Several key questions in play as Dodgers start camp
GLENDALE, Ariz. – Los Angeles Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis is one of the most polished interview subjects in the majors, a player with all the makings of a future broadcaster.
But even the diplomatic Ellis was thrown off by a question about his reaction to the Dodgers' offseason acquisition of a new catcher in likely starter Yasmani Grandal.
After a couple of stumbles, Ellis came up with a politically correct answer, saying, "I don't need the title of starting catcher. I want to have the title of World Series champion catcher.''
The exchange with news reporters on the day when L.A. pitchers and catchers reported to camp illustrated one of the challenges the Dodgers face after revamping a team that won 94 games and the NL West last season, yet was hampered by internal discord.
The Dodgers, baseball's most expensive team, open camp with a surplus of outfielders, one starting catcher too many, questions about whether one of their aces will opt out of his contract and, suddenly, a bullpen without a closer.
It's not exactly a recipe for establishing the winning culture sought by new president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman, who engineered the changes that figure to leave the Dodgers with an entirely different middle of the field – catcher, second base, shortstop and center field – than they had last season.
Friedman has also harped on the importance of depth and flexibility, and he chose to emphasize those traits when addressing the catching situation.
"We have two guys in A.J. and Grandal that really complement each other very well,'' Friedman said. "There's nothing that's going to come out of this camp where we're going to say, 'OK, this guy's going to start 72 percent of the time.' It's going to be much more about Donnie (manager Don Mattingly) writing the lineup each and every day that gives us the best chance to win that day.''
The catching decisions will be influenced by the scheduled starting pitcher on both sides, but Mattingly made it clear he does not want to assign Ellis as the personal catcher of staff ace Clayton Kershaw, despite their longstanding rapport and history of success together. Kershaw declined to say whether he'd like to pick his own catcher.
A more immediate concern in the spring will be finding a replacement for closer Kenley Jansen, who had surgery on Tuesday to remove a bone growth from his left foot and will be out 8-12 weeks.
Jansen saved 44 games in 50 chances last season while striking out 13.9 batters per nine innings. The Dodgers parted ways in the offseason with former closers Brian Wilson and Chris Perez, and though the club attempted to bolster the bullpen by adding Joel Peralta, Chris Hatcher and Juan Nicasio, they're regarded as setup men. Sergio Santos and David Aardsma, in camp as non-roster players, have closed in the past.
Friedman said the Dodgers would sort through their options in the spring and hinted they would not pursue a free-agent closer like Francisco Rodriguez or Rafael Soriano, especially since Jansen could conceivably be back in late April.
"He's amazing. You can't really replace that,'' No. 2 starter Zack Greinke said of Jansen. "So now we have to find someone for the eighth and the ninth for a little bit, but I wouldn't think he's going to be gone too long and we should be able to find a way to be fine through it.''
The ever-honest Greinke held court with the news media for 15 minutes, saying he would have no issue throwing to a new catcher and reiterating his disappointment that last year's Dodgers, which he considers the best team he's ever played for, were eliminated in the division series.
The one topic Greinke wouldn't address was the opt-out clause in his contract and whether he intends to exercise it.
"I won't have any answers until the season's over,'' Greinke said.
Asked whether he would be open to talking about a longer deal, he replied, "Yeah, I'm open to it, but I'm sure they're open to me taking a cheap deal also.''
Resolving the outfield logjam probably won't be cheap. The Dodgers have three established, costly outfielders in Carl Crawford, Andre Ethier and Yasiel Puig. But as part of upgrading their defense with Grandal and the new keystone combo of shortstop Jimmy Rollins and second baseman Howie Kendrick, the Dodgers want to give promising rookie Joc Pederson every chance to win the center field job.
Ethier, who had a career-low 380 plate appearances last season, figures to be the odd man out and has already voiced his opposition to returning to the backup role he played in much of 2014.
With $56 million remaining on his contract and coming off a season when he had career lows in batting average (.249), home runs (four) and OPS (.691), Ethier won't be easy to move. Besides, he serves as insurance in case Pederson's not ready.
However, keeping an unhappy Ethier around may complicate Mattingly's desire for a clubhouse environment that's loose and fun but also conducive to players holding themselves accountable to each other. Last year's team failed to strike that balance.
"Obviously we had some issues, but we also were a team that won 94 games. We were a pretty good club,'' Mattingly said. "For myself and the staff you're not exactly proud of the way certain things went down. It's part of it. To me, having individual guys that have their own personality, I don't want to lose that.''