Inbox: Will Turner move to first base in '20?

Which is more likely: the Dodgers sign a big-money free agent, or they trade for another team's contract plus prospects, a la the Homer Bailey trade last offseason?
-- Will

The Dodgers are always rumored to be in pursuit of every big-money marquee free agent, but under this regime, the club hasn’t signed one from another club. Their biggest contracts have gone to Kenley Jansen and Justin Turner, which maintained the status quo but didn’t improve the club. So it will take a complete change in philosophy for the Dodgers to land Gerrit Cole, Anthony Rendon or another such big name. On the other hand, complicated salary-swapping multi-player deals are right in this front office’s wheelhouse. That might explain this week’s report by MLB Network insider Jon Paul Morosi that the Dodgers will try to trade for Cleveland shortstop Francisco Lindor.

Where would it be realistic for Turner to play in 2020? One idea is to sign Rendon (a long shot by the team and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman's past patterns) and move Turner to first base, but is there really room at first and second for Turner, Max Muncy, Gavin Lux and perhaps even Enrique Hernández?
-- Alan W.

Turner played 135 games with 549 plate appearances, the second highest numbers of his career in both categories, and he matched his career high with 27 homers. He had a relatively healthy, productive season. He knows how to protect himself while still being a force in the middle of the lineup, although with that and age comes declining defensive metrics at third base, leading to speculation that he’ll move to first.

The simplest solution is to have everybody in the infield slide over -- Muncy to second base, Lux to shortstop, Corey Seager to third base, Turner to first. The Dodgers, however, almost never choose the simplest solution, and Seager has always been resistant to leaving shortstop.

Any chance Seager or Cody Bellinger get a long-term contract before arbitration?
-- @dbluetroy

Under the current front-office regime, the Dodgers have never given a long-term contract to any player not eligible for free agency. I can’t see any reason why they would start now. Seager is in his second year of arbitration after receiving $4 million in 2019. Bellinger is eligible for arbitration for the first time after receiving $605,000 in '19.

Who gets traded this offseason? Joc Pederson or Seager?
-- T. F.

The case could be made for both. Pederson put up big-time numbers (36 homers, .876 OPS) considering he’s a platoon player, but he’s also looking at a big-time raise from his $5 million salary and he’ll be a free agent after 2020. Seager is a wild card after a '19 in which he returned from two major operations and showed glimpses of his '16 NL Rookie of the Year Award-winning ability. He’s only 25, but will he return to All-Star status, or will he be dogged by injuries? And what of that .203 postseason batting average with 41 strikeouts in 118 at-bats?

Has Hyun-Jin Ryu priced himself out of Los Angeles?
-- Daiki S., Los Angeles

If Ryu is looking at a five-year deal worth $100 million, he has. His agent is Scott Boras, so the chances of a hometown discount aren’t great. Ryu doesn’t want to leave Los Angeles, as he showed last offseason when he accepted a one-year qualifying offer and bypassed free agency. That’s not in play this time, and he’ll never have a better platform season to cash in on than the one he just completed.

Do you see either Will Smith or Keibert Ruiz being moved this offseason?
-- Peter P., New Hampshire

The Dodgers have often spoken of their depth of young catchers, although Austin Barnes’ disappointing 2019 cuts into that. The speed with which they rushed Smith to the Major Leagues, then handed him the starting job for the postseason, is an indication of how committed the front office is to him. So the best guess is that if Los Angeles were to trade one of its two best young catchers, it would be Ruiz and not Smith.