Last year, in a span of roughly eight days encompassing the winter meetings, the Dodgers came away with Aaron Harang, Chris Capuano, Jerry Hairston, & Adam Kennedy as they did their best to build a 2012 roster with Frank McCourt’s badly limited dollars.
I… think it’s safe to say that they’re going to do just a bit better this time around, wouldn’t you say? Over the next few days, the Dodgers could very well end up with Zack Greinke, or trade Chris Capuano or another starter, or figure out what righty bat they can add to the outfield (it’s a total pipe dream, but I’d love to get Mike Morse out of Washington), or possibly make progress on adding some badly needed third base depth.
Some or all or none of those things might happen this week in Nashville, but here’s what we can absolutely guarantee is going to happen: rumors are going to be flying at an absolutely insane pace, and fans are going to live and die with each one even though we know a huge majority of them are bogus. Hell, we’ve already seen it in the last few days, when Jon Heyman put out there that the Dodgers might have interest in A.J. Pierzynski before quickly backtracking and saying it was just his own speculation when Dodger sources made it clear that there was little truth to the rumor.
As Ned Colletti said on 570 AM the other day,
“You’ve only got a 25-man roster. The number of players we’ve been tied to, in some ways it’s disappointing because there’s really a lack of credibility that goes with people who say ‘they’re in on this player, they’re in on this player’,” Colletti said. “We’re in on a few players, but we’re not in on 25% of what’s being speculated. We know who we like, and we know what we’re trying to accomplish.”
To be completely honest, I’d be surprised if it’s even as high as 25%, because on top of the honest factual mistakes in reporting, you get teams or players or agents or media all with their own agendas, trying to get their own stories out there. For example, we’re already seeing reports that the Dodgers “are shopping Dee Gordon“. It’s here that the wording is important: would the Dodgers be willing to move Gordon in the right trade? Absolutely; he’s far from untouchable. But that’s not the same thing as “they’re aggressively trying to get rid of him,”, which is what “shopping” implies. It’s a minor difference, but a real one.
That said, just because we know better doesn’t mean we can’t follow along with the drama for the fun it is, as long as we keep some perspective. After all, these next few days are often among the most entertaining (or infuriating, depending on how you look at it) of the year.
So sit back, enjoy the insanity in the comments, and we’ll keep things updated here as needed. Tampa’s already gotten things off to a start by signing old friend James Loney, and while he’s of course terrible, $2m is barely above an NRI these days. If he simply provides good defense and adequate hitting against righties with a strong platoon partner, he could easily be worth that and more.
Still glad we don’t have to look at him every day, though.
