If You Ain’t The Lead Dog, The View Never Changes

Well, here the Dodgers are, back in first place with about 10 players on the DL!  As one national commentator said “The Dodgers have two rosters of players – they are that deep.” The FAZ-bashers continue to show their utter lack of comprehension as they try to nitpick roster moves (Olivera, Kemp, Schebler, Peraza, Cotton, Montas, Gordon, et al).  My simple advice to them is “Never miss a good opportunity to shut up.”  The more you criticize FAZ, the dumber you look.  I know that Andrew Friedman is not perfect.  He has made some moves that have backfired, but he has corrected them when possible and kept on.  Hector Olivera was highly recommended by Bob Engle and Patrick Guerrero (you have to trust your scouts), so FAZ signed him only to find out he was a stone-cold bust!  Friedman cut bait with Olivera and ultimately fired Engle and Guerrero.

FAZ has signed lots of Cubans, as did Colletti (Puig, Guerrero, Arrrrrrr) and while a lot are still very young, that has not been a resounding success.  The jury is still out on that with Diaz, Sierra, Alvarez and others.  But, here’s the key point: Andrew Friedman has delivered what Guggenheim and Company asked and that is WIN NOW while building a Farm System that is a Machine!  I am not sure that has ever been done.  Typically, as teams age, they blow them up and start over.  That’s how the Cubs were made.  The Phillies are doing it.  The Yankees are doing it to a degree.  The Marlins have done it.  The Tigers need to do it.  That’s just how it has always been done.  But, that is not what the Dodgers have done.

Yes, after 2018, more salary comes off the books and with the farm delivering players as they become ready, the Dodgers will be in the catbird seat… while winning along the way.  We all need to realize that this team, as it is constructed, right here, right now, is capable of winning it all in 2017!  Currently, the Dodgers have the most wins of any team in the NL.  They have had lots of injuries and because of their depth, they are the best team in the NL right now.  You are watching history in the making – baseball is changing (many of you don’t like it) – but FAZ is at the forefront of the change.  The Cubs, Astros, Yankees and Cardinals are also right there.

Pitchers are pitching fewer innings, like it or not.  Bullpens are more important, like it or not. The 10-Day DL is a tool.  The shuttle back and forth to AAA is very important.  The days of 8 starting players hitting in the same spot are over.  This is 2017 and baseball is different.  Get used to it or switch to Soccer.  Yes, I am an unabashed fan of Andrew Friedman and what he has done for the Dodgers is noting short of amazing.  I’ll say it again to the Faz-Bashers:  “Never miss a good opportunity to shut up.

Hawkeye Dodger asked me yesterday what I had been wrong about, and like everyone, I am not always right.  Just to be clear, I never had any idea Chris Taylor would be this good and never predicted anything about him. I did predict Chase Utey would be a great signing, only to call for him to be cut later.  I have admitted that I was a moron for that!  I did predict Kike Hernandez would return to form, and he has been a very important bench piece this year for the Dodgers… and he has. He is OPS’ing .849, which is pretty excellent.  Out of his 26 hits, 19 have been for extra bases and has played all over the field.

On Feb 13, 2017, I wrote this:

I have been telling you a few things over the Winter:

1. Julio Urias is going to have a breakout year;
2. Yasmani Grandal will come close to 40 HR;
3. Willie Calhoun won’t play 2B due to horrible defense and lack of foot speed;
4. Among Ryu, McCarthy and Kazmir, at least two will be contributors; and
5. Cody Bellinger is ready.

Then on April 3, 2017, I posted this:

Lucky Thirteen Predictions

1. The Dodgers will have four players in the Top 10 in MVP Voting including Justin Turner (look for over 30 HR), Corey Seager and Clayton Kershaw.
2. Joc Pederson and Yasmani Grandal will each hit close to 40 HR.
3. Adrian Gonzalez will continue his downhill slide.
4. Logan Forsythe will have a career year.
5. Clayton Kershaw and the current other Dodger starters will win 60 games between them.
6. Clayton will win another Cy Young, beating out a pitcher who will outhomer him.
7. Julio Urias will have a sub 3.00 ERA and will start the season in Early May.
8. I have no opinion on Yasiel Puig or Andrew Toles, but Cody Bellinger will take over in RF, LF or 1B in the second half of the season.
9. Not everything will go right, but there will not be as many injuries as last year and the Dodgers will win 95 games.
10. Alex Wood and Ross Stripling will prove to be a formidable duo and will pitch nearly 200 innings between them.
11. There will be a shocking trade.
12. Dodgers win the World Series as Three Lefties Dominate the Playoffs – Kershaw, Urias and Hill.
13. Clayton Kershaw will be World Series MVP.

