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Dodgers look to fill holes at Winter Meetings
- Updated: December 1, 2016
LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers have plenty of work to do at next week’s Winter Meetings.
MLB.com and MLB Network will have wall-to-wall coverage of the 2016 Winter Meetings from the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center outside Washington, D.C. Fans can watch live streaming of all news conferences and manager availability on MLB.com, including the Rule 5 Draft on Dec. 8 at 6 a.m. PT.
The Dodgers’ game plan will be dictated by the search to fill holes at third base and closer created by the free agencies of Justin Turner and Kenley Jansen.
The Dodgers need to re-sign or replace them, as well as starting pitcher Rich Hill, second baseman Chase Utley and setup man Joe Blanton.
In two years since arriving, current Dodgers management has come close to signing only one megabuck free agent (Zack Greinke), while reaching agreement on nothing bigger than the four-year, $48 million deal given to Brandon McCarthy.
The current regime prefers trades, so maybe this is the time the club actually deals outfielder Yasiel Puig. The former All-Star now figures as a platoon player in a crowded outfield. He was nearly dealt to Milwaukee for Ryan Braun during the summer.
Club needs
Closer: Jansen and Aroldis Chapman will command the kind of big-money, multi-year contract Dodgers management doesn’t want to give. A shorter free-agent deal for Mark Melancon, or trading for another club’s closer, might be the outcome.
Starting third baseman: Management might want a hometown discount, but Turner is the only top-shelf third baseman on the market and just had a career year, so he’s going to get paid. Again, this is another hole the club might fill with a trade.
Starting second baseman: Rumors have the Dodgers considering trades for offensive second basemen Ian Kinsler and Brian Dozier. High asking prices might send the club back to an Utley/Charlie Culberson/Kiké Hernandez platoon.
Starting pitcher: The club has a surplus of starting arms, though not legit No. 2 starters like Hill. …
