Jerry needs a pitcher as Winter Meetings ramble on

Winter Meetings have begun which means that not only is the Ol' Stove hot, it's burning my damn hands. It should be to no surprise that Jerry Dipoto, as a Man About Town, is doing his proper shopping and price-checking. First and foremost, and mayhaps only on his list is a starting pitcher who could slot in somewhere mid-rotation. In all honesty, he could probably use two of such player, but acquiring two might prove financially not possible. ENTER THE TRADE ZONE.

Two possibilities emerge if #Mariners opt to acquire a starting pitcher through a trade. https://t.co/2q6Ww5xuUq pic.twitter.com/HVdOENVxt3

— Bob Dutton (@TNT_Mariners) December 6, 2016

The Dodgers, having just signed Rich Hill to a three-year, $48M deal to keep his old butt in the OC, will be looking to offload some pitching as their payroll continues to magically rise. Enter the Mariners, a team with a history of making deals with LA (miss you, Chris Taylor) and a definite need in their rotation. With only a few bullets left in the Jerry Dipoto Trade Canon, the spots he picks will have to become fewer and fewer. Any real interest in Andrew McCutchen, which is pure speculation, also has to be weighed with looking for a starter. The latter is, certainly, the greater priority.

Scott Kazmir and Brandon McCarthy are both expendable for the Dodgers for many reasons but mostly, salary and health and recently being kinda bad. To be honest, I'm personally not at all interested in McCarthy, fun Twitter or not, so I won't really get into him. However, Kazmir is an interesting one for me. With the Dodgers reportedly willing to eat some of his remaining two years and $35M, I'm interested. It depends just how much of that money they're willing to eat, but if, and that's a big if, you can get two relatively healthy years from Kazmir, you're getting a solid mid-rotation arm to bolster Felix-Kuma-Miranda-Karns-Paxton. Kazmir turns 33 this year and while he's no spring chicken, he's an interesting piece for a team that still hasn't committed to making a serious run at the AL West in 2017.

Speaking of injured pitchers that I like, Tyson Ross recently became a free agent when he was non-tendered by the San Diego Padres. While there's no rumor to attach to it, let me start one: Jerry Dipoto almost certainly is kicking these tires. Ross is a shoulder-injury 2016 season removed from a 4.4 fWAR campaign in 2015. It's hard to know what Ross is going to come back with, but at 29, he's still of an age you'd think there's some genuine chance of full recovery of health and form. A Ross acquisition is likely worth an article in of itself, however it is 7PM on Monday and we can get there later.

Happy Winter Meetings, y'all.