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THE HEADLINES 

SMACK
WEST'S HAT TRICK 

FOOTBALL

 Are Quarterbacks Overrated? 
NFL Weekly Picks 
NCAA Top 12
RAIDERS RED ZONE

Adams Out/Brady In   
BASKTBALL 
Opening Night Jitters 
 LAND OF LAKERS  

 The Five 

BASEBALL

Back From The Dead 

REDS ROOM 

Tito 911 

HOCKEY 
One Week Down 
PENS ON ICE

Winning And Records 

FANTASY FOOTBALL 
 Follow The Big 4 Sports Demons  

MLB 2024 FREE AGENTS BY POSITION 

NEW EPISODE EVERY MONDAY

The Big 4 Sports No Autopsy, No Foul podcast 

with Mark Elliott

WEST'S HAT TRICK 

When fans talk about the best to ever play the game of basketball in the NBA, Jerry West's name never comes up. You won't hear him mentioned as being on someone's Mount Rushmore, but that's alright because every time you see the NBA logo, you see his silhouette and that's Mount Rushmore enough. 

West played 14 years and 932 games in the NBA. He scored 25,192 points or 27 points per game without the benefit of the three point line. West retired after the 1974 season and the three point line didn't exist in the NBA until the ABA disbanded and the league adopted it in 1979. He currently sits 25th on the all time NBA scorers list, but he would easily be in the Top ten in scoring today if it did. 

It's been 50 years since Jerry West retired, so how can we expect anyone to fully understand the impact he had as a player. There are many who remember Jerry for being a great general manager because without Jerry West, the Los Angeles Lakers wouldn't have all of those championship banners hanging on the wall at Crypto. The championships the Lakers won with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol can be attributed to Jerry West. When he was the general manager of the Memphis Grizzlies, It was West who traded Pau in 2008 to the Lakers which led to Memphis drafting Pau's brother Marc Gasol. If West doesn't engineer this deal with then Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak, Kobe Bryant doesn't end up with five championship rings. Jerry West loved Kobe Bryant, and wanted to see him succeed at winning a title without Shaquille O'Neal. Maybe some of it was also self serving since West traded for Kobe after he was drafted out of high school by Charlotte in 1996, but he could have kept Pau and Memphis would have still had a winning franchise while the Lakers might have floundered for a few more years.

After leaving the Lakers, an organization he helped build in to an empire, Jerry turned around what had been a losing franchise in the Memphis Grizzles, formerly the Vancouver Grizzlies, into a winner. He then left and joined the Golden State Warriors as a consultant and helped them win two NBA championships. Continuing as a consultant for the Los Angeles Clippers, joining when Steve Balmer bought the team, he helped turn what had been one of the worst NBA franchises in NBA history dating all the way back to when they were the Buffalo Braves and San Diego Clippers, into a team that has dominated the Los Angeles Lakers over the past decade.  

On Sunday, Jerry West was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame for the third time for his contributions as the Lakers general manager who he helped deliver eight titles directly and the unspoken two involving Pau Gasol. He is the only man to have this distinction in the NBA Hall of Fame. The interesting thing most of you don't know about Jerry West is while he would have graciously accepted the award, he would tell you he did not deserve any of the accolades he achieved in his career. Nothing Jerry West accomplished was ever good enough for him. Before he died earlier this year at the age of 86, West campaigned to have his silhouette removed from the NBA logo in favor of Michael Jordan. That speaks to the character and integrity of Jerry West. 

In all honestly, Jerry West doesn't belong on anyone's Mount Rushmore because he is deserving of something so much greater...God sounds about right.

 

Comments & Questions are Welcome

Email: sports@big4sportsusa.com  

WHAT NBA TEAMS CURRENTLY HAVE NO WHITE PLAYESRS? 

(See The Answer Below)

ARE QUARTERBACKS OVERRATED? 

The NFL is thought of as a quarterback league and there is no doubt the quarterback position is the most important because they handle the ball one hundred percent of the time when they're on the field but are they as important as we have been led to believe? 

