Pitchers and catchers report to camp for most teams Feb. 14-15, but, believe it or not, we're technically less than a week away from spring training starting. The Dodgers have pitchers and catchers reporting on Feb. 9, so that means come this Friday we can say it's spring training.
In the meantime, there's still plenty of offseason business to be settled. And yet, it seems slower than ever. Let's try to find some nuggets.
Kershaw, Dodgers still talking
"We continue to stay in touch with Clayton and we'll progress," said Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes Saturday (via Bill Plunkett of the OC Register).
Remember, Clayton Kershaw had shoulder surgery in early November and is expected to be out until at least the middle of the season. He's also a free agent, though it seems like a foregone conclusion at this point that the Dodgers will be the team that signs him. The 35-year-old future Hall of Famer has been with the organization since he was drafted out of high school in 2006 and after 16 big-league season, there's little reason, it seems, for him to explore outside employment.
The Dodgers' rotation, as it stands, is Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Bobby Miller, Emmet Sheehan and Walker Buehler, who's returning from Tommy John surgery. There are enough questions with workload there that Kershaw could give them a nice boost in, say, August and heading toward the playoffs.
Longoria 'weighing options'
Veteran free-agent third baseman Evan Longoria is "weighing options," according to the Tampa Bay Times. It's unclear if one of those options is retirement or if he has multiple job offers from which to choose.
Longoria, 38, hit .223/.295/.422 (93 OPS+) with 11 homers in 74 games for the Diamondbacks last regular season. He was their regular third baseman during the unlikely run to the World Series, hitting .167/.226/.229 in 16 playoff games.
At this point, Longoria shouldn't really be an everyday player, but he still has power and a good glove to bring to the table from a bench spot.