With Max Scherzer news, Los Angeles Dodgers need to make a move

With the news on Monday that Max Scherzer was leaving the Los Angeles Dodgers for the New York Mets, the Dodgers now need to make a sizable move to stabilize a rotation that now has even more question marks.

With Max Scherzer out of the picture, the Los Angeles Dodgers have to figure out how to strengthen their starting pitching

Scherzer made a huge impact for the Los Angeles Dodgers after being acquired at last season’s trade deadline along with Trea Turner from the Washington Nationals, going 7-0 with a 1.98 ERA and 0.820 WHIP in 68.1 innings spanning 11 regular-season starts. Now, with the 37-year-old right-hander reportedly inking a three-year, $130 million deal with the Mets, Los Angeles has to find a way to replace Scherzer, which will be no easy task.

At the same time, Los Angeles is also wondering if it will need to replace Clayton Kershaw, now a free agent for the first time in his career, in the rotation as well. Those are two big question marks for a team that has in recent seasons been able to get a plethora of quality players through free agency or trades to fill voids in the lineup. Now the Dodgers will need to do that again this offseason in several areas, including the rotation.

Could the Dodgers add American League Cy Young winner Robbie Ray? What about inkng a pitcher who threw for the Mets last season in Marcus Stroman? Both have been linked to the team in various rumors this offseason, so neither signing would be a complete surprise.

Note: Ray has now reportedly signed a five-year, $115 million deal with the Seattle Mariners.

What about a Carlos Rodon or even a Michael Pineda? Either would come at a lower price and supplant the back end of the rotation should the Dodgers feel comfortable with Walker Buehler and Julio Urias at the front. But those pitchers don’t feel like the kind of splash the Dodgers need to make not only in the wake of the Scherzer news, but also knowing that the San Francisco Giants captured the division and the Atlanta Braves won the World Series last year. There is plenty of competition for the Dodgers to reach the Fall Classic already, and two holes in the rotation plus questions at shortstop with Corey Seager’s potential departure and bullpen with closer Kenley Jansen and others testing free agency gives the Dodgers plenty of leaks in the dam that need to be plugged.

The Dodgers may wait to make their decision on how to fill those gaps until after a new Collective Bargaining Agreement is in place. However, no matter when they make a move, the Dodgers not only need to make several moves, but have them be the right ones as well.