The Los Angeles Dodgers were one of the best teams in baseball last season while winning the National League West division and now heading into the offseason they could be making some big moves, as reports have the team listening to offers for Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier and Carl Crawford, but NOT Yasiel Puig.
According to Ken Rosenthal at Fox Sports, the team is looking to upgrade in a number of areas and they could be willing to use their outfielders to do so, but not for Puig, the star that helped turn the team around last season. The Dodgers were at a terrible point early on in the year and management almost decided to fire Don Mattingly because of it, but after a historic run in the summer, the team ran away with the division and now they could be positioning themselves for another big move a year after also pulling off the Boston Red Sox trade. Last season the team acquired Crawford as well as Josh Beckett and Adrian Gonzalez and now they could be looking for another big deal.
Kemp was injured for most of the season and Ethier was a big disappointment and now they could be looking to move both those players as well as Crawford. The team will not be looking to trade Puig the report says, likely because he looks like a superstar and why would they? Second base appears to be a priority and with names like Ian Kinsler, Brandon Phillips and Dan Uggla on the market, the team could be in line for a big upgrade. The Dodgers did not get much from the position last season and now they could be ready to move on, as Mark Ellis and his option were not picked up and he now will be a free agent. Juan Uribe is also a free agent among twelve players and the Dodgers also are allowing Chris Capuano to be a free agent.
Ellis was solid last season while hitting over .260 over the past two years and he was a solid fielder but did not do much with his bat. The veteran is on the older side of things and they have Alexander Guerrero and now they will decline the offer for Ellis' option at over $5 million and Capuano will be gone as well after he did not play in the NLCS and went 16-19 with a 3.91 ERA in two seasons with the team and he could get picked up elsewhere and his option was declines for $8 million.
The Dodgers ranked 17th in runs scored last season and in the top 10 in batting average and on base percentage and the team is now looking like one of the strongest in the NL. Having Mattingly return will be huge and it remains to be seen what type of deal the team can pull off this offseason and second base looks like a priority.
