How does Big Maple fit into the Dodgers' mix?
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This story was excerpted from Juan Toribio's Dodgers Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
LOS ANGELES -- Coming into the offseason, the Dodgers’ biggest need was to upgrade a starting rotation that struggled mightily in the National League Division Series against the D-backs.
To start the winter, they were the most aggressive team in the bidding for Japanese phenom Yoshinobu Yamamoto and swung a trade with the Rays for hard-throwing Tyler Glasnow. Despite some question marks surrounding Yamamoto and Glasnow, they’re both clear upgrades to what Los Angeles finished with last season.
After landing Yamamoto and Glasnow -- who will be the top two starters in the rotation -- most people believed the Dodgers were done upgrading in that area. But that was never the case.
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Los Angeles continued to pursue options via trade and free agency. It’s no different than most years, when the Dodgers check in on a variety of players. This winter, Shane Bieber, Dylan Cease, Corbin Burnes and Jesús Luzardo were among the arms they looked into via trade. Given how slow the trade market has been, Los Angeles began to explore free-agent arms.
The club was looking for a back-end rotation type who could provide some depth and upside. The Dodgers have had mixed results on one-year deals. There was the immense success of Tyler Anderson, but there was also the Noah Syndergaard disaster last season.
This time around, Los Angeles was in a much better place to take a flier on a veteran pitcher. In the end, the club landed on left-hander James Paxton, who agreed to a one-year, $11 million deal.
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Paxton has had a lot of success, going 64-38 with a 3.69 ERA over 156 starts in his big league career. When healthy, the Canadian is as reliable as it comes. The issue for Paxton recently, however, has been staying on the field.
Paxton missed the entire 2022 season recovering from Tommy John surgery. He hoped to return in the second half of that season, but he sustained a Grade 2 lat strain that ended his campaign before it got going. In '23 with the Red Sox, Paxton made 19 starts and posted a 4.50 ERA.
With the Dodgers, Paxton gives necessary depth. Yamamoto is making a massive transition to the Majors and has never been part of a five-man rotation. Glasnow has been injury-prone throughout his career and has never logged a lot of innings. Then there’s Walker Buehler, who will more than likely not start the season with Los Angeles as he continues to get healthy.
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Paxton will slot into the rotation with Yamamoto, Glasnow and Bobby Miller. Emmet Sheehan, Gavin Stone and Ryan Yarbrough will also compete for starts this spring. The Paxton move also doesn’t rule out the possibility of the Dodgers reuniting with Clayton Kershaw. The likely future Hall of Famer won’t be ready to pitch until at least August, and he still has a decision to make in free agency.
As the old adage goes, you can never have too much starting pitching, and that’s why the Dodgers went out and signed Paxton to a one-year deal.