After a very exciting post-season run, the Dodgers came to a disappointing end in game 6 of the NLCS. The Dodges were favored by many to win the World series because of the great depth throughout the team, but when the time came they fell apart. Kershaw had a very shocking performance in their last game of the season giving up 5 runs in the fifth inning. This embarrassing outing ended Kershaws season on a very negative note as well as the rest of the Dodgers organization.
The organization decided they needed to make some changes for the 2015 season, so they started a very big transaction list. Starting off these huge decisions was letting Hanley Ramirez’s free agent contract expire. Junior, Evan Feller said, “With Hanley Ramirez leaving the Dodgers so does his max contract which enabled the Dodgers to pick up free agent, Jimmy Rollins and because Rollins isn’t as injury prone as Ramirez it makes him a more acquisition.”
Without Ramirez’s very large contract, the Dodgers saved close to 16 million dollars. A month after letting Ramirez go, the Dodgers traded Tom Windle and Zack Eflin for cash and veteran short-stop, Jimmy Rollins. One very controversial issue after this trade is that all of the starting infielders will be over 31 years old, but this also is an advantage for the Dodgers. All 5 of the starting infielders have had a lot of experience playing for top level teams. Connor Buckle said, “Rollins was a great pick-up because he’s an all around player. He will be here for 2 years and during that time he will teach the number one prospect, Corey Seager, so he will be ready for his future role.”
Seager is predicted to be one of the top players in the MLB within his first few seasons. Seager was drafted in the first round for the 18th pick in the 2012 MLB Draft. The Dodgers organization is planning to have Seager shadow Rollins at short-stop and be ready to take the starting position when Rollins 2 years are over.
The next big decision of the Dodgers offseason was trading away a large money maker, Matt Kemp. Kemp was traded to the Padres along with Tim Federowicz for Yasmani Grandal and Joe Wieland. Many Dodgers fans were disappointed to hear that Kemp would no longer be playing, but many thought it was a very smart deal. Junior, Alec Abdalah said, “I think that it was a smart trade. I know Kemp was one of the faces of the Dodgers, but what it comes down to is that you either help the team win or you don’t and he wasn’t cutting it.” Although the Dodgers lost one of the MLB’s elite outfielders, they brought up another very good defensive outfielder, Joc Pederson. Pederson will most likely start in center field for the Dodgers.
Another quality pick up was second baseman, Howie Kendrick. Kendrick has been in the Major Leagues for almost 9 years and has had a very consistent career. Throughout his career he has kept a .985 fielding percentage and a .292 batting average. The Dodgers picked up Kendrick to help teach the younger players and to add some pop to the team. He is a quality all around baseball player that will add to the teams success in all parts of the game.
Although the Dodgers pitching rotation is already very deep, the team picked up two more quality arms. First they signed free agent RHP Brandon McCarthy from the Diamondbacks. McCarthy is coming off his best season of his career with a 2.89 ERA. They also brought in LHP Brett Anderson. Anderson missed the some of last season due to a herniated disk in his back, but said, “I should be good to go come Spring Training.”
After making these huge changes to the roster, the Dodgers hope to compete at a higher level than they did last year. They will be looking to these veteran players to be more consistent than the team was towards the end of the 2014 season.