I'm going to use Minnesota QB Sam Darnold as an example.  Sam has played with the Jets, Panthers, 49ers and now the Vikings. Darnold was dismal at best in New York and Carolina. He couldn't beat out Brock Purdy in San Francisco, but now he's got the Vikings at 4-0, and looking like he's the second coming of Fran Tarkington. What changed? Why is Sam starting to become the QB everyone thought he could be? So far this season he's out dueled Daniel Jones of the Giants, his ex teammate Brock Purdy from San Francisco, last season's rising QB star CJ Stroud and Green Bay's Jordan Love. The question is can Sam Darnold continue to get better week by week and keep the Vikings success rolling? 

While the QB position is the glamorous position that we all like to talk about but I'm going to offer up the NFL is an offensive and defensive line league. When a team has good play from both lines, they win football games. It's not a glamorous job because the men who play it don't offer up any sizzle like the Quarterback. I promise if Pat Mahomes was the QB in Carolina behind their offensive line, he wouldn't be the Pat Mahomes we see today. Aaron Rodgers doesn't have an offensive line like he had in Green Bay, and he's not the Aaron Rodgers we've come to know, even if he is an old QB now.

Quarterbacks also need receivers who can catch the ball. Sam Darnold never had a Justin Jefferson in New York or Carolina. He didn't play enough in San Francisco to benefit from their receiving core. What Darnold got in San Francisco was good coaching. He saw the work eithic of the coaching staff and his teammates who demonstrated what it takes to win in the NFL. However, without an offensive line in Minnesota, Darnold would be playing for a paycheck. 

New Orleans opened the season murdering their opponents including the Cowboys in Dallas. Then center Erik McCoy went down and the Saints have lost their last two games. So while the linemen aren't glamorous and don't put asses in the seats or attract eyeballs to the TV and help sell the league and team merchandise. You don't win football games without an solid offensive and defensive line and out of the two, since putting points on the board is the name of the game, I'm going to say the most important attribute a football team at any level can have is a group of HOGS on the offensive line. 

Comments & Questions Are Welcome

Email: sports@big4sportsusa.com

We are five weeks  into the NFL season and my methods for picking games has been more than disappointing. It used to be as easy as taking the better of the two quarterbacks playing at home with the better defense. Now that's a 50/50 proposition. Today, NFL teams are so close in parity, games can be won or lost on a turnover or a penalty at the wrong point in the game. Home field advantage is almost non existent unless there is a clear advantage like Kanas City playing a home against Carolina. 

I am currently at 55% and I've been here before but not this early in the season but there are never any quarantines either way. The best I can do is to keep swinging for the fence. 

Here are our week 7 NFL picks in bold. 
(Subject to change 30 minutes before game time due the injury report) 

NFL Week 7

Denver @ New Orleans 
New England @ Jacksonville

Seattle @ Atlanta

Tennessee @ Buffalo

Cincinnati @ Cleveland

Houston @ Green Bay

Miami @ Indianapolis

Detroit @ Minnesota 

Philadelphia @ New York Giants

Las Vegas @ Los Angeles Rams

Carolina @ Washington 

Kansas City @ San Francisco

New York Jets @ Pittsburgh

Baltimore @ Tampa Bay 
Los Angeles Chargers @ Arizona 

Season Record

Won 56    Lost 36     Pct 61%

FANTASTIC 4 PICKS 

Atlanta (Seattle) 
Buffalo (Tennessee)

Los Angeles Rams (Las Vegas)
Washington (Carolina) 

Season Record 

W 15  L 9

TOP 12

Week Of October 14, 2024

1 Texas 6-0
2 Oregon 6-0 

3 Penn State 6-0

4 Miami 6-0

5 Ohio State 5-1

6 Georgia 5-1

7 Alabama 5-1

8 Tennessee 5-1

9 Iowa State 6-0

10 LSU 5-1

11 Clemson 5-1

12 BYU 6-0 

RAIDERS REDZONE

ADAMS OUT/BRADY IN 

On a day when the Las Vegas Raiders welcomed the greatest Quarterback to every play in the NFL Tom Brady as a 5% owner of the team, the Raiders also said goodbye to Prima Donna Wide Receiver, Devanta Adams. 

The NFL officially approved Tom  Brady's bid to own a slice of the Raiders franchise. Brady will own 5% of the team while his business partner Tom Wagner will own another 5% of ex Brady teammate Richard Seymour will pick up a small 0.5% of the team. Speculation is Brady will have a major say in the operations of the team moving forward. If Brady is half as good as a part owner as he was a Quarterback, he'll be a major improvement over what has been one poor decision after another by the majority steak holders in the Raiders, namely Mark Davis. 

Also on Tuesday, the Raiders Devante Adams injured hamstring healed up immediately as soon as he was traded or practically given away to the New York Jets for a conditional third round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. The Raiders also saved a bunch of money on Adams salary. 

The end game here is the Raiders even with Derek Care and Devante Adams were never contenders. Why keep Adams when the Raiders don't have anyone who can get him the ball consistently. The pick will most likely amount to nothing but the Raiders cut the cancer out of their organization. 

Look for the Raiders to start making wholesale changes in the coming weeks now that Brady and company are involved. Every front office personnel member, coach and player are on notice to either shit or get off the pot. It's another new day Raider Nation...but we've seen this movie one too many times before. 

 

Comments & Questions Are Welcome

Email: sports@big4sportsusa.com

OPENING NIGHT JITTERS  

Opening night for the NBA is less than ten days away on October 22nd and the scramble begins for the top 8 seeds in each conference to make the playoffs. The way the NBA is structured today, you don't hear teams talking about winning their division or conference, they just want to be good enough to make the playoffs because 16 out of 30 teams make the playoffs. It's clearly a have versus the have nots league. 

This season, it looks like you're going to see the same team vying for playoff positions as last year with the exceptions of maybe Houston or Memphis in the Western Conference. I look for Golden State and the Los Angeles Clippers to digress this season, making room for Houston and/or Memphis. 

In the Eastern Conference, you may see some shuffling in the standings by the eight playoff teams last year but overall the conference hasn't improved much over last season. Outside of the New York Knicks picking up Karl-Anthony Towns and Philadelphia adding Paul George , teams didn't make enough off season moves to get better. You'll see Boston, New York, Milwaukee, Cleveland, Orlando, Indiana and Philadelphia battle it out for the top seven and the eighth position is up for grabs. 

The opening night matchups features two games and both will be on TNT. The new look New York Knicks play at Boston to try and send a message to the defending NBA champions that they're the new swinging dicks in the East and Minnesota will travel to Los Angeles to play the Lakers and we'll get look into the Timberwolves minus Towns immediately. 

Make no mistake, this will be an exciting season between the teams who are playoff built but injuries can and will make the difference throughout the season. The loss of one key player on any roster can wreak havoc on the standings. The In-Season Tournament should provide an early look as to what to expect throughout the NBA season starting November 12th. Can the Los Angeles Lakers repeat as In-Season tournaments champs? Stay tuned....

Comments & Questions Are Welcome

Email: sports@big4sportsusa.com 

Here are key dates to be aware of for the upcoming NBA Season;

• Opening Night: October 22, 2024
• In-Season Tournament: November 12 - December 17, 2024
• Christmas Day Games: December 25, 2024 San Antonio Vs New York Knicks Minnesota Vs Dallas Philadelphia Vs Boston Los Angeles Lakers Vs Golden State Denver Vs Phoenix
• Martin Luther King Jr. Day Games: January 20, 2025
• NBA All-Star Weekend: February 14-16, 2025
• End of Regular Season: April 14, 2025
• NBA Play-In Tournament: April 16-19, 2025
• Start of NBA Playoffs: April 21, 2025
• NBA Finals: June 2025

   LAND OF LAKERS    

 THE FIVE 

The NBA preseason is about to tip off and we're starting to see the chatter about the upcoming season ramp up. Once again, we are reviving the disenchantment with D'Angelo Russell conversation and the feeling is the Lakers need to make a move to improve. 

