Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman and general manager Brandon Gomes both identified starting pitching as a focal point for the team this offseason.
That is nothing short of a surprise considering Clayton Kershaw, Lance Lynn and Julio Urías are free agents, and how the Dodgers ran short on healthy starters for the National League Division Series.
Unfortunately for L.A., there is not a surplus of impact starting pitchers available but there nevertheless are a bevy of options in terms of free agents and potential trades.
Further working against the Dodgers is multiple teams looking to address their starting rotation, which agent Scott Boras believes is going to create a competitive market, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic:
“There is a frenzy for pitching,” agent Scott Boras told reporters Wednesday.
Also speaking from the General Managers Meetings that were held last week in Scottsdale, Arizona, Joel Wolfe of Wasserman shared his expectation free-agent pitchers will sign lucrative contracts because of the demand:
“I think everybody’s going to do well (on the pitching front),” Wolfe said in a crowd of reporters Tuesday.
Among free agents, top starters on the open market are National League Cy Young Award favorite Blake Snell, in addition to Aaron Nola and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The Orix Buffaloes have not yet posted Yamamoto for MLB free agency, but announced their intentions to do so this winter, at which point he will have 45 days to negotiate with teams and sign.
If the Dodgers look to the trade market, the likes of Corbin Burnes and Dylan Cease could emerge as targets.
Friedman doesn’t blame Dodgers pitching
Although Clayton Kershaw, Bobby Miller and Lance Lynn struggled mightily in their respective NLDS starts, Friedman cited the Dodgers scoring just six runs against the Arizona Diamondbacks as the biggest reason for getting swept.
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