Editorials

Dodgers 2014 Off-Season: Dodgers Past And Present Trending Up

Nomar Garciaparra After a frenzy of moves in the past week around Major League Baseball, the off-season has seemingly arrived before the Winter Meetings even begin. The Los Angeles Dodgers are involved more in rumors than actual moves, but that should change in the near future.

With December here, we take a look at who was trending up and down in the past week for the Dodgers:



Trending Up

Alex Guerrero

Guerrero returns to this list in conjunction with his return to the starting lineup for the Gigantes del Cibao in the Dominican Winter League. The Dodgers’ infielder recovered from his hamstring injury to return to competition on Monday. He hadn’t played since November 12, a game in which he hit a home run before leaving early due to injury.

The 27-year-old had two hits in his first two games and added an RBI in Tuesday’s game. He also drew a walk and will continue to play until the end of the Winter League. Guerrero is projected as the Dodgers’ second baseman next season, but that could change depending on what happens the rest of the winter.

Brian Wilson

The reliever reportedly walked away from an offer from the Detroit Tigers and is close to re-signing with the Dodgers. Wilson had been in talks with the Tigers to take over their closer role but it appears that he’s intent on staying in Southern California.

Wilson came in towards the end of the regular season and quickly established himself as a productive arm out of the bullpen. He worked his way towards the set-up man role for closer Kenley Jansen and remained there through the playoffs. The 31-year-old said he was open to returning to the Dodgers in a set-up role, as long as he was properly compensated.

Expect the Dodgers to finalize the deal sometime within the next week.

Nomar Garciaparra

The former Dodger is coming back to the team, this time in a different regard. Garciaparra has been reporteldy hired as a commentator for the new SportsNet LA network. The exact role is still being determined but it seems as if the former All-Star will be doing pre-game and post-game commentary and will work on the broadcasts.

He’s been with ESPN since 2010, covering baseball as an analyst, but will now be working with his former team. Garciaparra is the first major announcement by the Dodgers’ new channel and will certainly be followed by a few more, considering the Dodgers must replace Steven Lyons and Eric Collins.

Trending Down

Ronald Belisario

The right-hander wasn’t tendered a contract this week and became a free agent. Belisario has been with the Dodgers since 2009 and was coming off a down season in terms of production. He finished the season with a 3.97 ERA in 77 appearances for the Dodgers this season.

The Dodgers may decide to re-sign Belisario, but decided that it wasn’t worth it to bring him back at his projected salary in arbitration. The reliever fell out of the good graces of the team after an inconsistent year and a tough postseason. He came into the year as one of the best arms in the bullpen after a career year in 2012 but never found his footing in 2013.

The 30-year-old will now be seeking work for the first time since 2008.

Chris Reed

Although the Dodger prospect was named the team’s eighth-best prospect by Baseball America, Reed had a tough start for the Tiburones de la Guaira in the Venezuela Winter League. The left-hander went just 1.2 innings while allowing four hits, one walk and four runs against the Cardenales de Lara.

It was Reed’s fourth start for Tiburones and followed his best start of the season, in which he went six scoreless innings. The 23-year-old spent last season in Double-A, going 4-11 with a 3.86 ERA in 29 games for the Chattanooga Lookouts.

The experience is good for Reed and should aid in his development as a starting pitcher.

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ICYMI: The Dodgers and right-hander Dan Haren agreed to a one-year deal last weekend

Vincent Samperio

Vince is currently the Associate Editor and Social Media Manager for Dodgers Nation. Hailing from San Pedro, CA and a student at Cal State Long Beach, Vince has previously written for the Daily 49er and LASF Magazine.

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