Clearly, a lot is to be decided, but it does not seem likely that Grandal and Pederson will hit 40 HR, although Yasmani is having a good year. You can see the mistakes… But, I was right about a number of things… including Cody!  I still believe Julio Urias will be our #2 and Hill will be right there too. I loved Alex Wood in the pen, but never thought he would be this good as a starter.  The FAZ-bashers continue to show what they really are; Bitter Old Men and the moron at Dodger Therapy hasn’t posted in six-weeks.

Minor League News

  • You probably know that Darnell Sweeney was traded to the Reds for future considerations.  Nice kid, but he had no opportunity here.  “But they gave Kendrick away.”  Yes, they did – they also gave $10 mil away.  What’s your point?
  • Craig Minami of TrueBlueLA has the full report of yesterday’s Dodger games HERE.

This article has 33 Comments

  1. Great stuff, don’t ever take another year off. I’d like to mention that Austin Barnes has been coming on and is also proving to be a valuable assist to the team with his versatility.

  2. I continue to be amazed that the everlastingly cynical still complain about the Olivera signing. I think it’s near miraculous that the Dodgers were able to get out from under that deal and land Wood and Avilan. But then again, as great as Wood has been pitching, no sooner does he go on the DL for one start for precautionary reasons, then the complainers emerge with the refrain of the front office signing “injury riddled” pitchers.
    *
    The Dodgers are in first place, have the best run differential in baseball, have the the best pitching staff in baseball by a substantial margin, have the best relief core and seem to weather and shrug off most injuries or poor play, yet some people are unhappy. I would wager that, even if this team won the WS, some people would still be unhappy, presumably because it wasn’t accomplished in some mythical Dodger way – workhorse starting pitchers going 8 every start and and reincarnation of Garvey, Cey, Russell and Lopes playing every single game.
    *

    BTW, I never did get a chance to tell you that you were a moron for suggesting the Dodgers trade some of their key outfielders for Matt Harvey.

  3. Yes, 2017 could be the year of the DODGERS!! This team is built to win both a marathon (regular season) and a sprint (playoffs). Good job FAZ!! A couple thoughts:
    .
    1. If even one Cuban has a big impact, I am looking at you Alvarez, he would more than pay for the whole Cuban program. I think it will happen!
    .
    2. Looking at your predictions, I wish I could elevate you to “Soothsayer” status, but after watching FAZ at work for over two years, only two lunatics, two morons and a fool couldn’t see that FAZ was going to cook up something mighty nice for 2017! Oh, add that fraud, Fraudy, over at Dodger Therapy to the list. By the way, It is probably pretty hard to write a blog in a straitjacket.

  4. Mark, FAZ now and FAZ then are not exactly the same. FAZ now are not the cyber-geeks FAZ then was. The only way to say they followed the path they started would be if somehow they cyber’d a stat to measure heart. Heart is why the Dodgers are steam rolling as well as depth. Heart came in the form of Turner and Jansen giving a discount to stay Dodgers (one of the things I said they’d do) and FAZ (in my head) listened to me. I’ve got more moron in me than everybody here put together but I’m proud of my standing up for Colletti against nearly all and I still stand on that. Props to FAZ for not being so stubborn that Dodgers wouldn’t be on course for 100 games. I take the over on that one! CHEERS!

    PS FAZ really is doing a fine job.

  5. Here’s a good article:

    http://www.laobserved.com/intell/2015/10/andrew_friedman_is_the_solutio.php

    In part it says:
    When people are angry, they want to blame someone. After 27 years of futility, the Dodger media is extremely angry. And rather than blame the people who screwed up for 26 years, first-year Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman has been the recent target of absurd criticism. The venom was spewed even before the Dodgers parted ways with Don Mattingly on Thursday.

  6. Nice post today as the team moved into 1st place. We all have had some hits and misses with our predictions but the 3 biggest surprises this year have been Alex Wood, Cody Bellinger and Chris Taylor. Recently having Utley, Grandal and AGon return to form have been a big boost. Cory, JT, Kershaw are about as expected, JT exceeding a bit but hurt. The health of McCarthy and Ryu really solidified the rotation and Fields and Baez have really anchored the pen with Jansen his usual dominant self. They are deep and versatile at the 25 and 40 man level and built for the long haul. Sure the playoffs are a crap shoot and they may make a deadline move to add a stud starter, lock down BP guy or a big RH bat but at what cost? Faz won’t do a dope fiend move and they don’t have to. They will pull the trigger on something that makes sense, improves the team for the stretch run without mortgaging the future.

    It’s hard to sweep anyone, especially on the road and Martinez has been the Cards most consistent starter, BUT I like their chances today just the way they have been playing. Along with Houston they are the hottest team in baseball and now are winning on the road, pulling to 12-12 on the year. McCarthy goes against Wainwright tomorrow, another tough match up but another winnable game. Then on to Milwaukee the surprise leader in the Central when the Cubs and Cards will be rooting for us to keep it up. Too early to say because the Snakes and Rocks have played well but the Dodgers may slowly start to pull away a bit.

