First Brandon McCarthy fell victim to Tommy John surgery. Then Hyun-jin Ryu opted to undergo season-ending shoulder surgery. And let's not forget about the speculation regarding Zack Greinke opting out of his contract at season's end.
Can recent Cuban signee Pablo Fernandez help the Los Angeles Dodgers' starting rotation in 2015 and beyond?
The Dodgers officially announced the signing of Fernandez earlier this week after the two sides agreed to a minor-league contract with an $8 million signing bonus back in March. Fernandez had to get the proper paperwork taken care of to officially work in the United States, which is why the process took so long.
Rumors have indicated the Dodgers could be active on the trade market in the coming weeks to acquire starting pitching, but perhaps they won't have to be.
Although it's a minor-league deal, it's believed Fernandez can make an immediate contribution to the club's pitching staff. The 25-year-old spent seven seasons in Cuba's Serie Nacional and went 32-30 with a 3.59 ERA, 1.357 WHIP, 244 strikeouts and 40 saves in 177 games (21 starts), totaling 414 innings.
"The Dodgers will continue to draw from their internal options while monitoring the trade market -- Kyle Lohse might be a fit, or Scott Kazmir -- but the Dodgers are also hopeful that a pitcher they just signed could help," writes ESPN Insider Buster Olney.
"Fernandez is 25 years old and could impact the Dodgers' staff very quickly, perhaps in a role of long reliever or spot starter along the lines of what [Yusmeiro] Petit does for the Giants. L.A.'s bullpen already has gotten better through the activation of closer Kenley Jansen."
The right-hander will begin his career with the Dodgers in extended spring training. He hasn't played professionally since 2013 because he defected from Cuba in hopes of landing an MLB contract, but he's been working out and pitching ever since. President of baseball operations Andrew Friedman plans to get a good look at him in the coming weeks to see how he might be a fit with the team.
"We're going to get him to Arizona as well and start the process of stretching him out," Friedman said, via Eric Stephen of SB Nation. "The upside scenario is that he's a starter for us at some point this year.
"He has a five-pitch mix. He has a really good feel for pitching, and has shown really good command throughout his career."
If the Dodgers can successfully make him a starter - which is still possible because he's young and has a five-pitch arsenal - they may not have to worry about breaking the bank signing another big-name arm in the offseason or surrendering young prospects in a deal before the trade deadline.
Or maybe they'll do that anyway (rumors suggested they could be active at the deadline) and invest even more dollars and assets into their starting rotation.
Check out some pitching highlights of Fernandez below:
