Written by Andy McCullough at LA Times
On Saturday evening, inside the Santa Barbara Beach & Golf Resort in Curacao, four members of the 2016 Dodgers gathered with their spouses for a photograph. In the center of the shot, wearing a bow-tie, sat Kenley Jansen. To his left was Justin Turner, his collar unbuttoned, with Scott Van Slyke and Yasiel Puigrounding out the group. They had flown to the island to attend Jansen’s wedding, and so they beamed for posterity.
Two days later, there would be more to celebrate.
The Dodgers completed a significant portion of their off-season shopping on Monday, reaching an agreement to re-sign Jansen, while approaching the final stages of an agreement with Turner, according to people familiar with the situation, who requested anonymity because neither contract had been finalized.
Jansen spurned a more lucrative offer from the Washington Nationals to stay in Los Angeles with a five-year, $80-million deal. Turner was close to reaching a four-year contract believed to be worth $64 million.
When the off-season began, the Dodgers identified a trio of their own players as primary targets in free agency: Jansen, Turner and left-handed Rich Hill. After inking Hill to a three-year, $48-million deal last week, the team debated a variety of trade scenarios and contingencies in case they could not afford the other two. In the end, the Dodgers ponied up the necessary cash, an expected bill of $192 million for the three.
“If you’re always rational about every free agent, you will finish third on every free agent,” president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said last week at baseball’s winter meetings. The statement looked prophetic on Monday.
Each contract represents a gamble, and the spending surprised rival executives who predicted an off-season of frugality from the Dodgers as the team attempted to avoid luxury-tax penalties. But the splurge also demonstrated the team’s internal belief in its roster. By effectively getting the band back together for 2017, Friedman’s front office delivered a vote of confidence to a group that finished two victories shy of the World Series in October.
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