Dodgers rumors of J.T. Realmuto interest could set the team very well
The Dodgers rumors of interest in the Miami Marlins backstop make sense at a base level, but there’s more to it.
The Miami Marlins have been attempting to move catcher J.T. Realmuto nearly since they finished moving their outfielders last offseason. Now Dodgers rumors have the Los Angeles Dodgers heavily in the chase for the backstop.
According to Jon Heyman of FanCred, talks about the catcher are “gaining momentum”, and he mentions the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers as the primary teams in those talks. While there are still others with interest, per Heyward, both the Padres and Dodgers make plenty of sense.
The Marlins had been said to be demanding Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger, but if current Dodgers rumors are to be believed, their price has become more reasonable, albeit still plenty rich.
The Dodgers certainly have the pieces for such a deal. There are really three iterations of this deal that would make some level of sense:
Frankly, any one of the three deals would seem to make sense for both teams, but the Los Angeles Dodgers would likely prefer to keep one of Ruiz or Verdugo around rather than moving both, so the second or third scenarios seem much more likely.
A deal for Realmuto has made sense since early in the offseason for the Los Angeles Dodgers. However, as the deal becomes more feasible, there are multiple reasons why this deal would make a lot of sense for the Dodgers.
Let’s take a look at each of those reasons:
Easing Kershaw
Many aces over the years have utilized their own personal catchers over the years. Greg Maddux was known for wanting to always utilize the team’s backup catcher as his own catcher. The Dodgers own ace has always seemed to perform better when he has a catcher that he can focus his work between starts with.
Clayton Kershaw broke into the major leagues in 2008, the same season that A.J. Ellis made his major league debut. Over his career, Ellis has caught over twice as many innings from Kershaw as any other catcher, catching 829 innings, with the next closest being 403 2/3 innings.
With Ellis behind the plate, Kershaw has tossed a 1.97 ERA with a 175/920 BB/K ratio. No other catcher with even 25 innings caught in Kershaw’s career has under a 2.00 ERA while behind the plate with him.
After Ellis left the Dodgers during the 2016 season, Kershaw has been using the primary catcher. That’s led to Yasmani Grandal being the #2 catcher on his innings log, with 403 2/3 innings caught. However, from his time previously with the team, Russell Martin is still third on Kershaw’s list, with 349 innings caught.
The recent acquisition of Russell Martin along with Austin Barnes could allow the Dodgers to dedicate one of their catchers to Kershaw for his starts if they also added Realmuto. Martin would be the logical choice.
After extending their left-handed ace for $93 million for the next three seasons this offseason, it would make sense that the Dodgers would set him up for success.
Bench flexibility
The Dodgers have valued roster flexibility and depth under team president Andrew Friedman. Of the Dodgers 22 position players in 2018, 17 of them played multiple positions (though 5 were simply playing multiple outfield positions).
More than that, the Dodgers work with their catchers to be athletic and be able to handle multiple positions. Even their top catching prospects, like Will Smith and Connor Wong, who both played positions other than catcher last season.
Current catchers Austin Barnes and Russell Martin both have extensive experience at other positions. Martin has played second, third, short, and left the last three seasons for the Toronto Blue Jays.
Barnes has been up in the majors for four seasons, and he’s played at second base and third base as well as catcher. He’s also played outfield in the minor leagues as well.
On top of the flexibility of multiple positions with their catchers (and other players on the team, the Dodgers have an option with Barnes that they can use. Along with options available for guys like Max Muncy, Pederson/Verdugo (whichever one is around), and Enrique Hernandez, the Dodgers would have the option to move multiple bench pieces between the minors and majors as needed.
Balancing the lineup
Currently, the Dodgers are very lefty-heavy in their guys that will play every day (or mostly every day) with Corey Seager, Cody Bellinger, Max Muncy, and Pederson/Verdugo all being left-handed.
Interestingly, when the Dodgers traded away Yasiel Puig, Matt Kemp, and others to the Cincinnati Reds in a salary-trimming move, they traded away big pieces that are right-handed.
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The Dodgers now have
A.J. Pollockfrom the right side in the games when he’s healthy along with
Justin Turnerand
Chris Tayloramong regulars. Kike Hernandez and
David Freeseare both right-handed, but they’re likely to be bench guys. Barnes and Martin are also right-handed.
If you figure in the top players from the Dodgers minor leagues that could factor into 2019, utility man Matt Beaty hits from the left side, corner man Edwin Rios hits left-handed, and outfielder Andrew Toles also swings from the left side. That would make adding in another right-handed bat all the more important.
If you add in J.T. Realmuto, he would add in another full-time right-handed hitter to a team that struggled significantly with left-handed pitching in 2018, something they are concerned about correcting for the 2019 season.
Next. Dodgers could have bargain with Pollock. dark
These Dodgers rumors about Realmuto do make a lot of sense for the team, and adding in Realmuto could be the piece to push the Dodgers over the top in 2019.