Noah Syndergaard, Craig Kimbrel named most underrated signings

Some familiar Dodgers names made the list of The Athletic’s most underrated offseason signings for each team in the league.

Despite Craig Kimbrel’s dismal season in Los Angeles, writer Matt Gelb says the Philadelphia Phillies made the right call in signing him. The team is planning to take a closer-by-committee approach, leaving plenty of room to help Kimbrel find his footing again without the constant pressure of having saves on the line. Kimbrel finished his season with the Dodgers with a 6-7 record and an ERA of 3.75.

As for the Dodgers themselves, Fabian Ardaya lists Noah Syndergaard as the team’s most underrated addition. Both the team’s pitching coaches and Syndergaard are well aware that there’s a lot of work to do to get Thor back to his god-like best, but it’s a problem they’re all more than happy to tackle. And while they do, the Dodgers can rely on both tried-and-true pitching alongside youngsters Ryan Pepiot, Bobby Miller, and Gavin Stone as they step into the spotlight.

Dodgers Links

Juan Toribio at MLB.com outlines the three big questions that remain for the Dodgers this spring, and the list is starting to look pretty familiar — and sound like a retelling of “Who’s on First?”

J.D. Martinez spoke with Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times about why he decided to sign with the Dodgers, and it has as much to do with the caliber of the team as it does with his connections to Mookie Betts and hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc.

The World Baseball Classic is growing up, as evidenced by the record-breaking number of big leaguers who have signed on to represent Team USA and more. That’s a great thing for baseball, especially here at home, writes J.P. Hoornstra at the OC Register.