The Los Angeles Dodgers made the biggest free agency splash, not just of this year, but of all-time when they signed two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million contract this week. This signing gives the Dodgers their centerpiece for years to come, but Ohtani's deferral of $680 million of his salary to the end of his contract opens up a plethora of spending options for LA in free agency.
The biggest need for the Dodgers is starting pitching. Los Angeles finished 22nd in starting pitching WAR in 2023 — the worst finish among any position for the club. Numerous LA pitchers are entering free agency, while every hurler that is staying is either young and unproven or a talented veteran with a history of injury issues.
The club acquired Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow in a trade, but Glasnow himself is injury-prone and his 120 innings pitched in 2023 were the most of any season in his eight-year career. The Dodgers also gave up promising young starter Ryan Pepiot in the deal, who has a career 2.76 ERA in 78.1 innings pitched for LA.
Even with these acquisitions, the Dodger still must address their lack of starting pitching in the offseason.
Add more starting pitching
The signing of Shohei Ohtani was huge, but the recent addition of Tyler Glasnow in a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays is a strong step toward solidifying this starting rotation. The Dodgers also signed Glasnow to a five-year, $135 million extension. Still, there are significant questions about who will be hurling for the Dodgers in 2024.
Ohtani will not be able to pitch until 2025, while Clayton Kershaw and Julio Urias are both free agents. Kershaw and Urias are each dealing with injuries of their own. Urias missed two months with a hamstring issue, while Kershaw underwent shoulder surgery this offseason, putting his status for 2024 in question.
This leaves Walker Buehler — who missed most of 2022 and all of 2023 with Tommy John surgery — as the Dodgers' ace. After Buehler, LA has a myriad of youngsters. Bobby Miller and Emmett Sheehan were both rookies in 2023, and while they performed admirably, it is difficult to see the Dodgers being World Series contenders with this pitching staff. Other potential starters include Tony Gonsolin, Dustin May, and Ryan Yarbrough — all of whom also missed time in 2023.
While LA has considerable depth on paper, the combination of unproven youngsters and more dependable but injury-prone veterans puts the Dodgers in a tough position this offseason with determining who to keep and how many starting pitchers to add.
The Dodgers are targeting another Japanese sensation in right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Yamamoto won the Japanese equivalent of the MVP and Cy Young awards in 2023 posting a 1.16 ERA and 0.860 WHIP across 171 innings. The 25-year-old has won the Pacific League MVP three years in a row. Ohtani's salary deferment will go a long way toward attracting a world-class pitcher like Yamamoto.
Los Angeles is also linked with another Japanese pitcher, Shōta Imanaga. The left-hander is a few years older than Ohtani or Imanaga (30 years old) but has been just as effective in Japan, posting a 2.96 ERA across eight seasons and a career-best 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings in 2023. Imanaga will be looking for a contract in the $20 million per year range — well within LA's budget even after signing another superstar.
One final pitcher the Dodgers are in on is Blake Snell. The San Diego Padres lefty won the NL Cy Young award in 2023, leading MLB with just 5.8 hits allowed per nine innings. Snell posted a 1.26 ERA over his last 22 starts in one of the most dominant stretches of pitching in recent memory.
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