Dodgers Will Go After Pitching, Pitching And More Pitching; 18-year-old Japanese Pitcher Declaring To MLB
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) Ever since Magic Johnson and his Guggenheim partners took control of the Dodgers, they have been on a limitless spending spree.
They picked up three big contracts off a trade that brought Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Josh Beckett from the Boston Red Sox.
They have an estimated $194M committed in next year's contracts, which is the most in the MLB.
Besides a second-baseman and catcher, their bats/defense are pretty much set.
So the General Mangers quest for the off season is, PITCHING!
Top candidates for general manger Colletti could be Zack Grenike, who was traded to the Angels at the trading deadline and posting a 3.55 ERA, and Jake Peavy, who had a 3.37 ERA with the White Sox in 2012.
Another pitcher that has been reportedly attracted for the Dodgers is 18-year-old Japanese pitcher Shohei Otani, who declared his intention to sign with an MLB team.
If the Dodgers manage to grab him, it will be their second international grab behind Yasiel Puig, who signed a $43 million contract with the Dodgers.
Otani will be an unrestricted free agent and the Dodgers will not have to pay any fee before negotiating with him.
The 6-foot-4 right-handed pitcher is said to be is compared to Rangers' Yu Darvish with a fast ball that run's in the upper 90's.
The Dodgers will not be as aggressive as other teams because of the new MLB collective bargaining agreement that limits teams to $2.9 million in international signing for this year and anything exceeding that, will be penalized.
Other affordable pitchers are Josh Johnson of the Miami Marlins and strikeout pitcher James Shield of the Tampa Bay Rays.
According to the LA Times, Josh Beckett, Chris Capuano, Aarong Harang and Ted Lilly figure to be traded.
Chad Billingsley, who was shut down a little early this year, could have Tommy John surgery, which could put him out for 8 months.
