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We’re back to five days a week! We have the first two of our team previews (Dodgers and Marlins), plus: Jen McCaffrey reports from Boston’s trip to the Dominican Republic, and Ken has notes on the Yankees embracing big personalities. I’m Levi Weaver here with Ken Rosenthal — welcome to the Windup!
Dodgers preview
The Dodgers spent over a billion U.S. dollars this offseason.
In addition to Shohei Ohtani (who won’t pitch until 2025) they completely revamped the rotation, trading for (then extending) Tyler Glasnow and signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto and James Paxton. The rotation probably goes Glasnow, Yamamoto, Bobby Miller, Paxton and Gavin Stone to start the season. But there’s depth too — Emmet Sheehan should return early in the season, with Walker Buehler due back in May or June and Clayton Kershaw and Dustin May potentially arriving in August.
Oh, and the team that scored the second-most runs in baseball last year gets Gavin Lux back from ACL surgery, and replaced J.D. Martinez at DH with Ohtani.
It’s not that there aren’t any questions — Lux struggled on defense, so after just a few Cactus League games as a full-time second baseman, Mookie Betts is now a shortstop, a move manager Dave Roberts called “permanent, for now.” And will this aging bullpen be sticky enough glue to hold the super-machine together?
But sheesh. The Dodgers could challenge the 2001 Mariners’ record of 116 wins.
Key Departures: INF Michael Busch, LHP Caleb Ferguson, RHP Lance Lynn, DH J.D. Martinez, RHP Shelby Miller, RHP Ryan Pepiot, IUNF Amed Rosario, LHP Julio Urías
Key Arrivals: OF Teoscar Hernández, RHP Tyler Glasnow, DH/RHP Shohei Ohtani, LHP James Paxton, RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto
Prospect Corner: The Dodgers’ system isn’t quite as big a powerhouse as it has been in recent years, says Keith Law, but it’s still pretty dang good, headed up by Josue De Paula and River Ryan.
Ken’s Notebook: Yanks living it up a little
From my story today about how the Yankees are embracing Marcus Stroman and Alex Verdugo … and their big personalities:
Marcus Stroman, tone it down? Not happening. Stroman said even before he signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees, team captain Aaron Judge, general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone all gave him the same message.
Don’t change. Be you.
“There is nobody in this process who was like, ‘Hey Stro, you need to …’” Stroman said. “That was only the people who weren’t involved, the outsiders who were like, ‘Hey, Stro, you gonna put on a suit and tie and be Mr. Good Boy?’ I’m 33 years old. I am who I am. I’ve got 10 years in the big leagues. I don’t have to change for nobody.”
The Yankees, under previous captain Derek Jeter and now Judge, long have maintained a professional clubhouse. A longstanding ban on facial hair is the most outward, if outdated, manifestation of the team’s image. But by keeping the focus on winning, Judge and other veterans create a culture that, in theory, is capable of absorbing new players with strong, somewhat individualistic, personalities — players like Stroman and outfielder Alex Verdugo.
Neither is getting stripped of his identity with the Yankees. Stroman, according to Cashman, will be permitted to wear the durag that once drew criticism — and an apology — from Arizona Diamondbacks broadcaster Bob Brenly. Verdugo will not be allowed to wear the multiple chains he posed with early in spring training, but can still wear one during games.
“Obviously, we have the facial hair we have to keep up on. I can’t get carried away with my chains,” Verdugo said. “But they love the way I played. When I came over, they were like, bro, we faced you the past few years. We loved that passion, that fire, that swagger you kind of bring.”
Verdugo arrived in a trade from the Boston…
This article was originally published by a theathletic.com . Read the Original article here. .