During the offseason the Dodgers new look front office, headed by Andrew Friedman, dove right in with the additions of a new shortstop, second baseman, and catcher, following the departure of Hanley plus Gordon. Now, almost a full two months into the 2015 campaign, they have almost totally revamped the infield after a six-player deal with the Atlanta Braves got finalized that involves Juan Uribe packing his bags. Reliever, Chris Withrow, will also join Juan on the trip across the country to another big welcoming city, as the Braves will send veteran infielder Alberto Callaspo, lefty starters Ian Thomas plus Eric Stults, and minor-leaguer Juan Jamie to sunny LA. This trade wasn’t exactly a surprise considering that Uribe’s contract is up at the end of the season, but due to Uribe’s success with the blue-crew along with the compiling LA injuries so far this year, it is a little confusing what message new GM, Farhan Zaidi, is sending.
What the Dodgers received back in return for the two is quite respectable. Hopefully, now with the absence of Uribe, Alex Guerro will start to see more playing time with his current .313 batting average and 8 homers. In addition, despite Juan being a solidified starter, his glove has been quite valuable the last few years for the club, and Guerro has struggled with defense in the minors; by the way, Callaspo isn’t that special either with the leather. Finally, the last result of Juan’s departure is the cutting down of waiting time for Corey Seager’s arrival to the majors.
For the second part of the trade, Chris Withrow was quite special last season as an older rookie, when he put up an ERA of 2.60 with 11.2 K/9. However, him recovering from Tommy John surgery and a back procedure, 25-years-old seems like late 30’s for him. The Dodgers will receive Eric Stults (pitched for LA back in 2009) who has been around for years and will be a good clubhouse guy (front office is really emphasizing on team chemistry); they also get two young starting pitchers in Ian Thomas and Juan Jamie. Considering how well Mattingly has managed the pen this year, the only affect of this trade should be the results of missing Uribe at the hot corner.
In San Diego back in December, Friedman along with his new team of executives, might have made it seem like they were just swapping talent for talent, saving money, and building better team chemistry without taking the team out of first place; that’s what they did. But, now the path that planned to look slightly different than the one that Ned Colletti had the Dodgers going down, is starting to turn into a mirage. The finish line may still be the Series, but that team will be totally different.
Colletti’s plan was to win as the Yankees of the NL, but that squad was not quite making it, so Ned stepped away and brought in a new supervisor to tweak the system. Instead, it became a makeover; not a remodel. Because Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi are huge believers in money ball that is the new system they have created for the blue-crew. The big part of it is getting the young ready-to-go prospects playing time and let them lead the charge. In essence, that is what has been happening, but in parts. The Uribe trade is one of the last steps of the makeover. Matt Kemp is gone and Pederson has replaced him well, Grandal has found a home behind the plate, Guerro has shown promise with the bat, pitchers Mike Bolsinger and Carlos Frias have done well in the bottom of the rotation, so now it’s time to make room for baseball’s #5 prospect, Corey Seager at short or third. With contracts coming up, and the kids making the best of the front office’s plan, all that the Uribe trade is, is just part of making room for the new generation who will be the ones to win it all for LA very, very soon.
