To this point in the offseason the Los Angeles Dodgers have been one of the more quiet teams on the free-agent market.
Not only did they watch the top players available, such as Gerrit Cole, Stephen Strasburg and Anthony Rendon sign elsewhere, but L.A. also allowed two of their own, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Rich Hill, to walk.
Ryu signed a four-year, $80 million contract with the Toronto Blue Jays, and Hill joined the Minnesota Twins on a one-year deal in which he will receive a base salary of $3 million and have the opportunity to earn more via incentives.
Hill had surgery on his elbow this offseason after dealing with some injuries that limited him to 13 starts in 2019, but the belief is that he’ll be ready to pitch sometime in the middle of the 2020 season.
That timeline made a possible return to the Dodgers a nice fit as they have enough depth to get by until he is able to return. The 39-year-old will certainly be missed not only for his on-field production, but also for his presence and leadership in the clubhouse. O
ne of his now-former teammates, Kiké Hernandez, took to Instagram to show Hill some love after he signed with the Twins:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B6zMi7xpC1g/
The Dodgers have a relatively quiet clubhouse for the most part. Hernandez and Hill were two of the most vocal guys, so the latter no longer being in the mix represents a big loss for L.A. It will be interesting to see where the Dodgers go from here now that 50 percent of their postseason rotation from the last two years is gone.
There aren’t many starting pitchers left on the free-agent market, so if L.A. wants to upgrade their rotation it would likely come via trade. However, it appears the Dodgers are trusting young arms Julio Urias, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin to make significant contributions in the rotation this season.
Their entire pitching staff has not gone completely unaddressed, as the Dodgers bolstered the bullpen by signing Blake Treinen to a one-year deal.
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