Los Angeles Dodgers off-season has actually been good

Los Angeles Dodgers off-season has actually been good

Calling the off-season for the Los Angeles Dodgers a good one might seem strange to a lot of baseball fans. The Dodgers this off-season have failed in signing a big time free agent prize or landing a huge name on the trade market.

They lost starter Zack Greinke to their divisional rival, the Arizona Diamondbacks, lost the David Price sweepstakes to the Chicago Cubs, and have seen the San Francisco Giants make a couple of big moves to position themselves for another even year World Series run.

But the moves the Dodgers haven’t made will help them in 2016 and potentially for many years to come after that. The Dodgers are not just playing for 2016, they are trying to build a modern-day dynasty, much in the same as the New York Yankees of the 1990s.

Sure, making a blockbuster deal to acquire Jose Fernandez would surely help the Dodgers accomplish their goal of contending in 2016 and beyond, but at what cost?

The Miami Marlins have zero need to trade Fernandez right now. That’s why they are asking for a king’s ransom and more in return for their 23-year old. The Marlins hold all the chips currently and rightfully so are trying to pry everything they can out of a potential Fernandez trade.

The Dodgers, however, are at a disadvantage in these talks. They have lost out on Greinke, Price, Cueto, and other top names on the market this off-season. They could not swing a trade for Shelby Miller. So the Marlins believe the Dodgers have no room to say top prospect Corey Seager in any Fernandez trade.

Except the Los Angeles Dodgers should not even entertain the idea of trading Seager. At all. That’s not just a no for Jose Fernandez, but it should be a hard no for anyone not named Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, or Carlos Correa.

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Last July, before Seager even played in a single MLB game, Dave Cameron of Fangraphs ranked Seager as the 31st best trade asset in baseball. Two months later, Seager made his major league debut and posted a remarkable 1.5 fWAR in 113 plate appearances. He posted a 175 wRC+ and a .425 on base percentage in his brief major league cup of coffee.

Seager’s trade value today is higher than the 31st position it was at right before the trade deadline.

Sometimes the best move you make the is the move you never make. That sure is the case with Corey Seager, especially if he progresses the way the Los Angeles Dodgers believe he will.

In addition to holding on to Seager, the Dodgers have actually improved their farm system this off-season and potentially even more next June, during the MLB amateur draft.

In a three-way trade involving the Chicago White Sox and Cincinnati Reds, the Dodgers dealt infielder Jose Peraza, outfielder Scott Schebler, and infielder Brandon Dixon. They acquired right hander Frankie Montas, outfielder Trayce Thompson, and second baseman Micah Johnson.

Peraza, whom the Dodgers acquired in July, has seen has prospect star fall drastically. He went from a top-100 prospect, looked upon as building piece for the Atlanta Braves, to a glove-only prospect. Schebler and Dixon are both decent prospects, but the Dodgers upgraded acquiring Johnson and Thompson, who is the younger brother of NBA star Klay Thompson.

They acquired Montas, who has a ceiling as a top of the line rotation arm, but a floor of a strong reliever. Montas slotted into the 5th spot on John Sickels of Minor League Ball Top 20 prospect list for the Los Angeles Dodgers for the 2016 season. Here’s what Sickels had to say about Montas:

"5) Frankie Montas, RHP, Grade B/B+: Age 22, posted 2.97 ERA with 108/48 K/BB in 112 innings in Double-A in White Sox system, 4.80 ERA with 20/9 K/BB in 15 major league innings, acquired in recent Todd Frazier trade. Clocked as high as 100 but secondary pitches (slider, change) remain inconsistent, as does his command, and many observers (not all) project him as a reliever."

Montas gives the Dodgers the luxury of another top pitching prospect in their system, joining Julio Urias, Jose De Leon, and Grant Holmes as some of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball.

In addition to the strong foundation of young starting pitching prospects the Dodgers have built up, they are also positioning themselves to do well in next year’s MLB amateur draft.

At the onset of the off-season, the Dodgers extended qualifying offers to Zack Greinke, Howie Kendrick, and Brett Anderson. Anderson accepted his qualifying offer and will be back in LA for the 2016 season. Greinke, obviously, signed with the Diamondbacks, meaning the Dodgers will pick up a supplemental draft pick after the first round next June. They can gain one more draft pick if Howie Kendrick signs on with another team before the off-season ends.

All together, this means the Dodgers could have a total of three first round picks to add to their already strong farm system. Along with the extra draft picks, the Dodgers will also have a bigger bonus pool for signing bonuses for their draft picks. This is huge as the Dodgers will not be able to spurge on the international free agent market next year, as they went over their pool allotment this past year.

While the off-season seems like a major loss for the Los Angeles Dodgers on the surface, as they lost their top free agent and were not able to lure their top target to bring his talents to Hollywood, the off-season has been far from a loss for the Dodgers.

The Dodgers have done well in not budging for their stance of keeping Corey Seager off-limits and have done a quality job of adding to an already strong farm system.

More call to the pen: Nationals, Dodgers give top prospects time to grow

Losing Greinke for the Dodgers was not an ideal off-season, but it’s not a stretch to say the Dodgers have had a good off-season. They are not just building for 2016, but potentially for the next great MLB dynasty. MLB, you’ve been warned.