Kodai Senga Rumors: Dodgers Not Seen As Frontrunners to Sign Free Agent Pitcher
The Dodgers are one of several teams interested in Kodai Senga, the 29-year-old pitcher from Gamagori, Japan, who is coming to MLB after 11 seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball. Senga posted a 1.89 ERA in 148 innings in 2022 and has a career 2.42 ERA in his 11 seasons.
MLB insider Mark Feinsand was on MLB Network on Wednesday, and he says the Dodgers aren’t among the most likely teams to land Senga.
“There’s a huge list of suitors. It seems like at least a quarter of the league, if not more, has already been in touch. He’s already met with the Mets, the Giants, the Padres, the Rangers. There’s been interest from the Yankees, the Red Sox, the Dodgers. You’ve got some pretty big teams in here,” Feinsand said. “But I think Texas, San Francisco, San Diego are three teams to watch in this sweepstakes for sure.”
Discussing possible destinations for Kodai Senga, Trea Turner and Nathan Eovaldi ?@Feinsand | #MLBNHotStove pic.twitter.com/qX3mUNOz3u
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) November 22, 2022
Previous reports have said the Padres might have the edge because of Senga’s preexisting relationships with Yu Darvish, Nick Martinez, and Robert Suarez. Feinsand doesn’t go into much detail about why he considers the Rangers, Giants, and Padres frontrunners, so it’s unclear if those relationships are playing a part.
The Dodgers are on the hunt for at least one starting pitcher, with links to Senga, Justin Verlander, and others. They have internal options if none of the externals work out, but they’d definitely like to add a top starter this offseason.
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Let’s not sleep on Senga! We need him and we need to keep him away from the Padres and Giants. Stay away from big name free agents and fly smart!
Time for a new headline: “Dodgers not front runners to sign any major free agents.” Rather than going down the list and saying the same thing about each one. Because when you look calmly at it, they aren’t going to pay market for shortstops, starting pitchers or Judge, so that pretty much wipes out the list of anyone worth “headlining” a story.
Starting to feel the same way. I guess I have to wait and see on what happens after the winter meetings.
It’s too bad if the Dodgers miss out on Senga to either one of their arch rivals. I wonder why? A bonafide pitcher in his prime and only an upside to his game. He has had no major arm surgeries, unlike the unpredictable, overpriced, and unreliable DeGrom and Verlander. He comes to U.S.with no ties to his former team, affordable, and wants to play for a winner.