Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
As I try to get Dodgers Digest working correctly for everybody again, the Dodgers haven’t really done much anyway, for better or worse. However, as always they’re looking to improve around the margins and the slew of minor-league signings they’ve completed seems to do just that.
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By far the biggest name in the sea of deals is Jason Heyward. The former All-Star is coming off two brutal seasons with the Cubs, posting a .211/.280/.326/.606 line for a 66 OPS+, leading to his release despite having $22 million still on the books for Chicago. He’s about seven years removed from All-Star form, but has been solid if not unspectacular as recently as 2020. Of course, his outfield defense has always been a big part of his value and he’s won five Gold Gloves, but he rarely plays center and has seen his metrics in right field sink from elite to merely above average as he’s aged.
Still, he’s working with Dodgers hitting coaches in order to get the most out of himself.
Heyward said that during his initial Zoom meetings with the team, club brass identified his bat speed and natural athleticism as tools they liked; building blocks they believe could make Heyward a contributor at the major league level.
Their work together began this past week, as Heyward flew to Los Angeles to work out at Dodger Stadium alongside the club’s hitting coaches, Robert Van Scoyoc and Aaron Bates, and strength staff.
I mean, who knows? He’s still only 33, and his biggest problem has always been that he’s a worm killer, so if they can get him to lift a bit more often and he staves off further defensive decline, Heyward could very well be useful.
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The Dodgers are desperate for center field depth and they signed Bradley Zimmer to a minor-league deal to fill that role. In six MLB seasons, the 30-year-old has a .213/.298/.333/.631 line, though last year he had a rather shocking 117 plate appearances with a .124/.207/.229/.435 slash. The appeal is that he has the talent of a former top prospect and is a great defender, as in just over a full seasons worth of innings in center, he’s +13 runs by DRS, +4 in UZR, and +10 OAA. Not that far off from being a fringe-average regular.
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Speaking of outfield depth, the Dodgers also signed Steven Duggar to a minor-league deal. Most known for his stint with the Giants, like a lot of other Giants he was unable to replicate his solid 2021 season and has a .236/.293/.367/.660 line for his career. The 29-year-old could find playing time in a wide open job in center, and much like Zimmer his strength is with the glove, with +10 runs by DRS, +6 by UZR, and +9 by OAA in center for his career with about a season worth of data.
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Moving on to familiar faces now, LOOGY reliever Adam Kolarek is back with the team on a minor-league deal, three years after not being used against Juan Soto in the playoffs for whatever godforsaken reason. In 30.2 innings with the Dodgers, Kolarek was outstanding with a 0.88 ERA (3.12 FIP), but with the Athletics he was decidedly more mediocre with a 5.74 ERA (5.53 FIP) in 26.2 innings. The 33-year-old’s primary problem was that his K-BB% went from 14% with the Dodgers to 0% with the A’s due to control issues, so hopefully a return to whatever the Dodgers did for him will solve that.
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Speaking of lefty relievers, they also signed James Jones to a minor-league deal. He’s a converted outfielder that’s now 34 and has yet to make the majors on the mound, but the stuff is intriguing. He’s struck out 52 in 49.1 innings at AAA, but carried a 5.84 ERA due in part to 29 walks and six homers.
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The Dodgers also made a trade recently, acquiring Yonny Hernandez from the A’s for money. He has an impressively weak .198/.293/.228/.521 line in the majors, but it’s likely the fact that he can play second, third, short, and all the outfield positions that makes him appealing to the Dodgers as utility depth. He clocked in as above-average in the majors at all three infield positions he played.
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The Dodgers system is absolutely loaded with catching talent, having top prospect starters penciled in at basically every level now. However, they still signed Patrick Mazeika to a minor-league deal as upper minors depth and sent him to AAA. He has a career .190/.236/.279/.515 line in the majors, though he has put up a more respectable .267/.356/.411/.767 line in AAA.
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Obviously nothing that is going to set anybody’s hair on fire, but given the outfield need, signing three guys who aren’t far removed from being average-ish is solid for depth. And they also shored up around the margins at utility and lefty relief.
While it’s hard to ever complain about a minor-league signing, I would think the Dodgers are expecting at least one of these guys to play a role on the team in 2023.
