Dodgers Would Be Foolish Not to Upgrade Starting Rotation This Winter

The Los Angeles Dodgers rotation begins with the best pitcher on the planet and ends with arguably the biggest question mark in all of baseball. That makes finding a starter—maybe even two starters—the most important offseason task for Andrew Friedman, L.A.'s new president of baseball operations.

Clayton Kershaw is the ace, the reigning National League MVP and the franchise building block. After that, there's Zack Greinke, a No. 1 arm on many other teams, and Korean import Hyun-Jin Ryu, a more-than-adequate No. 3.

Then, well, let's just say things get ugly in a hurry.

Last season, nine pitchers not named Kershaw, Greinke or Ryu started games for Los Angeles. Only two of them finished with ERAs under 4.00: Red Patterson, a 27-year-old rookie with exactly 4.2 big league innings under his belt, and Josh Beckett, who spent most of 2014 on the disabled list and announced his retirement in October. 

Dan Haren—who exercised his $10 million player option and threatened to retire if the Dodgers traded him, per Mark Saxon of ESPNLosAngeles.com—is the ostensible No. 4 guy.

The 34-year-old right-hander was serviceable last year, posting a 4.02 ERA in 186 innings. But he's a fifth starter at best on a contending team, which is what the defending NL West champs are determined to be.

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press

Speaking of fifth starters, the Dodgers don't have one. Their top pitching prospect, per MLB.com, is 18-year-old Julio Urias, who's at least a couple of years away. Their Triple-A rotation, meanwhile, was a "mess" last year, Saxon notes.

That's also a good word to describe the scrap-heap options Los Angeles tried last year, including right-hander Kevin Correia, who coughed up 22 runs in 24.2 innings after coming over in a trade from the Minnesota Twins.

The Dodgers haven't been featured in many pitching-related rumors this offseason, despite their glaring need and the wealth of arms on the market.

That's part of a return to "the old Dodger Way," according to Saxon, with an emphasis on player development over huge free-agent payouts.

It's why they hired Friedman, architect of the small-market Tampa Bay Rays, who told Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times that it's important "to pay for what a player will do, not necessarily for what they have done."

Fine. But Friedman is also under intense pressure to win now. He's in charge of MLB's highest payroll, with all the expectations that entails. 

Dodgers fans who just watched the rival San Francisco Giants hoist their third Commissioner's Trophy in five seasons don't have the patience to wait for draft picks and prospects to rise through the system while the big club falters.

They expect results—now.

That explains the recent rumors, first pushed out by WEEI.com's Rob Bradford and Alex Speier, that the Dodgers are preparing "to make a hard, late charge" to sign Jon Lester.

The 30-year-old left-hander will surely command a nine-figure deal. Considering the Dodgers have already committed $349 million to Kershaw, Greinke, Ryu and Haren through 2020, per Saxon, it'd be a stretch to add Lester, even for baseball's biggest spenders.

Kathy Willens/Associated Press

Plus, L.A. has holes to fill at shortstop and catcher and in the bullpen. The notion of adding another expensive ace is tantalizing, and it is in keeping with the Dodgers' recent free-spending ways, but it doesn't make a lot of sense.

There are plenty of other options—second-tier names such as Brandon McCarthy, Francisco Liriano and Ervin Santana—who would shore up the back end of the rotation without breaking the bank.

Or what about veteran Jake Peavy, who thrived in the NL West after a deadline trade to the Giants last season and could likely be had on a shorter deal?

The Dodgers learned the hard way what a lack of pitching depth can do in the playoffs when they tried to ride their few horses and were knocked out in the division series by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Friedman has many questions to answer in his first offseason in Southern California. This is the one he can't afford to get wrong.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com.