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Did the Dodgers do enough to fill the Greinke hole?

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It shocked all of us. We had all thought it was just between two teams, the Dodgers and the Giants. Then, a mystery team appeared, the Arizona Diamondbacks. Fresh off their introduction of new 2016 uniforms, the D-Backs would go on to shock the baseball world, taking away RHP Zack Greinke with a 6 year/$206.5M deal. The deal had come off the heels of the 7 year/$217M contract that LHP David Price signed with the Boston Red Sox.

The Diamondbacks walked away with the best pitcher on the market and a contending team. The Giants and the Dodgers both walked away without Greinke, but each with different offseason outcomes. The Giants landed two big pitchers in Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija, Cueto for 6 years/$130M and Samardzija for 5 years/$90M. Meanwhile, the Dodgers, who had just signed Dave Roberts to be the new skipper after Mattingly darted for Miami, struggled to find a replacement. The Dodgers reportedly signed RHP Hisashi Iwakuma to a 3 year deal, but the deal was withdrawn after a problem with Iwakuma's elbow during his physical. Iwakuma then went on to resign in Seattle, where he threw a no-hitter in 2015 against the Orioles.

After the Iwakuma mishap, the Dodgers struggled to find a replacement until December 30, 2015. That day, the Dodgers signed LHP Scott Kazmir to a 3 year/$48M deal, creating a lefty heavy rotation. Then, just over a week later, the Dodgers signed Japanese ace RHP Kenta Maeda to a 8 year/$25M deal with loads of incentives. However, just like Iwakuma, a problem arose with Maeda's elbow during physical, but the deal was official on January 7, 2016. The Dodgers ended up paying a $20M posting fee for Maeda.

One question still remains for the Dodgers. Can Kazmir and Maeda fill the hole that Greinke left? Well, maybe. First, let's look at what Kazmir brings to the table. Kazmir is in the middle of an incredible comeback in his career. Once one of the best left handed pitchers in the game, Kazmir thrived with Tampa Bay, leading the AL in 2007, easily his best season to date, with 239 strikeouts, pitching 206 innings and recording 13 wins in 34 starts, as well as a 5.8 WAR. However, after 2009, his career went downhill and he found himself pitching in independent leagues before the Oakland Athletics brought him back with a 2 year deal in 2014. Since then, Kazmir has pitched like his old self. In 2015, Kazmir recorded a 3.10 ERA in 183 IP and a 7.62 K/9. Kazmir looks primed to continue adding on to his 2015 season, which saw him as a dark horse in the Cy Young conversation up until August, when he struggled down the stretch with the Astros.

Maeda, on the other hand, has never pitched in the MLB. Maeda has been the ace of the Hiroshima Toyo Carp since he entered the NPB in 2008. In 7 seasons, Maeda went 97-67 with a 2.39 (!) ERA and 1,233 strikeouts, which averages out at 176 strikeouts per season. Maeda has also won the Sawamura Award in 2010 and 2015, an award that is the NPB equivalent of the Cy Young Award here in the MLB.

The Dodgers rotation now looks like this: Kershaw, Kazmir, Anderson, Maeda, Bolsinger. Hyun-Jin Ryu is not set to return to action until at least May after sitting out 2015 with a shoulder injury and Brandon McCarthy won't return until at least the All-Star Break after undergoing Tommy John surgery early in the 2015 season. Frankie Montas, a prospect brought in from the Todd Frazier trade, is also a rotation option, but will be out at least 2 months after surgery to remove a rib.

The Dodgers rotation has seemingly taken a step back this offseason, but that doesn't mean it won't be good. Kershaw will lead in rotation as arguably the best pitcher in the entire league, Kazmir will look to continue his comeback with a revamped arsenal, Anderson will continue to be a main ground ball pitcher (lead majors in 2015 at 67.61 GB rate), Maeda will look to bring his Japanese success over stateside, and Bolsinger will look to improve on his 2015 season. Once Ryu returns, the rotation will get a valuable lefty back that can help the Dodgers later on in the season down the stretch.

Despite the hole Greinke left was massive, the Dodgers added two pitchers who are proven to succeed and provided solid seasons. Kazmir and Maeda may not be enough to fully fill the hole, but they both do a mighty good job at fixing it. If the Dodgers beat out the Diamondbacks this year, they will look back to this offseason and thank their two newest additions in Kazmir and Maeda.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of MLBDD's writers or editors.

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