Winter Meetings Day 2: All about Tony?

Yesterday saw Stephen Strasburg come off the board at the Winter Meetings, but so far today there hasn’t been all that much movement. However, that doesn’t mean the rumor mill for the Dodgers has been quiet at least.

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The name on everybody’s mind is still Gerrit Cole, who the Dodgers are always linked to but don’t seem to be considered all that seriously in terms of eventual destinations. Complicating things further is the emergence of supposed mystery teams.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like location will be a factor, or at least that’s what Scott Boras is saying.

At least the saga will probably wrap up soon.

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The seemingly more realistic signing for Dodger fans to pin their hopes on is Anthony Rendon, as the Dodgers continue to appear serious bidders. News that the Nationals are supposedly pivoting to Josh Donaldson adds to the likelihood that there’s one less team to compete with.

Unfortunately, in addition to the Rangers, it appears the Angels will be competitors.

The Angels also made a trade that could be them clearing salary for a Cole signing, but failing that it could also be used for a Rendon signing as well.

As for what the price range on Rendon will be, it seems like seven years and $210 million is the cost to get in the door.

If the Dodgers miss out on all of the elite free agents, it’s gonna be hard to stomach this off-season. Even if a trade goes down later, that feels like a bit of a waste of chips because the alternative was the ownership just opening up the wallet.

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Speaking of alternatives, Donaldson and Hyun-Jin Ryu seem like strong candidates as backup plans for the Dodgers, but competition is growing for them as well, with Ryu now drawing interest from the Twins.

Andrew Friedman has at least said the Dodgers have interest in retaining Ryu.

There are worse backup plans than them, but it’s far easier to see the downside to long-term deals with those two.

Kevin Gausman, who the Dodgers had interest in, recently went to the rival Giants.

Hopefully the Dodgers are simply thinking bigger than that.

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In more general news, Friedman acknowledged that the pen is an area of need, and also said that the club has targeted only about 12 players this year.

Well … better land a few of them then, huh?

About Chad Moriyama

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"A highly rational Internet troll." - Los Angeles Times