Note to Dodger fans: get used to this efficiency thing

Having Max Scherzer or James Shields would make the Dodgers’ staff amazing. Think about it. Kershaw, Greinke, Scherzer, Ryu, and then Anderson/McCarthy splitting the number 5 role.

It’s a dream.

Adding a pitcher like Scherzer to the Dodgers’ already stacked-staff would be a dream. There are probably better ways to spend their money though. By Keith Allison from Hanover, MD, USA, via Wikimedia Commons

But it’s an inefficient one, at least according to Buster Olney. Scherzer is asking for a $200 million contract. The Dodgers’ rotation already has five starters. Also, think about what you could get for $200 million.

Here is a list of free agents at the end of 2015 (click here to see who’s still left for 2014).

Interesting guys left for this season include relief pitchers like Joba Chamberlain and Phil Coke. Even with some offseason moves, you can never have enough bullpen depth. While Scherzer is definitely the highest profile name out there and there is a significant drop in talent after Shields.

Notice that, while Zack Greinke is on the 2015 list, so are some other players that could be interesting. Ben Zobrist has history with Andrew Friedman. Ian Desmond will be a 30 year-old shortstop if Corey Seager needs to move to third base to replace Juan Uribe.

As far as pitching, things could get really interesting. If Greinke opts out, they’d have an interesting decision to make on him. Other guys could be available too, including Clay Bucholz, Yovani Gallardo, Rick Porcello, David Price, John Lackey, Jordan Zimmerman, and Scott Kazmir, to name a few. With Price, Gallardo, and Zimmerman at the top of this list, a fan’s mind can wander. While Price is the only one on this list that would stack-up with Zack in my mind, a team like the Dodgers with money to spend could really think about saddling up to the buffet and continuing to add solid pitching depth — with or without Greinke.

For the price of Scherzer, perhaps the Dodgers can get a number of good years Greinke has left and still have enough left over for one of the other pitchers on next year’s list or someone like Desmond or Zobrist to play key roles.

Andrew Friedman’s one constant since he took over has been to make the Dodgers a more nimble organization that can operate with less restrictions and lots of flexibility when it comes to making moves. While signing Scherzer would be really, really fun, it would go against this trend. It wouldn’t be efficient.

Then again, isn’t Friedman the master of market inefficiencies?