What Went Wrong
The Dodgers spent over $100 million on players who either didn’t play for them or didn’t contribute much at all (see next slide for more on that). Carl Crawford made $21 million and Scott Kazmir made $17 million and neither played an inning. Crawford’s contract is done, but Kazmir is owed another $17 million in 2018.
One of the costly players who played but didn’t provide much value was first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who made more than $22 million and hit .242/.287/.355 in 252 plate appearances. He spent 13 days on the DL with elbow soreness in May and another 67 days on the DL with back discomfort in June, July, and August. He’s under contract for one more expensive year.
Andre Ethier was a slightly less expensive version of Adrian Gonzalez who played even less than Gonzalez. He made $17.5 million for 38 plate appearances. Over the last two seasons, he’s made $35.5 million for 64 plate appearances.
Back problems have been a constant problem for Ethier. In early November, the Los Angeles Dodgers paid him $2.5 million to buy out his 2018 option and making him a free agent and ending his long tenure with the team. Ethier’s rookie year with the Dodger was 2006, back when he was a teammate of 39-year-old Kenny Lofton, who’s been retired for a decade.
After seemingly establishing himself for good in the big leagues, outfielder Joc Pederson had two DL stints and spent some time back in Triple-A this season. He had been a 3-4 WAR player in the previous two seasons but struggled to stay above replacement-level this year.
Young starting pitcher Julio Urias was a Baseball America top 10 prospect before the 2015 and 2016 seasons. He started 15 games for the Dodgers as a 19-year-old in 2016 and was 5-2 with a 3.39 ERA.
This season, he split time between the big leagues and Triple-A before shoulder discomfort sidelined him in June. He had surgery later that month on his left anterior shoulder capsule. It was recently reported that he could return as early as May next season.
In February, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed longtime San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Sergio Romo. They should have known better than to tempt fate by signing a Giants player. Romo was terrible in Dodgers blue. He had a 6.12 ERA in 25 innings and was traded to Tampa Bay in July. Away from L.A., Romo had a 1.47 ERA in 30.7 innings with the Rays.
Romo wasn’t the only reliever who struggled for the Dodgers. Chris Hatcher pitched 36.7 innings and had a 4.66 ERA. Grant Dayton hurled 23.2 innings, with a 4.94 ERA. Highly regarded pitching prospect Walker Buehler pitched 9.3 innings and had a 7.71 ERA (small sample size alert!).