State of the Dodgers - Times, They Be A Changing

Yesterday the Dodgers "promoted" GM Ned Colletti and hired Andrew Friedman away from the Tampa Bay Rays to take over baseball operations. He also has the option to hire a GM which he may or may not do as he might do it himself. Ned's tenure as GM has been hanging on a thread for the past couple of seasons and when the opportunity of getting Andrew presented itself to the Dodgers it was time for Ned to be relived of his duties. He has been "fried" as a GM but "promoted" to special advisor to Stan Kasten.

Andrew has been approached many times by many teams over the years and not a single one could lure him away till now. This is a massive upgrade for the Dodgers on the GM front and I like most anxiously await to see what Andrew is going to do to this team. Be warned though he will make the hard decisions and I think more than a handful of popular players may be on their way out of Los Angeles sooner rather than later. With that thought, here is my list of players I think are already thought of as "expendable" :

• Andre Ethier - Always seemed to be near the chopping block and with Andrew's hiring he just got a little closer
• Carl Crawford - Overpriced vet blocking cheaper and younger minor leaguers. Just like Ethier just a little harder to move. Not impossible just harder.
• Joc Pederson - Could be packaged to move bigger contracts but if retained a spot might be there in the outfield for the taking.
• Hanley Ramirez - Be highly surprised if he gets anymore than a qualifying offer. Guaranteed draft pick is too important not to have and one year of Hanley is not the end of the world.
• Dee Gordon / Alex Guerrero - One of them might be moved to plug other holes on the team while freeing the Dodgers of a contact. 
• Brian Wilson - Even though his contract is guaranteed for next year it doesn't mean its a guarantee that its with the Dodgers. Could see the team cut bait and move on.
• Brandon League - Wilson part two
• Chris Perez - Wilson part three. See a trend yet ?
• Dan Haren - Not in the same group as the three relievers but a "reliable" 4/5 guy might have some value on the trade market.
• Don Mattingly - Put up of shut up year for the manager

Those are the players on the team that I think have the highest probability of being moved by Opening Day. Now for ones not on the team just yet.

• Corey Seager - He has been lighting it up in Single A, Double A and AFL. At this rate we might/probably see him as a call up next September if not sooner if other things play out at SS (Hanley) 
• Julio Urias - If he was 19 I would say there is a good chance he would be on the team at sometime in 2015. Unless he shuts down everybody again next year in the minors AND something major goes wrong on the big league team I pencil him in for 2016. 
• Zach Lee - With Andrew here now I think he gets moved. The Dodgers have been disappointed in his progress and is no longer the prized draftee. Package deal to move a higher prized veteran is in his future I think.

I am sure there will be more players in flux on top of the ones I noted and some of those may still be a Dodger for many years to come. These are just my thoughts on how things have played out the last couple of years and now capped off with a new person at the helm which has a different view on how things are done.

Rest assured there will be changes and I guaranteed some will not be popular with the fans. My two favorite players are Kershaw and Kemp. Kershaw is not going anywhere this decade, Kemp on the other hand could be on the sell high market once again. I don't want to jinx it so that is why I didn't put him in the first group. What is more important? Popular players and a 1st round playoff exit or a well oiled machine minus your favorite player but a World Series victory? I'll take that victory please.