Trade Fransisco Lindor? No. Trade for Nolan Arenado? Nope. Sign Trevor Bauer? No thanks.
The Dodgers just won the World Series and are as well set up as anybody to do it again. They have the most talented roster in all of Major League Baseball, one of the best farm systems, and tremendous financial flexibility. In other words, they're, uh, doing pretty well. As such, splurging on an offseason addition just for the sake of it makes little to no sense, especially when there's no semblance of pressure on the club.
Lindor and Arenado would both likely be too expensive on the trade market for Andrew Friedman's (and my own) liking. Lindor had a poor offensive season next year and the Dodgers currently employ on the best shortstops in the league and should really prioritize locking him up long term instead of finding another shortstop, even if Seager eventually does have to move to 3rd base. One year of Lindor on a team that doesn't need him isn't worth the price of a top prospect or even 2+ middle ones in my opinion. The same goes for Arenado who has a messy contract/opt-out situation and also had a bad offensive season least year. I know he grew up a Dodger fan and I know he kills us on the Rockies, but they would never trade him to use without getting an exorbitant haul back.
Bauer is somewhat of an enigma (when is he not?). If he's serious about taking 1 year deals (which would be insane after his career year this year and in the COVID market) I'd be happy to have him pitch for the Dodgers for a year and maybe more depending on his performance and health. I'm not interested in giving him a 3+ year deal due to his career track record and the fact that the Dodgers already have insane pitching depth. It's not at all personal for me; I like his Youtube Channel and the fact that he grows the game I just don't think it makes sense baseball-wise.
Of the free agents the Dodgers have lost this year (McGee, Wood, Baez, Turner, Treinen, Hernandez, and Pederson) I would be happy to offer all of them a one year deal at least due to the free agent market sucking and the fact that I like all of them. I would also offer Justin Turner whatever he wants in reason due to his consistent elite hitting and amazing leadership. Kiké is clutch and incredibly valuable to the team because of his defensive versatility and he's also a great clubhouse guy. I feel similarly about Joc but I don't see his spot on the team postion-wise and I don't think the Dodgers are interested in him long term, as sad as that may be. The bullpen guys are all welcome back on 2-3 year deals if the club trusts that their performance will hold up, but I'd focus on Treinen and Baez, who are both consistently very good and reliable pitchers. I'd like to give Wood a shot because he looked like he got his stuff back in the playoffs but I'm not sure there's a spot for him unless nobody offers him a starting position this year (a real possibility).
No big moves. The usual stuff. Some righty bats. Bullpen depth. Hopefully a Seager extension. The Dodgers have no pressure and I expect them to do what Friedman does best. Be able to do anything but not have to do anything.
Photo Credits: Dodgers Social Media