  7. The most amazing thing about this streak is that it has been done without JustinTurner, arguably the best hitter in baseball at the time he went down. The team has still scored gobs of runs. Utley and Bellinger have been the keys, with Taylor right behind. Impressive. Keep it going. I want the giants to be 20 behind at the break.

  8. Our guys off the bench have done a really good job, since Turner went out.

    Kike, Taylor, and Chase have been a big factor, during this winning streak.

    And Barnes has also made a difference with the few at bats, he gets too.

    Chase has raised his average about 150 points just since May third, and he was the offensive star of yesterday’s game, once again.

    Almost everyone is making a contribution during this winning streak, and it is fun to watch everyone make their big or small contribution, as the games go along.

    The Cards did help us in this game, but what is more important, is that we took advantage of the mistakes, that the Cards gave us.

    Cody didn’t have a very good day yesterday.

    He loss at least ten points off his average, just in yesterday’s game, alone.

    Maybe it is time to give Cody a day off just to rest his mind, like Roberts did with Corey, yesterday.

    I hope Ryu pitches a good game for us tonight, not only for Ryu, but for the team.

    It looked to me yesterday like Puig has loss some confidence, when it comes to his, hitting.

    He didn’t look really confident when he came up with the bases loaded, it looked like he was just glad, to get the walk.

      1. Mark

        I am not worried about Bellinger, I just think it would be good to give him a day off, to just clear up his mind.

        1. Cody was just trying to hard yesterday,
          in his at bats.

          I could just see the frustration he was having, each time he came up to the plate, especially with every at bat, he had.

  9. Bellinger was just guessing wrong on what pitches were coming. Fastball, oops no a slider. Slider, oops no a change up. Dang. He’ll adjust and guess right enough to do plenty of damage to Dodger opponents.

  10. Did everyone see that Mike Morse is going out on the DL,on the seven day concussion list, from running into, the Shark!

    1. I saw the collision between him and Samarjia. Not surprised that he got a concussion on that play. They both came in from different directions on Harper. At the last split second, Harper took a step back and those two crashed into each other and banged heads. Concussions are serious injuries, but just watching that happen to two Giants players was pretty comical.

  11. Wow – the Dodgers moved into 1st place yesterday and now everything is roses. (I thought they were supposed to win the division easily and that the Rox and D-backs weren’t supposed to be anything.)

    I am obviously happy to see them win and it’s interesting the way that they’re doing it – bit players like Utley (who has been resurrected from the dead) and Kike doing it and stars like Turner (DL) Gonzalez and other guys like Joc either not being there or doing very little. Same with the pitching – Wood and McCarthy being the guys they can count on while Maeda isn’t and he was supposed to be.

    Don’t count your chickens and all of that. They have been in 1st for less than a day and there are 4 months left to play in the season and lots can happen, both good and bad.

  12. Interesting line up today

    3 starters (Hernandez, Utley and Taylor) were fighting for the two infield utility spots this spring. A 4th starter (Bellinger) was a spring training NRI to get him a taste of the big leagues–at a 1B not LF. And we are in first place despite very hot starts by Arizona and Colorado.

    I think the term is quality depth.

    Have to admit I’m a pleasantly surprised “moron”

  13. If Kike keeps playing good baseball, he is going to get more starts. Being down three runs does not bother them. Joc and Puig better start playing a little better or they may be the utility players. This team is fun to watch. They played poor defense early. I hope the bull pen session Ryu had the other day helps him. You have to come out of the bull pen throwing strikes. I hope this will help him in the first few innings.

  14. Hey Mark, you posted a great article a while back talking about how the Dodgers were spreading the risk by not breaking the bank signing elite pitchers, only to have them break down eventually and get left holding the bag for the last 4 or 5 years. I think you touched on a new model for baseball going forward. With the 10 day DL and all of the collection of pitchers we have, we ARE spreading the risk. If one of our guys goes down, we put someone else right in their slot for a game or two. I know it’s not as sexy as having a couple of Kershaws on your team, but it frees up money to keep alot of your core guys (Jansen, Turner, Hill). I think they are still trying to perfect it, but so far so good. Ken Rosenthal had a good take on the Dodgers the other day when he said the Dodgers by stockpiling players and the farm system are setting themselves up to not overpay at the Jul 31st trade deadline. Good point. By the way, I am still sticking to my preseason prediction, somehow they will pull off a Yu Darvish trade with the Rangers at the deadline.
    By the way, my wife thinks we are ALL morons for doubting the Silver Fox. Damn guy is timeless.

