Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
I was going to write about the bullpen today, but that seems silly given that today is a pretty big day for decisions, and news could come out about them at any moment. (Not to mention that yesterday’s Brad Miller/Nate Karns/Logan Morrison/other guys trade between Seattle and Tampa Bay reminds us all that the offseason is very much active.)
Qualifying Offers
- SP Brett Anderson
- SP Zack Greinke
- 2B Howie Kendrick
- SS Jimmy Rollins
We went over this two weeks ago, and nothing’s changed for me. Kendrick and Greinke are slam dunks to get one. Rollins is just as certain not to. Anderson is borderline, though I’ve always said that they should absolutely be aggressive and give him one. If he declines, hey, free draft pick! If he accepts, hey, only having to commit to a single year rather than many for a slightly overpaid back-end starter on a team with one reliable starting pitcher!
The deadline for these choices is 2 p.m. PT, today. Any player who receives an offer has one week to accept, so 2 p.m. PT next Friday, Nov. 13.
Kendrick & Greinke certainly won’t accept. It’d be interesting to see if Anderson is the first player to take one. Though he’s earned a multi-year deal, he is absolutely the type of player who would find his value destroyed if teams have to give up a draft pick for him. Perhaps the solution would be to just settle on something like a 2-year, $24m contract instead, making both sides happy.
Team Options
- SP Bronson Arroyo ($13m or $4.5m buyout)
- RP Joel Peralta ($2.5m, no buyout)
- 2B Chase Utley ($11m or $2m buyout)
Arroyo seems a near-certainty to be set free, because even for this team, $13m is a pretty big risk to take on a guy who will be 39 next spring and hasn’t pitched in a year and a half due to Tommy John surgery. I wouldn’t totally rule out Utley on the 2016 Dodgers, but nothing he showed in his time with the team demands that he’s worth $11 million.
Peralta’s interesting, because he’s even older (he’ll be 40 in March) and Dodger fans seem to despise him, given how lousy he was for most of the year. But as we’ve discussed a few times, he was very good once he got healthy, and $2.5m is just no risk at all — he’s easily cut in spring training if he’s not working out. He’s actually got another team option for 2017 at the same $2.5 million, so declining him now also eliminates that, too. I say go for it.
Free agents are able to sign with new teams as of 6 p.m. PT tonight. I’m uncertain of the exact time deadline for the option choices, though it’s almost always before free agency officially begins.
