Hollywood Blvd. News – Los Angeles Dodgers Edition
- Updated: February 6, 2015
(Via @Dodgers)
We like to start our day searching the web and reading articles about our beloved LA sports teams. It’s easy to get lost in the depth of the inter web, but luckily for you we have compiled a list of the most interesting and pertinent news stories for your morning reading pleasure. For this edition, let’s dive into the news surrounding the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Farhan Zaidi, a former Oakland Athletics executive, joined new president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman in Chavez Ravine in November, and reshaped the roster. Here’s how the Los Angeles Dodgers offseason looked:
“Outfielders
The biggest departure is Matt Kemp, who was sent to San Diego in a trade that returned catcher Yasmani Grandal, and pitchers Joe Wieland and Zach Eflin. Though he slashed .287/.346/.506 with 25 home runs and 89 RBIs in 599 plate appearances last year, Kemp missed 145 games in 2012 and 2013 combined and was part of an outfield logjam.In his stead, Yasiel Puig and Carl Crawford will take the corner positions. Scott Van Slyke is a capable platoon option, coming off career highs in nearly every statistical category including a.297/.386/.524 slash line. In addition, Zaidi acquired Chris Heisey from the Cincinnati Reds in December in exchange for pitcher Matt Magill. A career .247 hitter, the 30-year old Heisey can pinch hit and play all three outfield positions.
Center field remains a question, however. Andre Ethier returns, and without Kemp on the roster, he stands to be an everyday player. But, he is coming off the worst season of his career having hit just four home runs in 341 at-bats.”
To read more of this article, click here.
Bleacher Report discusses the Los Angeles Dodgers most important players for success in 2015:
“The new front office did some restructuring this offseason, and the Dodgers will welcome Yasmani Grandal, Howie Kendrick and Jimmy Rollins—in addition to homegrown prospect Joc Pederson—to their lineup.
Because of the structure of the game, each regular player is obviously relatively equally important; after all, a hitter cannot simply defer to Yasiel Puig at the end of the game the way a basketball team can pass the ball to its star player during crunch time. That being said, though, players establish a certain baseline performance, and importance is relative to that level. Clayton Kershaw, for example, is the Dodgers’ best player and will be the most impactful over the course of the year. But we expect that, and their season is not hinging on his performance.
Instead, it is players with higher levels of variance that we are looking to for this category. The players to follow are those who, for whatever reason, are more likely to either significantly underperform or overperform their average expected production.
To find out more about this, click here.
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