Change for the Los Angeles Dodgers this offseason began at the top with the club and former manager Don Mattingly mutually agreeing to go their separate ways last October. After a thorough search, Dave Roberts was hired as Mattingly’s replacement one month later.
As a rookie manager, Roberts inherits a team that’s won three consecutive National League West division titles for the first time in franchise history.
Additionally, Los Angeles has posted three straight seasons with at least 90 wins for the first time since 1976-78.
The Dodgers nonetheless head into the 2016 season with some question marks. Zack Greinke left a significant hole in the starting rotation, which has been filled with the signings of Scott Kazmir and Kenta Maeda.
While no one player will replace the historically-great production Greinke provided last season, Los Angeles does appear to have a much deeper rotation this season.
In other areas, the Dodgers are unsettled at varying degrees in the outfield, bullpen and second base. According to J.P. Hoornstra of the LA Daily News, Roberts said meetings will be held with every player during Spring Training to discuss roles:
He’ll have to give some players some bad news — some will have smaller roles than they want, some will likely be cut altogether — though he hasn’t had to do so yet. “We’re going to have meetings coming in with every player in spring training. Just be forthright. Obviously with baseball, a lot of things change. I think that the group understands that you could be slated to start now or you could be thrust into a starting role early. You just really don’t know. I hate to put anything in stone this early, but there’s a lot of different ways our roster is going to be set up and players are going to be used. No bad news yet. It’s coming.”
Despite not adding a big-name reliever to the bullpen, the Dodgers return plenty of young and talented arms. Joe Blanton to this point represents the lone newcomer in the group. As for second base, Kiké Hernandez and Chase Utley appeared likely to form a platoon, however Howie Kendrick reportedly re-signed a two-year contract.
Both Hernandez and Utley could be used as other positions as well. Last season Hernandez also spent time in center field (19 games; 18 starts), left field (17 games; five starts), shortstop (16 games; 11 starts), right field (two games; one start) and third base (one start).
Utley started three games at third base and played two (one start) at first base. The most intrigue lies with the outfield. Including Hernandez, the Dodgers have eight outfielders on the 40-man roster.
Joc Pederson and Yasiel Puig figure to have the inside track to earning starting jobs, but both are coming off a disappointing close to the 2015 season. Andre Ethier bounced back from a down 2014 as he filled in for Puig, and would figure to have the upper hand on Carl Crawford to start in left field.
Juggling the group of outfielders was a headache Mattingly often dealt with and it’s a dilemma now placed Roberts’ shoulders, barring a trade.
