Bold Dodger Predictions By The DLD Staff For The Winter Meetings

Winter Meetings are at hand and hopefully some bold moves by the Dodgers that will serve to help push them over the top and end their 3-decade drought of no championships. So, some of the staff and I made predictions of brassy moves we’d like to see done by the end of Thursday. Here they are:

Eric–

• Dodgers sign third baseman Anthony Rendon to a 7-year contract worth $210 million ($30MM annual average value)
• Chicago White Sox acquire outfielder Joc Pederson for left-handed relief pitcher Aaron Bummer and a player to be named later.
• Dodgers sign Blake Treinen to a 3-year deal worth $27 million.

I don’t know many Dodger fans that’d be upset with all three of these happening. They’re definitely plausible moves albeit bold.

Kevin–

• The Boston Red Sox trade outfielder Mookie Betts, Nathan Eovaldi, and a player to be named later to the Dodgers for outfielder A.J. Pollock, right-handed pitching prospect Josiah Gray, outfield prospect D.J. Peters, and right-handed pitching prospect Mitchell White.
• The Dodgers Trade OF Joc Pederson and P Ross Stripling to the Toronto Blue Jays for right-handed relief pitcher Ken Giles.

Pretty bold moves. Definitely the types that will improve the Dodgers chances at winning the World Series in 2020.

David–

• Dodgers sign 3B Anthony Rendon to a 5-year contract worth $202 million ($40.4MM AAV).
• Dodgers re-sign starting pitcher Hyun-Jin Ryu to a 3-year deal worth $54 million ($18MM AAV).
• Dodgers sign relief pitcher Blake Treinen to a 2-year deal worth $23 million ($11.5MM AAV).

Very bold, especially from a luxury tax point of view. Those 3 players alone would tie the Dodgers to $69.5 million AAV for the next 2 seasons and put them close to a luxury tax payroll of $250 million this year alone.

Alberto–

• Dodgers sign RHP Gerrit Cole to an 8-year deal worth $275 million ($34.4MM AAV).
• Dodgers sign 3B Anthony Rendon to a 5-year deal worth $165 million ($33mm AAV).
• Dodgers trade away Joc Pederson, AJ Pollock, and Tony Gonsolin. The players the Dodgers acquire is unknown but they’ll likely be moved to make space for Rendon and Cole. If they have trouble moving Joc and AJ, then focus will shift to trading Alex Verdugo.

Signing both Cole and Rendon will have the Dodgers on the hook for $67.4MM AAV for up to 5 years. By doing this, shedding some salary will be a given, even if it means trading away valuable talent but how can you say no to having two superstars anchor the rotation and lineup for the next half-decade and then some.

Oskar–

• Dodgers trade OF Joc Pederson, shortstop Corey Seager, catching prospect Keibert Ruiz, middle infield prospect Jeter Downs, pitcher Ross Stripling to the Cleveland Indians for shortstop Francisco Lindor and pitcher Mike Clevinger.
• The Dodgers sign 2-year deals with 3B Josh Donaldson for $37 million, RHP Kevin Gausman for $19 million, and RHP Blake Treinen for $20 million. Total amounting to $76 million ($38MM AAV).

Bold in terms of risk and heartache in seeing certain players no longer in a Dodgers uniform but definitely upgrades to improve their World Series aspirations.

No matter how audacious or jarring these moves may be initially, there’s no doubting the desired outcome they can lead to.

You can follow each DLD staff member from this article on Twitter by clicking on their names. Photo Credit: Sportsnaut (Rendon), Business Insider (Cole), Beyond The Box Score (Treinen), Jays Journal (Giles), Chat Sports (Donaldson), and News 5 Cleveland (Lindor).