Los Angeles Dodgers could continue trend and sign this former Dodger

The Los Angeles Dodgers have had a trend of bringing back old Dodgers over the last two winters and can continue the trend into this season as well.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been savvy with who they bring in and when they bring them in. Say what you will about the team not signing any big-name free agents, Andre Friedman’s front office has made a lot of moves that turned out much better than expected.

The best two examples of this are Chris Taylor and Max Muncy, both of which were MLB journeymen before being Dodgers and now are two of the most important players on the team, especially Muncy.

Muncy has turned into the best power-hitting second baseman in the MLB. Over the last two years, he is first among second baseman in FanGraphs WAR, first in home runs, fifth in runs scored, second in RBIs and first in OPS.

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Taylor has not been quite that good but he does have an NLCS MVP under his belt and responded from a slow start to the season in 2019 to be one of the Dodgers’ most consistent bats.

Friedman’s front office has even taken a unique approach of adding former Dodgers to the team. Over the last two offseasons, the Dodgers traded for both Matt Kemp and Russell Martin. Initially, Kemp was solely meant as a salary dump but he ended up playing a huge role in 2018.

Kemp was an all-star starter and was a legitimate MVP candidate at the All-Star Break. He did cool down in the second half but still finished the season with 21 home runs, 85 RBIs, a .290 batting average and an .818 OPS.

Martin was brought in to be a veteran backup catcher and he did just that. His season was not all that impressive but he did what he was meant to do and had a great connection with the starting rotation, in particular, Hyun-Jin Ryu. Not to mention Martin was the Dodgers’ best relief pitcher this season, pitching four innings without allowing a single run.

There is an opportunity for the Dodgers to continue this time-honored tradition of bringing in former players back to the fold. This year, the opportunity exists with Brandon Morrow.

Brandon Morrow signed a two-year, $21 million contract with the Chicago Cubs after posting a great season and postseason with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017. Morrow was missed but the Dodgers were not going to pay someone over $10 million a year to be a non-closer.

Well, until they decided to pay Joe Kelly $8 million a season, but that is a different story.

The Cubs had a club option for Morrow’s 2020 season and declined it, likely because of the price as well as his injuries in Chicago. Morrow has been good when he is on the mound with a 1.47 ERA in Chicago but he did not pitch at all in 2019.

Morrow had an elbow procedure in 2018 and experienced several setbacks that kept him out of 2019. Barring more setbacks, he should be good for 2020.

That is going to drive the price down for the 35-year old relief pitcher, where it could become a reasonable price for the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Dodgers are one or two relievers away from shoring up the bullpen and need another option that could potentially close games, which Morrow presents.

It all depends on the price. If some team is willing to pay him similar to what the Cubs paid him then it is not a deal worth making. Heck, it would not even be worth half of what the Cubs paid him.

However, if the Dodgers can get Morrow on a low-risk, one-year $2.5 million contract, then it is absolutely something the team should do. The risk-reward ratio is massive and Morrow may lean towards the Dodgers being familiar with the team and due to the fact that they are contenders.

Next. The right price for each star free agent. dark

Morrow has been elite since 2015 with a combined 2.04 ERA in 123 and one-third innings. If he is 80 percent of that in 2019 then it would be a huge signing for the Los Angeles Dodgers. If not, that $2.5 million equates to nothing more than a rounding error.

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