Despite a slow start to the offseason, the Los Angeles Dodgers have been one of the more active teams in baseball over the past few weeks.
After losing Zack Greinke to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Dodgers’ starting rotation was reinforced with the signings of Scott Kazmir and Kenta Maeda.
Organizational depth was also addressed, with the low-risk, high-reward additions of Brandon Beachy and Yaisel Sierra.
Given it’s still mid-January and the Dodgers will surely continue improving the roster over the coming months, blockbuster moves appear unlikely at this point.
With that being said, the current group of players compares favorably to other rosters in the National League West.
Some of that is evident by ESPN and FanGraphs both projecting Los Angeles to win more than 90 games in 2016 and a fourth consecutive NL West title. FanGraphs went more in depth with their look at the Dodgers, recently releasing their annual ZiPS projections that are bullish on the club.
Below are some of the projections and analysis of who may be primed for a breakout season. It’s important to remember they are only projections and not guarantees.
Corey Seager will have a historic rookie campaign
When Seager was promoted to the Majors last September, he immediately demonstrated why he was the best prospect in all of baseball by posting a .986 on-base plus slugging percetnage in 113 plate appearances and eventually becoming the team’s starting shortstop during the postseason.
To no surprise, the ZiPS projections favor the 21 year old quite well in 2016, as he is pegged to post a four-win season (WAR) with 20 home runs and 63 extra-base hits at a premium position. More incredibly, Seager’s No. 1 comp according to FanGraphs is Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.
The expectations are sky-high, but if last season was any indication, Seager will be the odds-on favorite to win the 2016 NL Rookie of the Year award and perhaps even more hardware.
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