain. Green has some of the best stuff in the game, with a nasty fastball in the high 90s, a plus splitter, and one of the best sliders around. I think he’s going to be a huge addition to the back end of our bullpen. If he bounces back from last year’s dip in form, then he should be one of the best relievers in baseball.

RP Zack Britton - Free agent, 2 years, $8,500,000


Another arm to bolster our ranks. Despite being on the back end of his career, Britton has proven to be a very reliable arm coming out of the bullpen. The biggest draw for me was the fact that he’s very good at limiting homeruns. He might not have the best stuff, but he can keep the ball in the park, which is something our staff desperately needs.

Departures

SP Mike Clevinger - Free agent, Mets

Even though letting Clevinger go wasn’t a popular choice among our fanbase, we had to let Clevinger walk. He simply wanted too much money. When I look at our current starting rotation, I see someone like Michel Baez, who we called up last season and is probably going to give us similar production for way less money. And I see a prospect like Ryan Weathers, who I think is ready for the big show and has a much more exciting future. And in the back of my mind, there’s also the thought that if neither of these youngsters works out, we always have Snell returning to the lineup midway through the season. Ultimately, I think a lot of teams held similar opinions about him, as he signed just a 1 year contract with the Mets for $4,320,000 in March.

SP Dinelson Lamet - Free agent, Cardinals

This one was a much harder decision. One of the goals I was given this offseason was to cut our payroll. Unfortunately, that means making some tough decisions, and Lamet was the first one I had to sacrifice. Would he have strengthened our staff? Absolutely, without a question. We would be stronger with him. But given this goal from the owner, could I justify spending the $18-$22 million it would take to re-sign him? Well, maybe if it would guarantee a championship. But sadly, with the Dodgers still in our way, keeping Lamet doesn’t guarantee anything. As much as I didn’t want to, I simply had to let him leave. He signed with the Cardinals in December for $97,000,000 over 5 years.

Owner Goals

2023 - Play close to .500 ball
2023 - Cut payroll from $160,856,000 to $150,000,000
2025 - Bring more of our drafted players into the team
2026 - Build a championship team

Outlook

With three straight second place finishes and three straight playoff appearances, we enter the 2023 season once again looking at October. There’s pressure from the owner to retool our lineup. To make some cuts and perhaps make another push in a year or two. But with a team that’s predicted to win close to 100 games once again, can we really afford that? At some point, the Dodgers dynasty is going to fall. When that happens, we need to be ready. We can’t afford to take a year off at this point. The front office went all in on winning now, and that’s just what we’re going to try to do. Payroll cuts be damned.