Los Angeles Dodgers: It’s going to be Gerrit Cole or nothing this winter
By Jason Reed
1. It is hard to see the Dodgers landing any other starting pitcher on the market
The Los Angeles Dodgers are not going to add a backend rotation arm as they have plenty of starting pitchers to eat those innings. If the team is going to sign a pitcher it is going to be a big-name pitcher, so only those names apply.
There are some intriguing options in free agency this winter but the market is not deep and every other free-agent pitcher seemingly has better ties to another team.
2019 World Series MVP Stephen Strasburg reportedly already rejected his player option, which was worth four years and $100 million. It was the right decision by Strasburg, who is now set to get paid a lot of money.
However, that likely won’t be by the Dodgers. It would not be surprising to see the Nationals fork over the money to keep Strasburg around and make him a career National and Strasburg is a San Diego native through and through and may want to pitch on his hometown Padres.
The only other elite arm, aside from Ryu, is Madison Bumgarner. I highly doubt Bumgarner would come over to the Dodgers after being their bitter rival for years. I see Bumgarner either going to the Yankees, either Texas team or the Atlanta Braves.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers are one of the legitimate players for Cole, which is why that should be their focus.