What we learned about the Dodgers from the Astros leak

So for those of you who managed to miss the news, the Astros had a massive security breach, and their internal notes from their proprietary “Ground Control” database were leaked onto the Internet.

This, of course, doesn’t have much to do with the Dodgers, but they were mentioned a couple times in off-season discussions about potential trades. And barring further leaks, it’s notable since this is likely the only time we’ll ever get to see the thought process of the front office laid bare.

Unfortunately for us, but fortunately for the team, the Dodgers weren’t involved in many specific proposals, so there’s nothing too damaging or worrisome about what’s been revealed, unlike with other teams. In both instances involving the Dodgers, their first stat guy, Alex Tamin, was involved.

11/5/2013

[Stearns] talked with [Dodgers director of baseball contracts] Alex Tamin: LAD is looking to acuire some back end SP depth and up the middle infield depth. They believe they have depth in the pen and would be willing to deal from it (AT mentioned Belisario and Guerra). LAD also has four OF for three spots and would be willing to talk about Crawford

11/13/2013

[Alex Tamin] told [Stearns] that if we consider trading Barnes this off season we should let them know. They view him as a good reserve OF/depth piece.

The specific names mentioned as potentially available were Ronald Belisario, Javy Guerra, and Carl Crawford, two of which are no longer with the team, and one of which has been widely assumed to be available but just unwanted due to the contract. The Dodgers wanted starting pitching depth, middle infield depth, and Brandon Barnes in return.

So honestly, none of this is shocking, but we did learn that the team was worried about the rotation (probably Josh Beckett‘s health) and that they recognized the middle infield was going to be a potential problem if any injuries occurred. It also means the team was (amusingly, in retrospect) quite confident with the pen situation and thought they could have used a fifth outfielder. Barnes wouldn’t have been the worst option, though if it would’ve come at the cost of Scott Van Slyke playing time, perhaps it’s best the talks never advanced.

As far as Crawford goes, I suppose it could be a problem to know that you’re specifically mentioned as the extra outfielder that the team thinks is most expendable, and that they hilariously offered you and your contract to the Astros of all places. Because of course a club dedicated to rebuilding would love a player like Crawford, right? But I think the writing has always been on the wall for him, hence his reaction to getting hurt and wanting to rehab until he’s 100% because he knows he’s competing for playing time as it is.

Either way, I’m hoping for more information to come out at some point, because while these nuggets were relatively non-controversial for the Dodgers, it was nice to see talks be credibly laid out to see what front offices think and how they operate.