All eyes have been on the Los Angeles Dodgers at the annual Winter Meetings this week as they have seemingly been involved in negotiations for every big free agent and trade candidate thus far into offseason.
The Dodgers have already missed out on Gerrit Cole despite reportedly giving him a competitive offer. He signed with the New York Yankees for nine years and $324 million, the largest contract ever for a pitcher.
With Cole no longer being an option, it seemed that the Dodgers would shift their focus to free-agent third baseman Anthony Rendon. Justin Turner is willing to move to first base if the team acquires a third baseman, and Rendon looked to be a perfect fit with what the Dodgers like to do philosophically offensively.
But he never received an offer from the Dodgers and wound up signing a seven-year, $245 million deal with the L.A. Angels.
One option potentially still available to the Dodgers is acquiring Cleveland Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor, who has two years left of team control before hitting free agency.
The Indians have maintained that they don’t want to trade him, but it appears the two sides are still talking and Cleveland has interest in Dodgers top prospects Gavin Lux and Dustin May, per Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports:
Hoping to make a big splash as their World Series drought continues, the Los Angeles Dodgers are discussing a trade for shortstop Francisco Lindor with the Cleveland Indians, according to a person with direct knowledge of the talks.
Lindor will command an extensive return and the Indians are seeking a package centered around Dodgers top prospects 2B Gavin Lux and RHP Dustin May, both of whom reached the majors in 2019.
Lindor is one of the best young players in all of baseball, being named an All-Star in each of the last four seasons. He hit .284/.335/.518 with 32 home runs, 40 doubles, 101 runs scored, 74 RBI and 22 stolen bases in 143 games in 2019 while also winning his second Gold Glove Award.
The Dodgers value both Lux and May, so it is hard to see them parting with both in one trade for a player that is going to command a contract upward of $300 million in a couple of years.
Additionally, with Corey Seager and Lux already in the organization, the Dodgers do not have a specific need for a shortstop, although they can obviously make it work if they acquire a player of Lindor’s quality.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said at the Winter Meetings this week that they are going to be more aggressive than years past, so maybe that means overpaying to acquire a player of Lindor’s quality.
There are plenty of other options available on the free-agent and trade markets as well though, leaving the front office with a lot of difficult decisions to make.
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