Dodgers Offseason Shake-Up: Flaherty and Buehler’s Departure Expected
The Los Angeles Dodgers have made the only huge move of the offseason so far.
Los Angeles signed two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell to a five-year deal. The Dodgers wanted to add more pitching and splurged on a $182 million deal for the former San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres, and Tampa Bay Rays superstar.
It was the perfect move for the Dodgers, but now a few key pieces of the organization could end up being on their way out of town. Both Jack Flaherty and Walker Buehler are free agents and USA Today Sports’ Bob Nightengale predicted that neither will be back while speaking with Dodgers Nation’s Doug McKain.
“Well, I can’t see Buehler coming back now,” Nightengale said. “Same with Jack Flaherty. Obviously, they could have kept Buehler by giving him a qualifying offer. I think Buehler would have taken it at $21 million. I’m sure they talked and said, ‘Okay, we’ll offer you, you know, say around $15 million,’ and he wasn’t interested…
“So, I think some teams will jump on Buehler and give him a nice back-loaded one-year contract, with a player option for a second year. He was great in the postseason — or solid, I should say. Great in the back end. He came out in the ninth inning of Game 5, particularly, being a free agent coming off the surgery and everything else. Great team player. But I would doubt it now. It’s like, where does he actually fit? You already have seven, eight starters. Particularly, like you said, if you get the young pitcher, Rōki Sasaki, from Japan — there’s really no room for him or Flaherty.”
Both Flaherty and Buehler were important for the Dodgers on the way to the World Series, but it would be a little surprising if they were back now.
