Podcast episode 1932: Dodgers offseason preview

This week on the podcast we dive headfirst into the offseason, with a detailed look at the Dodgers roster. The newsworthy items included here are the free agents — Hyun-jin Ryu, Rich Hill, Russell Martin and the retiring David Freese, who were made free the day after the World Series — plus the pair of option decisions involving Jedd Gyorko and Kenley Jansen.

We take a look at the payroll going into the offseason, plus where it stands with the multitude of Dodgers eligible for salary arbitration this winter.

The club also added left-handed reliever Victor Gonzalez to the 40-man roster a bit earlier than the usual annual prospect keeping, to avoid losing him as a minor league free agent.

That gives us a baseline of where the Dodgers are at, which allows us to delve somewhat into what holes they need to fill during the hot stove season.

Please send any questions for future podcasts to tblapodcast@gmail.com, or tweet us at @ericstephen or @jacobburch.

Our plan for the offseason is to have a podcast episode every two weeks, though we might adjust if and when news happens.

Dodgers rewind

This week we remember Ron Fairly, who passed away in Palm Desert the day before Halloween, at age 81.

Fairly was a local product, playing his high school ball in Long Beach followed by starring at USC. He played with the Dodgers in each of their first 12 seasons in Los Angeles, and was a regular in the lineup starting in 1962, mixing time mostly between right field and first base.

The left-handed Fairly had a 110 OPS+ in 4,529 plate appearances with the Dodgers, and played in four World Series. He was at his best in the 1965 Fall Classic, hitting .379 (11-for-29) with five extra-base hits, holding club records for hits and runs scored in one World Series. Fairly is the only player ever to score a run in all seven World Series games in a single year.

The Dodgers traded Fairly in 1969 for Manny Mota and the return of Maury Wills. Fairly would make an All-Star team with Montreal in 1973 and again with the Blue Jays in 1977, the latter making him the only player to play for both Canadian expansion teams in their first season.

Fairly followed his playing career with 27 years as an announcer with the Angels, Giants, and Mariners, making for quite a full baseball life.

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