This Changes EVERYTHING For the Dodgers... | LA Dodgers News

This changes everything for the Dodgers. There's already an interesting report on what the Dodgers are going to do this offseason, and it looks like one of our star players is on his way out. We'll get into all that in this edition of Dodgers Digest. Hey, this is Mike Nelson. Make sure to subscribe to the channel. Myself and Brad Jay will bring you everyday Dodger content, so make sure to hit that subscribe button. So, as we know, Max Muncy, who is going to be coming off the injured list, is going to be returning to the Dodgers very soon. He is on his final year of his contract, right? This is it for Max Muncy. So, the question is, what are the Dodgers going to do with Max Muncy? And now, it looks like the Dodgers are going to be replacing Max Muncy with a slugging Japanese phenom. This is an article that was posted this morning on Newsweek.com. This is not the first time we have heard about this guy coming to the Dodgers. This is not the first time we've heard about this player coming to LA, and some of you out there probably already know who I'm talking about. But this is, you know, this is another source to talk about what the Dodgers are going to do this offseason. So, even when Muncy returns soon from the injured list and helps power a Dodgers turnaround, this could be his last season with the team, right? He has a $10 million club option, which the Dodgers don't have to exercise. So, basically, it's the final year of his contract, right? And given the Dodgers' tendency to go big in the offseason, and their deep ties to Japan, one expert believes the team could be in a significant, there could be a significant replacement in a few months by signing Nippon Professional Baseball's Munetaka Murakami, right? Murakami, it's not the first time we've heard Murakami's name associated with the Dodgers, right? This is not the first time this is a player that the Dodgers, you know, have been probably trying to court for the last couple years. And even Murakami has made some interesting social media posts, you know, basically connecting into LA. And yeah, I mean, does not come as a surprise, right? And it kind of, you know, shows why the Dodgers, you know, are probably not going to keep Max Muncy, right? I mean, Max Muncy has had great moments for LA, there's no doubt about that. He has been missed this season while he has been, you know, on the injured list, of course. And, you know, hopefully, you know, he's going to come back and hopefully he has a great second half and leads his team to a back-to-back World Series Championship. But beyond that, the Dodgers have their eyes on somebody else, right? It looks like Murakami is the option for the Dodgers, right? This year, of course, has missed a lot of time due to arthroscopic surgery in his throwing elbow. But, you know, before that at 223 home runs in those five years, he's only 25 years old. Kerry Miller wrote about this for Bleacher Report. The expectation remains that he will be posted this winter and he will be a traditional free agent, which is, of course, since he is older, and able to immediately sign a major league deal, you know, sign for as much money that he wants, a la Yoshinobu Yamamoto, as opposed to needing to go the Roki Sasaki route and, of course, having his salary limited. This is going to be a completely different situation. This is going to be more what we saw with, of course, Yoshinobu Yamamoto. It's very similar to that situation. Very similar, right? So, this is obviously very interesting, right? What are the Dodgers going to do when it comes to Murakami? If Murakami does become a free agent, as expected, a number of major league baseball teams will be competing for his services, right? But given the Dodgers' success with adding other Japanese stars like Yamamoto, Sasaki, and Shohei Otani, they are surely favorites to bring in the young slugger, right? I mean, I think that's an understatement. Obviously, Murakami is favored to come to LA, and this is what Miller had to say about this. He said, prediction, Murakami signs a six-year deal with the Dodgers, becoming the heir apparent to Max Muncy at third base. I like the sign of that, signing a third baseman to a long-term deal. It's hard to find third basemans, guys. It's not that easy. Murakami has been ranked as a top free agent by NBA trade rumors, with the potential to sign a $300 million contract. And with the clear need for a third base option in the future, that type of deal could very well come from the Dodgers soon. And that's, of course, $300 million starting, right? I mean, that's the starting fee for Murakami. We know that could go up. It could be $340 million, $350 million, $360 million, whatever. It's going to be an interesting offseason to see the leads for the Dodgers. I can hardly wait. Of course, we've got to finish this year first, but the speculation and the, of course, debating and the whole, you know, we're going to have a lot to talk about when this season is over. Because the Dodgers, of course, have a big task on hand, and that's to win back-to-back World Series, right? And things haven't gone too well as of late. If the Dodgers don't win the World Series this year, you know there's going to be probably a lot of major changes coming to the team, right? You know, winning the World Series, probably a little bit less, but not winning, it's going to be super interesting to see, you know, what the Dodgers are going to do, right? So, Murakami, the question is, now, does Murakami come to LA whether the Dodgers win or not, right? And probably the answer is, yeah, he comes to LA whether the Dodgers win the World Series or not. I mean, even if Max Muncy is World Series MVP, hits, I don't know, home run to win the World Series, and they have a chance to sign Murakami, I think the Dodgers are going to try to get Murakami, right? Because this guy is the future. If, you know, you don't want this guy going to San Diego, or you don't want him going to, I don't know, the Yankees, right? You want him with the Dodgers. So, if the Dodgers have a chance to sign this guy, they're going to probably pay him whatever he wants, and, you know, he's going to join Sasaki, and Yamamoto, and Otani, right? And it'd be another Japanese player on the Dodgers, which would not be a bad thing. I think the Dodgers, you know, would be very happy to have Murakami, and I think he would be happy to come to LA as well. So, I think we're going to see Murakami come to the Dodgers. I really think we're going to see that. Max Muncy, you know, you wish something but the best for him. It's probably tough for him, you know, as a player currently on the roster, he sees these stories, he sees the rumors, but that's just part of the business, right? It's part of baseball and sports business. You're basically getting replaced before you're already, you know, while you're still there, right? And that's kind of unfortunately how it works, and the Dodgers want to build a, you know, dynasty, right? They don't want to be swept up, and just, you know, lost with age, right? I mean, they're going to replace everybody eventually, right? Freeman and Betts, everybody's going to get replaced. So, if they're already thinking about Max Muncy's replacement, I think it's great, and yeah, hopefully the Dodgers get this done. Tonight, the Dodgers, we know, are going to be taking on the Cardinals. It's going to be a pretty good pitching matchup. Tyler Glass now on the mound for LA, and Sonny Gray going for the Cardinals. So, it's going to be interesting tonight, seven o'clock local time, Dodgers Stadium. Game one of a three-game set. Dodgers just won two out of three against the Rays, got the job done. Unfortunately, San Diego won yesterday against the Cardinals. Hopefully, San Diego can drop some games this week. We need them to keep losing, and the Dodgers to keep winning, and just build and build more of a lead, right? Before their series at Dodgers Stadium next weekend. Not this weekend, but next weekend, the Dodgers and San Diego will get together for three games. So, hopefully the Dodgers have a big lead. Dodgers have a big lead before that series, and yeah, looking forward to tonight's game, Sonny Gray and Tyler Glass. Now, as always, make sure to subscribe. Let's go Dodgers!