Los Angeles Dodgers: How Stephen Strasburg’s contract affects LA

Stephen Strasburg signed a record-setting deal with the Washington Nationals that has a direct impact on the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Los Angeles Dodgers are reportedly in on the three big free agents of the offseason — Stephen Strasburg, Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon. One of those names is already off the board as Strasburg agreed to a record-setting contract with the Washington Nationals.

The two sides agreed on a seven-year, $245 million contract, which surpasses David Price‘s contract as the most expensive contract for a starting pitcher.

This doesn’t just take Strasburg off the board but it is going to have a domino effect on the rest of the offseason as well. Not only is it going to impact the offseason as a whole, but it has a direct impact on the Los Angeles Dodgers.

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There are two things that we can learn from this that in one case, increase the chances of the Dodgers making a signing and in the other, decrease the chances.

Starting with the positives: this absolutely makes it more likely that Anthony Rendon comes to the Dodgers, although I would advise fans from getting too excited, as it still is a stretch.

While the Nationals have left the door open to re-signing Rendon after this Strasburg contract, the Nationals owner said before the Strasburg contract was even signed that the team could not afford both players.

The Nationals have $35 million in luxury tax after estimated arbitration numbers. Signing Rendon would make it impossible for the team to stay under the tax.

Again, I still would not expect it as the Dodgers have a crowded infield and may not be willing to commit to a massive contract with extensions for the homegrown players coming up soon. Although, if Rendon is willing to take a short-term contract, I could see it happening.

The negative side of this coin is that this essentially takes the Dodgers out of the race for Gerrit Cole, and rightfully so. If Strasburg got nearly a quarter of a billion dollars in seven years then Cole, who is two years younger, will probably be asking for something in the nine-year, $325 million range.

As good as Cole was last season, the Dodgers pitching staff is simply too good to give one pitcher a third of a billion dollars. The Dodgers will have a top-three starting rotation with Cole and they will have a top-three starting rotation without him as well.

Personally, I still think the biggest “splash” that the team would make would be trading for Mookie Betts. Outside of that, I would not be surprised if the offseason consisted of re-signing Hyun-Jin Ryu and signing a cheaper third baseman, such as Josh Donaldson.