I've said this a million times, there is no team in the NBA who wants to trade with the Lakers to make them better. The way the :Lakers are constructed right now, outside of Anthony Davis and maybe LeBron James, the Lakers don't have any players to trade that would make any team thirsty to make a trade. The Lakers are a group of decent roll players wrapped around LeBron James and  Anthony Davis. Roll players don't being all star caliber talent or draft picks to an organization. In short, what you see  Lakers fans is what you get in 2024-25. 

The good news is the Lakers projected starting five has had about a year and a half of playing together and chemistry is huge in the NBA. When the Lakers have started LeBron James, Anthony Davis, D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, and Rui Hachimura, they've won 69% of their games. That translates to 56 wins during an 82 game schedule. It only takes 50 wins to insure a top 6 seed in the NBA standings to make the playoffs. No team cares about winning their division or conference anymore. Today, it's all about just making the playoffs. 

The Lakers issues isn't with their starters. It's with their bench depth. Once again Los Angeles will start the season with Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood on the injury list. Vanderbilt may return early in the regular season but he won't be in basketball shape. Wood just had knee surgery in September, so he won't be available until later in the season and out of basketball shape so how effective will he be? 

The upside is the Lakers guard play should improve with a healthy Gabe Vincent and if first round pick Dalton Knecht can make an immediate impact, then the Lakers might be able to get off to a better start than they have the past two seasons. The Lakers are counting on Max Christie, Jaxson Hayes, and Cam Reddish to give them a competitive team ten players deep. Any way you slice it, the Lakers are going to count on James and Davis to carry a large load and James will be 40 in December and Davis is starting to creep up in  age, so how many minutes can the Lakers count on them for? The Lakers need to sure up their front court and it might require them to package up a few players and draft picks to get there. 

It will be up to new head coach JJ Redick to work with the bench to get the most out of them while Rob Pelilnka explores options to improve the team without giving up any key parts. What we know is the Lakers have an excellent shot at winning 50 games and making the playoffs. 

Comments & Questions Are Welcome

Email: sports@big4sportsusa.com 

BACK FROM THE  DEAD

I don't know about you but I had the Los Angeles Dodgers DOA after going down 2-1 to San Diego. The Padres were playing at home and they had all the momentum plus I'm used to seeing the Dodgers blow it in the playoffs, so why not San Diego? 

After tying the series at 2-2, the Dodgers returned home for a deciding game five and their pitching was outstanding in shutting out the Padres 2-0 on a two hitter. Granted the Dodgers bats made just enough noise on two homeruns to get the win. 

Now the Dodgers will take on the New York Mets starting on Sunday in Los Angeles in a best of seven series. At this point, the pitching matchups have not been announced. 

 
Comments & Questions Are Welcome

Email: sports@big4sportsusa.com 

REDS ROOM 

TITO 911 

 
Now that the Reds have their manager in Terry "Tito" Francona, it's time to give him a little help shaping the roster for 2025. I don't think the Reds are as far off as some other Reds faithful and with David Bell out of the way. the Reds conquered their biggest challenge. I believe Francona would have had this seasons Reds team in the playoff hunt. He wouldn't have put up with Fernando Cruz or Justin Wilson blowing leads and losing games. They were a combined 4-13 this season out of the bullpen. Francona would have nipped that situation in the bud early. We also wouldn't have seen TJ Friedl hitting cleanup most of the summer. 

I believe Terry watched the Reds this season from the comfort of his La-Z-Boy and watched David Bell, and shaking his head every time he took a starter out after pitching 4 2/3 innings or saw the Reds nightly batting order and thought, give me a shot at running this team. 

The Reds have a few key issues that need to get solved heading into the season. One, who will be the Reds everyday Right Fielder? Two, there is a log jam at first base with France, Candelario and Encarnacion Strand. Three, what will the Reds do with Jonathan India? Four, who will the Reds bring in to sure up the left handed pitching in the bullpen. Is it time to bring back free agent Aroldis Chapman? Five, will the Reds be able to retain Nick Martinez and Emilio Pagan who can both opt out. I'd like to see the Reds retain Martinez, but Pagan is optional. The Reds have enough right handed bullpen pitching. 

There are a handful of outfielders on the free agent market but not one who's a game changer. The Reds will either have to trade for one or maybe Jake Fraley can return to his 2023 form and play 150 games. He's a solid player when he's healthy. There is also Rece Hinds, who showed some potential this season and could step up in spring training to start or be a solid backup. 

