Jimmy Rollins is a cool guy. He’s played in the majors for long enough to have developed a relationship, I’m sure, with most of the people he sees on the road. This includes umpires and, to the chagrin of many, Joe West is still an umpire.

So when the Dodgers played the Rockies on Friday with West umpiring third base, Rollins had some fun.

It wasn’t a huge deal. Rollins stared West down for a few seconds, then broke into his trademark smile. He has to be a good guy to have around, even if he hasn’t been the productive force the Dodgers had hoped for (his FWAR is just above replacement level on the season).

He most likely won’t be around Los Angeles next season, but Dodger fans will likely have a lasting memory of Rollins trolling a Giants pitcher in a game that wasn’t even against the Giants.

The only downside could be that Bumgarner is sure to take this personally.

If Rollins retires after this year, he won’t even have to pay for it on the field. If he ever faces Madison Bumgarner again, though, you can bet that guy is going to take Rollins’ antics very, very seriously.

Hahahahaha.

Brandon Crawford’s pedestrian offensive numbers can hide the value he brings defensively. By Ray Ambler – RAPhotos.com

The baseball season’s coming up and Mike Krukow thinks Yasiel Puig is dumb for not pegging the Giants as their biggest rival. In San Luis Obispo, I’d say they are, though the two teams have not met in the playoffs since the Wild Card round started.

I thought it would be fun to, over the next few weeks, go position by position and compare what personnel the two teams have in preparation for the 2015 season. Pitchers will come last, but we’ll finish off the infield with the most important infielder of them all — the shortstop.

Position by Position: Catcher

Position by Position: First Base

Position by Position: Second Base

Position by Position: Third Base

Position by Position: Left Field

Jimmy Rollins

Positionally, the Dodgers had enough of Hanley Ramirez over the past few seasons to make the cost of his bad defense somewhat defensible. They also had to play someone who wasn’t Hanley Ramirez at the position over 2/3 of the time over the past two seasons. When they needed him most, and when he was playing his best, the Cardinals drilled Ramirez in the ribs. Nobody ever “stood-up” for Hanley in any kind of a real way and the Dodgers withered away in the playoffs two straight years.

This season, Hanley is in Boston and the Dodgers acquired a much cheaper option who they aren’t committed to long-term. Along with double-play partner Howie Kendrick, Jimmy Rollins is really the embodiment of what the Dodgers did this offseason. They gave themselves what they hope is above average production while maintaining flexibility to spend their sizable funds elsewhere if need be.

Rollins isn’t Ramirez at the plate, but the Dodgers hope he can make up for it by not being an atrocious fielder. Even at the age of 36, Rollins is an average shortstop defensively — a huge upgrade — and can be a solid everyday leadoff hitter. Even though he isn’t as potent an offensive weapon as Ramirez, Rollins has played in 84 more games than Hanley over the past two seasons — the equivalent of a half a season. That reliability is worth a lot to a team that doesn’t have a ton of immediate depth at the position (Corey Seager is in the minors, but is probably still a year away).

Rollins is a widely-respected World Series champion and, in contrast to the departed Matt Kemp, is seen as a guy who is easy to get along with. By all accounts, he’s a reliable clubhouse leader. He is from the West coast (Oakland area) and the Dodgers feel he still has a lot to give.

While he’s been mostly injury-free during his career, the Dodgers hope they can get a lot of games out of

Rollins is projected by ZiPS for slightly more than two wins above replacement. Dodger fans hope that number is buoyed by the clubhouse atmosphere upgrade he also brings.

Brandon Crawford

Brandon Crawford is projected by ZiPS to be the third-highest field-playing contributor to the Giants’ overall success this season. Crawford hit under .250 last year, but his good defensive play makes him a valuable commodity for San Francisco in the middle of their infield.

Seriously, Crawford is really good at defense. Really good. He has great range and even if you don’t put a lot of weight in advanced defensive metrics, having a solid shortstop to anchor your defense has trickle-down effects that aren’t easily measured.

If you do want to hear about his defense, Crawford had an insane UZR/150 in 2012 (10.0). He was 10 defensive runs better than the average shortstop according to this number. Instead of making lots of insane plays like he did two or three years ago, Crawford got better at making just about all the “kind of tough” plays.

The bottom line is that Crawford has been steadily getting better each of the past three years and is 28 years-old. At that age, maintaining his value or even getting a little better is not out of the question, and projections for this season like a player of his age and profile.

Also, he’s been a contributor to two World Series champions, and that cannot be dismissed.