  15. I understand 28 years of frustration, but the team is going in the right direction. Why can’t true Dodger fans just be happy with being in 1st place, even if it is only for a day. Some had the team buried because of all the brittle pitchers. Now it’s “yeah, but”…
    .
    The seven man rotation is working. Because there is always a “yeah, but…” some are saying that they still have the over on 13 starting pitchers. Why are people complaining about it? If the Dodgers have 13 guys who can start, isn’t that a good thing? I guess no if you are still living in the 60’s and 70’s. There are three teams that have started the same five all year (Braves, Yankees, Cardinals). Of the three, only one team is better than .500. One of those three is going to go all out to get another starter (Yankees). Five teams have had six starters (Cubs, Indians, Tigers, Pirates, Giants). Of that group, only the Indians (27-24) are above .500. You can bet the Cubs will go big for another starter. The number of starting pitchers for the two best teams in baseball… Astros (7) and Nats (8). A five man rotation may have worked for the Cubs last year, but it is the deeper pitching staffs that is getting the wins. I do not see a correlation between only 5 starters and a high percentage of wins.
    .
    I would not rule out a big trade, but they do not need to. There have been multiple written reports stating that the Dodgers are interested in Tom Koehler. I asked a couple of my sources and they say that the Dodgers are indeed interested in Koehler, but not as a starter. It’s hard to get excited about a 30 year old pitcher that is on the DL with shoulder bursitis, but he is the type of trade that FAZ will go after (and get blasted for). They see something. Koehler has had 32, 31, 33 starts the last three years, with 191, 187, and 176 innings pitched. He is the epitome of a back end rotation starter. He has three pitches so maybe the Dodgers might like a change of pace from the pen. Let Koehler go all out for 2 innings. With Liberatore the only lefty in the pen, I can see them going for a high leverage LHRP (maybe Brad Hand if the Pads will trade mid-season with the Dodgers). I am not now, nor have I been enamored with Tony Watson. Maybe they try for Felipe Rivero. KC’s Mike Minor is having a good year.
    .
    Every time I hear the “less optimistic” fans say, “why get so excited, it’s only May 31”, or the “starting pitching is bound to break down, which will make a good bullpen too tired at the end of the year,” or similar back-handed compliments and “Yeah, but” statements, I always think of the Randy Quaid character in Minor League. “Yeah they are playing well, but they will blow it”.

    1. I find your implicit criticism of the “less optimistic” – well, just say interesting. when the Dodgers were struggling a few weeks ago and were in 3rd place, the battle cry of the rose-colored glasses brigade was “it’s early”. No, when I point out that the team has been in 1st for ONE DAY and that there are 4 months left to play, it’s no longer early? “Every time I hear the “less optimistic” fans say, “why get so excited, it’s only May 31”” How about a little intelectual consistency?

      So you like the 7 man rotation? Why stop at 7 – how about a dozen? How about 20 – just cycle guys on and off the 10 day DL all day long ’till there dizzy from riding the carousel and no one ever gets a rhythm? Historically, teams with the best starting rotations play the best unless they play in hitters parks and outscore their opponents. Since the Dodgers have been in LA that has been the pattern. We have a Hall of Famer in waiting in Kershaw and the 6 dwarves (thus far). Last year’s $48MM acquision (Kazmir) has done nothing. This year’s $48MM acquisition (Hill) has done nothing. Pardon me, but who in the heck is going to pitch in the post season other than Kid K? Anyone you feel comfortable in facing Arrieta or Strasburg? Not me.
      =
      As to a trade, the Braintrust has always pulled the trigger on a deadline deal or 2. I can’t remember any that helped as yet. Take last year – Reddick did nothing after coming to LA and Hill got in 6 starts in 2 months. And don’t forget Bud Norris . The year before? Mat Latos and Jim Johnson were stellar. I’m sure they will pull the trigger on a deal but they haven’t been successful doing it thus far – maybe this year?

    1. Bobby

      Did Fowler hit a hanger out?

      That was the first HR that Stripling has allowed this year.

      He has been good all year too!

      I just saw him react at the last minute, when he knew he threw a bad pitch, so that is why I was wondering.

      I agree it was great to see Ryu pitch a good game tonight too.

      AC like I told Bluto, what can anyone really say, because the team is playing so well.

  16. I did not like the way FAZ used the 10 day DL in the beginning for the starting pitchers. I think they have adjusted and that is fine with me. They are now sending the starting pitcher down for a rehab start before they come off the DL. When they came off the DL the pitchers were not sharp without a rehab start. The second reason I like the 10 day DL, is that it allows them to protect the pitcher if he has just a little physical problem. Before they would pitch through the problem. The third reason I like the 10 day DL is that is going to allow the starters to be strong at the end of the season. You have to have a surplus of starters to do what FAZ is doing.

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