Wednesday and Thursday of the Winter Meetings were very busy days for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The first move was acquiring Jimmy Rollins for 2 pitching prospects. The second and third moves went hand in hand as Dan Haren along with Dee Gordon were flown across the country to Miami in exchange for a multiple of prospects including one of the most promising in Andrew Heaney. That was just the headline of the deal as Miguel Rojas was also sent to Miami, which in return the Dodgers received top catching prospect Austin Barnes. Now the question is; who is going to play 2nd base? That question was answered fairly quickly, meaning within a few hours as Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi traded newly acquired Andrew Heaney straight up to for Howie Kendrick. Then on Wednesday morning the Dodgers stunned their fan base as Matt Kemp and Tim Federowicz began their way down the 5 freeway heading towards San Diego, and coming back on the other side of the road was Yasmani Grandal with pitching prospect Joe Wieland in the passenger seat.
What this means for the Dodgers is that they have a brand new infield that could be one of the best in the game (especially defensively). It also means a great teaching staff for the three youngsters in Seager, Arruebarrena, and Guerro is arriving. Although the infield was already superb with the addition of Jimmy Rollins, the move to basically replace Dee Gordon with Kendrick as neither a win or lose. But overall the reshaping of the infield was a job well done except for the fact that LA no longer has a definite 4 or 5 pitcher, now with the departure of Haren. The trade that really hurts though is the one involving Matt Kemp. Yes the Dodgers got a nice piece back in Grandal who will go nicely with Ellis, but after the comeback season that Kemp had, one could argue that he was worth a whole lot more. It is uncertain how good Joc Pederson will be and whether or not putting him in the starting lineup at CF will pay off. If it doesn’t then the Kemp trade will be seen as a tragedy.
Supposedly there have been some rumors swirling around the clubhouse about there being disputes in the locker room between multiple players (sources say that Kemp was a major part of it), so now with J-Rol and Kendrick in blue, the team’s chemistry should improve. The other main topic on these trades was the search for improvement in on base percentage and fielding. Now with Matt Kemp’s disappointing defensive play gone, Pederson can move into center where Friedman thinks Joc is a gold glove caliber player. So this means that Puig can move back to right where he belongs. As far as the infield goes, there are plenty of gold gloves and other awards to go around. The question that is a big burden is the one that lies on Pederson to live up to his potential or not.
Overall grade of trades: B as the infield is sexy, but can the Dodgers find another starter and will Joc excel in CF. Add another starter along with Pederson becoming the next Trout and Friedman will be considered a genius.