The verdict

Over time, defensive play at shortstop declines at varying rates, depending on the player. Rollins is a player who makes virtually all the routine plays, and has for years. Crawford has just three years of data, but seems to be slightly better defensively. Add to that the advantage that a eight-year age difference gives the San Fransciso shortstop and you have to give the defensive advantage to Crawford.

At this point in his career, Rollins may have the hitting edge by just about the same margin that Crawford has the edge in fielding. At first glance, I would think that Rollins has more of an advantage than that at the plate, but I haven’t seen Rollins play every day for the past few years.

I hate myself for doing this, but I’m going to do the position preview of calling a double-foul in basketball.

I’m calling this one a push.

I know, I’m disappointed in myself for not choosing, but this one is too close to call right now. Talk to me in August and let me know how dumb I was to call this one a draw.

Shortstop Advantage: Push

I better type fast. Before I’m done, the Dodgers might make another trade.

Here’s what we know — For almost two months leading the Dodgers’ front office, Andrew Freidman and company made very few public moves. Then, yesterday, the dam broke. Perhaps it just started to break.

At any rate, the Dodgers went from a shortstop-less team with a few big holes to what looks now like a team that is a lot more efficient.

Is this the New York Stock Exchange or the Dodgers’ front office over the past 24 hours. By Ryan Lawler (Own work) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Instead of a question mark at catcher, it looks like they’ll roll with Yasmani Grandal. (Perhaps Grandal is a question mark unto himself. But he will be a question mark with a high upside).

Instead of four outfielders and a bloated payroll, the Dodgers have made room for a young player

They’ve also made themselves better defensively up the middle. Replacing Matt Kemp, Hanley Ramirez, and Dee Gordon with Joc Pederson, Jimmy Rollins, and Howie Kendrick will result in a completely re-tooled and unquestionably better middle of the field defense. Giving Andre Ethier and Carl Crawford defined roles could do wonders, especially for Ethier who Scott Van Slyke starts to fit-in as a potential platoon player with. Without Kemp, the combinations start to fit better together — though trading Ethier or Crawford could still be in the cards. Joc Pederson is almost surely going to get a chance to play every day in center field and Yasiel Puig will man right field. That leaves one position for Etheir, Crawford, and Scott Van Slyke to somehow split. OK, there is still some inefficiency with outfielders, but not like before… .

For an organization who looked to the “nerds” to take the next step, Andrew Friedman and his geek squad might be bringing balance to the force.

Of all the players who they’ve acquired, I’m most excited about replacing Gordon with Kendrick. Quietly, the 31 year-old Kendrick has been a force for the Angels in recent years. Remember, the Angels team he was on last season had the best record in baseball. Gordon was a fan favorite — a young, fast, energetic player who I always loved to see on the base paths.

But Gordon’s peripheral numbers aren’t great and Friedman must have seen him as having had something like a career year last season. So he sold high and got a lot in return from Miami.

Kemp seems to have also been sold high. The Dodgers didn’t get as much back for him, though Yasmani Grandal might be due for a breakout year. Getting rid of Kemp is a possible roll of the dice, but they also get rid of about $70 of the money he is owed over the next few years, which brings us to the really fun part of this equation — the Dodgers, despite their bloated payroll — are starting to make themselves a lot more financially flexible without completely ruining the major-league product on the field. In fact, along with being cheaper, they might be even better already.

The final chip probably has yet to fall. A trade for Cole Hamels is heating up the rumor mill. So are free agents James Shields and Max Scherzer. If the reported trades all go through, the Dodgers have positioned themselves with prospects and freed-up cash to make a run at any of these three.

I haven’t even mentioned Brandon McCarthy, whose deal helps with depth at the back end of the rotation. That was an issue last season for the team.

Assuming Kemp, Rollins, McCarthy deals become official, #Dodgers will have made 6 transactions involving 19 players in less than 24 hours

— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) December 11, 2014

Lots of Dodgers fans are excited. Many are nervous about losing fan-favorites Kemp and Gordon.

Here are links to a few articles (below) that have put me at ease recently. Remember Dodger fans — don’t get too worked up quite yet. There are probably other moves to be made and, by the time you finish reading this, it will be incomplete at-best and possibly inaccurate. Because this Dodgers front office is making moves.

Marlins Pay Steep Price to not get Better – From Fangraphs

The older and better Dodgers Middle Infield – From Fangraphs

Dodgers, McCarthy reportedly near 4-year deal – From Dodgers.com

What are the Dodgers even doing? – From Deadspin