The bigger concern for me is the left handed pitching in the bullpen. Sam Moll is lights out btu he's getting older. Brent Suter is solid but he's getting older and has health issues too. I'd like to see the Reds land a couple of good left handed relievers to sure up the bullpen. 

First base will work itself out in spring training, and I look for the Reds to most likely give Encarnacion-Strand coming off an injury time to work at AAA for the first month or two before deciding on his future. France and Candelario can handle first and DH for a couple of months. 

If this is the Reds everyday lineup, and the pitching additions get solved. I think Terry Francona is going to have a very successful 2025. 

2B- Matt McLain 

CF- T.J. Friedl 

SS- Elly De La Cruz 

LF- Spencer Steer 

RF- Jake Fraley 

1B- Ty France 

DH- Jeimer Candelario 

C- Tyler Stephenson 

3B- Noelvi Marte 

Comments & Questions Are Welcome

Email: sports@big4sportsusa.com 

ONE WEEK DOWN  

The first week of the 2024/25 NHL season is underway and there really isn't a story to tell yet. New Jersey is off to a hot 4-1 start and Dallas, Winnipeg, Vegas, and Calgary are all 3-0. It's going to take a month before we start to see team start to separate from each other in the standings. 

The biggest surprise is the 0-3 start by Edmonton, who is fresh off of playing for the Stanley Cup a few months ago. Equally, the 0-3 Colorado Avalanche is also a shocker, but it's still early and there is no reason to be concerned about a slow start this early in the process. 

Comments & Questions Are Welcome

Email: sports@big4sportsusa.com 

PENS ON ICE 

WINNING & RECORDS 

 

 After getting shutout by the New York Rangers on opening night, the Pittsburgh Penguin offense has been on fire in all three of their wins averaging 6 goals per game. Wednesday night the Pens put up another 6 in overtime to defeat Buffalo 6 to 5. 

It was also a night of records. Sidney Crosby entered the NHL's top 10 list of assist leaders by getting the 1600th of his career and Evangi Malkin is now a member of the 500 career goal club. Congratulations to them both. 

It was Crosby's powerplay goal at 1:38 of overtime to put Pittsburgh in the win column and the team stands at 3-2-0 on the season. Six Pens put the puck in the net, including Rickard Rakell getting his 3rd goal in the past 3 games. 

Once again, goalie Tristan Jarry was pitiful giving up 3 goals on 5 shots in the first period before being pulled for Joel Blomqvist who was outstanding stopping 26 of 28 shots on goal. How much more do we need to see of Tristan Jarry? Not only should be reduced to the Pens backup goalie, maybe its time to move him where a change of scenery would do him some good. The Pens can't play 77 more games knowing when Jarry is minding the net, they have to score at least 6 goals to win. That's a lot of pressure on an offense to face night in night out. 

The Pens next game is at home on Friday night against Carolina (1-1-0).

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Email: sports@big4sportsusa.com 

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BIG 4 SPORTS
FANTASY FOOTBALL 

Here is the 2024 Big 4 Sports Demons 

Fantasy Football Team 

WEEK 6 Recap 

The Demons won week 6 thanks to the return of Amon-Ra St. Brown and Sam LaPorta. The Lions put up 47 points on Dallas to help me breeze through the week. The Demons are now 4-2 with the third highest scoring offense in the league but we remain in 3rd place, one game out of second. Week 7 the Demons play the second place team giving us a chance to move up. 

    Quarterbacks 

Lamar Jackson- Baltimore Ravens

Geno Smith- Seattle Seahawks 

Running Backs

Kyren Williams- Los Angeles Rams
JK Dobbins- San Diego Chargers

Jerome Ford- Cleveland Browns 

Rico Dowdle- Dallas Cowboys  

Kareem Hunt- Kansas City Chiefs 

 

Wide Receivers

Amon-Ra St. Brown- Detroit Lions

Stefon Diggs- Houston Texans 

Darnell Moody- Atlanta Falcons  
Rashid Shaheed- New Orleans Saints

 

Tight Ends

Sam La Portia- Detroit Lions

Dalton Schultz- Houston Texans 

Kicker

Brandon Aubrey- Dallas Cowboys

Defense 

Pittsburgh Steelers 

Roster Moves 

 Pick up Chase McLaughlin Drop Jerome Ford
*Need a kicker for Brandon Aubrey bye week.  

