Before Winter Meetings, Dodger leadership talks returns and youth
by Cary Osborne
Ahead of next week’s Winter Meetings in Nashville, Dodger President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman and Dodger General Manager Brandon Gomes spent part of their Friday morning discussing the Dodger team heading into 2024.
They focused on the current 40-man roster and player development system, steering away from players not under contract with the Dodgers. However, they did mention what the mindset is going into the event, which has the reputation — deserved or not — for being a transaction extravaganza.
“From our standpoint, we’re never trying to time something to happen at the Winter Meetings,” Friedman said. “It is whenever a deal lines up and makes sense, we do it irrespective of the day.”
That’s not to say something won’t happen for the Dodgers, who approach every offseason with an opportunistic mindset and have areas to address — starting pitching for example — before the 2024 season.
Much of what was said Friday focused on players who will be coming back from injury in 2024 and the impact that young players will continue to make on the club.
It was encouraging news about players who missed all of 2023 recovering from surgeries.
Walker Buehler, who had a second Tommy John surgery in Aug. 2022, is progressing as the team would hope, and is “throwing and feeling well.”
Gavin Lux, who tore the ACL in his right knee in February, has been working out and running at Dodger Stadium.
“Our thought is that he’s going to be our shortstop,” Gomes said. “And the benefit is that you have somebody like (Miguel Rojas) behind him who will be an incredibly high bar.”
Relief pitchers Blake Treinen and J.P. Feyereisen, who the Dodgers acquired in a trade with Tampa Bay last December but missed 2023 after shoulder surgery, were trending up as the season ended. Their offseason looks to be normal with both expected to be ready to go for Spring Training camp in February.
Rookie contributions were a theme for the 2023 team. But the experience — including the hard times — is viewed as value that will pay off in 2024.
First-half regular second baseman Miguel Vargas and right-handed pitcher Gavin Stone, for example, struggled to find their footing in the big leagues.
“Vargas is one of the more talented natural hitters I’ve seen as a Minor Leaguer coming up,” Friedman said. “So just getting back to that I think is going to be very helpful for him. And just how clear-eyed he is about it has us really encouraged leading into Spring Training.”
Vargas will be looked at as a potential contributor at second base, third base and in left field in ’24.
Stone, who appeared in eight games for the Dodgers and had a 9.00 ERA in 31 innings, made a good impression in how he handled his downs — including adding two pitches during the season to combat the opposition’s success.
“Watching him do that on the fly and seeing how much more he was able to add from the feedback he got from his Major League experience was awesome to see,” Friedman said.
Friedman pointed to Ryan Pepiot, who made his Major League debut in 2022, as a model of how to respond to first-season challenges.
Pepiot in eight games (42 innings), had a 2.14 ERA for the Dodgers in 2023.
The Dodgers view Michael Busch as a Major League player. Busch made his big league debut in 2023 and appeared in 27 games (.539 OPS), but had a 1.049 OPS and 27 home runs in Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Depending on what the Dodgers do this winter will help determine what his opportunity is in 2024.
There was also talk of the next wave.
Catcher and №3 prospect Diego Cartaya, who was promoted to the 40-man roster prior to the 2023 season, had his own struggles in 2023 at Double-A, batting .189/.278/.379/.656. Friedman said a combination of mechanics getting out of whack and the physical toll of catching an entire season led to the issues, and that the numbers were surprising for a player who has elite makeup and skills.
“He’s a really naturally talented player who’s coming off a down year,” Friedman said. “And I’ve seen that a lot in the past with really good players, the ones who have really good makeup, bounce back from that. And so it wouldn’t surprise me at all Diego comes out this year and has a really good year.”
Right-handed pitcher Kyle Hurt made his Major League debut on Sept. 12 and posted a 14.9 strikeouts-per-nine innings rate in the Minor Leagues.
№4 prospect Nick Frasso and №9 prospect Landon Knack were elevated to the 40-man roster on Nov. 14.
№8 prospect River Ryan was promoted to Triple-A late in 2023 — his second professional season.
“(Those guys) fit kind of right in talent-wise with the group that we brought up this year,” Friedman said.
