Dustin May is 23. Brusdar Graterol is 22. Julio Urías is 24. Their asking prices are undoubtedly high, especially after a 2020 championship—but so is the asking price for the best third baseman in the world.
On Friday, trade conversation spiked surrounding the Dodgers’ interest in Nolan Arenado. Related articles were published on MLB.com, CBS Sports, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report and several other sites. Jon Morosi of MLB.com said of a potential deal: “The reigning World Series champions are among a small group of teams with the financial resources to afford Arenado and young talent to make the move worthwhile for Colorado.”
The Dodgers have young arms. The Rockies can’t lure premier arms into their ballpark like other teams—but what if the best third baseman in the world is involved?
How much is “worthwhile?”
Morosi further mentions the issues of an intra-division deal, but with such a deep reserve of young pitching in Los Angeles, perhaps a deal with them isn’t exactly a deal with the devil. The Dodgers might be able to create a package that no other team in baseball can match.
They have already parted ways with premier pitchers in recent history, albeit some older ones. Hyun-Jin Ryu departed Los Angeles after finishing second in the 2019 NL Cy Young voting. Rich Hill left after posting a 2.45 ERA in 2019. They both elected free agency last winter, however, so it wasn’t a trade that led them out. By not re-signing Ryu or Hill, the Dodgers had to be aware that May, Graterol, Urías and company would be expensive in due time.
It appears the Dodgers are further aware of expenses after the Arenado talk exploded on Friday. Perhaps Arenado would force the Dodgers to part ways with one (or more) of those coveted young pitchers.
If you haven’t developed a deep pitching staff, you may as well try and get it from somewhere else.
Jon Gray, Kyle Freeland, Antonio Senzatela and Ryan Castellani are homegrown Rockies, having worked their way through Colorado affiliates only. It appears the next best alternative for the Rockies to acquire starters is through a trade, which they did with Germán Márquez in a deal with Tampa Bay. If we assume a transaction is constructed accordingly, both the draft and a trade are ways in which Colorado can ‘lock in’ a starter for multiple years.
Shipping off the face of the franchise for it should not be taken lightly—but how much pitching would make it worth it?
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Knight: Should the Dodgers re-sign Justin Turner? | The Athletic ($)
On Thursday, Molly Knight of The Athletic wrote about whether the Dodgers should re-sign third baseman Justin Turner. She talks at length about the positive COVID test that pulled Turner out of World Series Game 6, and we are left to wonder about the resultant fallout from his return to the field during the trophy presentation. It is severely unfair to ‘assess’ the team attitude toward it without an understanding of the Dodger clubhouse, of course, but we can presume Turner’s free agency has come with further complication.
We are left to wonder if those complications make an Arenado deal more likely.
Rockies add Colton Welker to 40-man roster; Riley Pint not protected from Rule 5 Draft | The Denver Post ($)
We had to be patient on Rule 5 deadline day, but roster news finally broke on Friday afternoon. Colton Welker has made his way onto the 40-man roster. Ashton Goudeau and Jesus Tinoco were designated for assignment. Riley Pint was not placed on the 40-man; he is thereby eligible for the Rule 5 Draft, and his Rockies tenure could be ending.
Patrick Saunders addressed the roster announcements on Friday, detailing Pint’s control issues and how he hasn’t pitched above low-A Asheville. Pint was taken fourth overall in 2016 straight out of high school. While other first round pitchers like Jon Gray and Kyle Freeland quickly established themselves, Pint has been unable to do the same. He’s shown a 102 MPH fastball though, and he’s grown three inches (6’4” to 6’7”) since being drafted by the Rockies. That is some electrifying stuff.
If Daniel Bard can rite the ship, hopefully Riley Pint can too.
Saunders: “It would be risky for another big-league team to draft Pint because his new team would not only have to place him directly on its 40-man roster but it would also have to carry him on the major league roster throughout the 2021 season. Pint is not ready for that big jump in competition.”
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