WEEK 7 STARTERS

QB- Lamar Jackson- Ravens 

RB- Kyren WIlliams- Rams 

RB- JK Dobbins- Chargers

WR- Stephon Diggs- Texans

WR- Armon-Ra St. Brown- Lions

TE- Sam LaPortia- Lions 

FX- Kareem Hunt- Chiefs 

K- TBD

D- Pittsburgh Steelers 

Season Record

4-2-0

                             

Comments & Questions Are Welcome

Email: sports@big4sportsusa.com 

 ANSWER

Atlanta, Detroit, Memphis, Washington 

2024 FREE AGENTS 

BY POSITION 

                                          

                                                         

 CATCHERS

Kyle Higashioka (35 years old, 2.9 WAR)
Travis d'Arnaud (36, 2.5) -- club option
Danny Jansen (30, 2.5)
Gary Sánchez (32, 2.0) -- mutual option
Carson Kelly (30, 1.9)
Yasmani Grandal (36, 1.4)
Austin Hedges (32, 1.4)
Elias Díaz (34, 0.5)
Jacob Stallings (35, 0.5) -- mutual option
James McCann (35, 0.5)
Yan Gomes (37, -0.1)
Austin Barnes (35, -0.1) -- club option
Tucker Barnhart (34, -0.2)
Luke Maile (34, -0.2) -- club option
Curt Casali (36, -0.7)
Omar Narváez (33, -0.9)
Martín Maldonado (38, -2.3)
Max Stassi (34, N/A) -- club option

FIRST BASEMEN

Christian Walker (34 years old, 6.8 WAR)
Pete Alonso (30, 5.0)
Carlos Santana (39, 4.5)
Paul Goldschmidt (37, 4.4)
Ryan O'Hearn (31, 3.2) -- club option
Justin Turner (40, 2.2)
Wilmer Flores (33, 1.6) -- player option/club option
Joey Gallo (31, 0.6) -- mutual option
Anthony Rizzo (35, 0.5) -- club option
Josh Bell (32, 0.2)
Rhys Hoskins (32, 0.1) -- can opt out
Garrett Cooper (34, 0.0)
Yuli Gurriel (41, -0.5)
Ji Man Choi (34, -0.5)
Rowdy Tellez (30, -1.2)

SECOND BASEMEN

Gleyber Torres (28 years old, 5.3 WAR)
Brandon Lowe (30, 5.1) -- club option
Kyle Farmer (34, 2.0) -- mutual option
Whit Merrifield (36, 1.7)
Jorge Polanco (31, 1.6) -- club option
Brandon Drury (32, 0.6)
Adam Frazier (33, -0.1) -- mutual option
Tony Kemp (33, -0.2)
Joey Wendle (35, -1.0)

SHORTSTOPS

Willy Adames (29 years old, 8.0 WAR)
Ha-Seong Kim (29, 6.9) -- mutual option
Miguel Rojas (36, 3.5) -- club option
Jose Iglesias (35, 2.6)
Paul DeJong (31, 2.2)
Kevin Newman (31, 1.4)
Amed Rosario (29, 0.7)
Nick Ahmed (35, 0.5)
Brandon Crawford (38, 0.5)
Aledmys Díaz (34, -0.9)
Tim Anderson (32, -1.6)

THIRD BASEMEN

Alex Bregman (31 years old, 8.6 WAR)
Eugenio Suárez (33, 7.3) -- club option
J.D. Davis (32, 1.7)
Yoán Moncada (30, 1.4) -- club option
Gio Urshela (33, 1.2)
Brian Anderson (32, 0.2)
Jace Peterson (35, 0.0)

LEFT FIELDERS

Tyler O’Neill (30 years old, 3.1 WAR)
Jurickson Profar (32, 2.7)
Mark Canha (36, 2.7)
Michael Conforto (32, 2.0)
Alex Verdugo (29, 2.0)
Tommy Pham (37, 1.8)
Rob Refsnyder (34, 1.6) -- club option
Travis Jankowski (34, 0.8)
Austin Slater (32, 0.5)
Jesse Winker (31, 0.5)
Adam Duvall (36, 0.4)
David Peralta (37, 0.2)
Ben Gamel (33, -0.1)
Robbie Grossman (35, -0.2)
Eddie Rosario (33, -0.8)

CENTER FIELDERS

Cody Bellinger (29 years old, 6.7 WAR) -- can opt out
Harrison Bader (31, 2.4)
Michael A. Taylor (34, 2.4)
Garrett Hampson (30, 1.1)
Kevin Pillar (36, 0.8)
Aaron Hicks (35, 0.4)
Manuel Margot (30, 0.3) -- club option
Enrique Hernández (33, -0.4)

RIGHT FIELDERS

Juan Soto (26 years old, 14.2 WAR)
Anthony Santander (30, 5.9)
Teoscar Hernández (32, 5.4)
Max Kepler (32, 3.8)
Jason Heyward (35, 3.1)
Randal Grichuk (33, 2.1) -- mutual option
Hunter Renfroe (33, 0.3) -- player option
Mitch Haniger (34, -1.2) -- can opt out

DESIGNATED HITTERS

Marcell Ozuna (34 years old, 7.9 WAR) -- club option
Joc Pederson (33, 3.7) -- mutual option
J.D. Martinez (37, 3.0)
Andrew McCutchen (38, 1.8)
Daniel Vogelbach (32, -0.1)
Eloy Jiménez (28, -0.4) -- club option
Matt Carpenter (39, -0.6)

STARTING PITCHERS

Corbin Burnes (30 years old, 7.2 WAR)
Gerrit Cole (34, 7.2) -- can opt out
Blake Snell (32, 7.2) -- can opt out
Yusei Kikuchi (34, 6.0)
Michael Wacha (33, 6.0) -- player option
Freddy Peralta (29, 5.4) -- club option
Max Fried (31, 5.2)
Nathan Eovaldi (35, 5.1) -- player option
Jack Flaherty (29, 5.0)
Nick Martinez (34, 4.9) -- can opt out
Jordan Montgomery (32, 4.9) -- player option
Kyle Gibson (37, 4.0) -- club option
Justin Verlander (42, 4.0)
Nick Pivetta (32, 3.9)
Sean Manaea (33, 3.9) -- can opt out
Merrill Kelly (36, 3.8) -- club option
Charlie Morton (41, 3.8)
Andrew Heaney (34, 3.5)
Kyle Hendricks (35, 3.0)
Clayton Kershaw (37, 3.0) -- player option
Shane Bieber (30, 2.8)
Max Scherzer (40, 2.8)
Patrick Corbin (35, 2.6)
José Quintana (36, 2.6)
Michael Lorenzen (33, 2.4)
Mike Clevinger (34, 2.1)
Alex Cobb (37, 2.1)
Lance Lynn (38, 1.8) -- club option
Trevor Williams (33, 1.8)
Matthew Boyd (34, 1.7)
Colin Rea (34, 1.6) -- club option
Luis Severino (31, 1.6)
Adrian Houser (32, 1.6)
Frankie Montas (32, 1.4) -- mutual option
Anthony DeSclafani (35, 1.0)
Wade Miley (38, 1.0) -- mutual option
Martín Pérez (34, 0.9)
Lucas Giolito (30, 0.9) -- can opt out
Ross Stripling (35, 0.9)
Zach Davies (32, 0.8)
Domingo Germán (32, 0.8)
Marco Gonzales (33, 0.8) -- club option
Chris Flexen (30, 0.8)
John Means (32, 0.6)
Spencer Turnbull (32, 0.6)
Jordan Lyles (34, 0.3)
Julio Teheran (34, 0.2)
Alex Wood (34, 0.1)
Dallas Keuchel (37, 0.1)
Robbie Ray (33, 0.0) -- can opt out
Michael Soroka (27, 0.0)
Carlos Carrasco (38, -0.2)
Walker Buehler (30, -0.2)
Chase Anderson (37, -0.3)
Yonny Chirinos (31, -0.5)
Brad Keller (29, -0.5)
José Ureña (33, -0.5)

RELIEF PITCHERS

Tanner Scott (30 years old, 4.5 WAR)
Jeff Hoffman (32, 3.6)
David Robertson (40, 3.1) -- mutual option
Aroldis Chapman (37, 2.9)
Clay Holmes (32, 2.8)
Kenley Jansen (37, 2.5)
Chris Martin (39, 2.4)
Carlos Estévez (32, 2.1)
Shawn Armstrong (34, 2.0)
Aaron Bummer (31, 1.9) -- club option
Danny Coulombe (35, 1.9) -- club option
Dylan Floro (34, 1.8)
Kirby Yates (38, 1.8)
José Leclerc (31, 1.7)
Emilio Pagán (34, 1.7) -- can opt out
Jakob Junis (32, 1.6) -- mutual option
Caleb Ferguson (28, 1.6)
Brent Suter (35, 1.5) -- club option
Luke Weaver (31, 1.5) -- club option
Yimi García (34, 1.4)
A.J. Minter (31, 1.4)
Craig Kimbrel (37, 1.3)
Buck Farmer (34, 1.2)
Paul Sewald (35, 1.2)
Scott Barlow (32, 1.1)
Jalen Beeks (31, 1.1)
Trevor Gott (32, 1.0)
Brooks Raley (37, 1.0)
Blake Treinen (37, 1.0)
Héctor Neris (36, 0.9)
Chris Stratton (34, 0.9) -- player option
Andrew Chafin (35, 0.9) -- club option
Joe Ross (32, 0.9)
Scott Alexander (35, 0.8)
Joe Kelly (37, 0.8)
Ryan Yarbrough (33, 0.8)
Will Smith (35, 0.7)
Phil Maton (32, 0.7) -- club option
Ryan Borucki (31, 0.6)
Drew Smyly (36, 0.6) -- mutual option
John Brebbia (35, 0.5)
Jesse Chavez (41, 0.5)
Andrew Kittredge (35, 0.5)
Lucas Sims (31, 0.5)
Carl Edwards Jr. (33, 0.4)
Luis García (38, 0.4)
Tommy Kahnle (34, 0.4)
Trevor Richards (32, 0.4)
Drew Smith (31, 0.4)
Caleb Thielbar (38, 0.3)
Matt Barnes (34, 0.3)
Daniel Hudson (38, 0.3)
Shelby Miller (34, 0.3)
Adam Ottavino (39, 0.3)
T.J. McFarland (36, 0.3)
Hunter Strickland (36, 0.3)
Shintaro Fujinami (31, 0.2)
Luke Jackson (31, 0.2) -- club option
Jonathan Loáisiga (30, 0.2)
Bryan Shaw (37, 0.2)
Justin Wilson (37, 0.2)
Tim Hill (35, 0.1)
Keynan Middleton (31, 0.1) -- club option
Ryne Stanek (33, 0.1)
Miguel Castro (30, 0.0)
Chris Devenski (34, -0.1)
Seranthony Domínguez (30, -0.1) -- club option
Kendall Graveman (34, -0.1)
Matt Moore (36, -0.1)
Joely Rodríguez (33, -0.1)
Matt Andriese (35, -0.1)
Giovanny Gallegos (33, -0.2)
Amir Garrett (33, -0.2)
Jay Jackson (37, -0.2)
Tyler Matzek (34, -0.2)
José Cisnero (36, -0.3)
Chad Kuhl (32, -0.3)
Jake Diekman (38, -0.4)
Daniel Bard (40, -0.5)
Scott McGough (35, -0.7) -- mutual option
Adam Cimber (34, -0.7)
Jorge López (32, -0.7)
Erasmo Ramírez (35, -0.8)
Wandy Peralta (33, -0.9) -- can opt out
Dominic Leone (34, -1.2)
Lou Trivino (33, N/A) -- club option

 Projection: 11-6  

Los Angeles, CA

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