CBT Threshold or De facto Salary Cap

January 27, 2021

There has been a lot of chatter about the cool reception the current group of FA’s are receiving.  DJLM got $90MM, but he is going to be spreading that over 6 years for a team favorable AAV.  George Springer turned a small bidding war between the two teams that figured to spend (Mets and Jays) into a Toronto overspend of 5 years $150MM.  That was about $25MM more than the…

Read More >>

Relief Help On The Way?

May 18, 2019

I have not been shy about stating how I feel about the bullpen.  And I do understand that recognizing that there may be a problem and doing something about it can be and often is two different things.  Maybe with the way the starting pitching is performing, this will become less of an issue, but I prefer to plan rather than to react. I have never disagreed with Mark about…

Read More >>

And Still Another AF Post

May 4, 2019

I know many of you out there in LADT land have been “calmly” discussing your varied opinions on AF. Some think he is the best President Baseball Operations/GM in the history of baseball, while others believe he is very much overrated. I do not know what is wrong with the latter group. Aren’t those of you who are in that group just glad to be the 2nd best team in…

Read More >>

Potpourri and Minor League Report

April 7, 2019

I wrote about the possibility of a slow start for the Dodgers but did not predict one. I know Mark liked to chide me with that after the first two series. But 5-2 against arguably two of the worst 3 teams in the NL was nothing to brag about. The Padres played the same two teams and went 4-3. And now LAD gets to face the Rockies without having to…

Read More >>

Free Agency

January 13, 2019

There has been a lot of discussion on the state of free agency.  Many consider the system broke.  Very few teams can be considered as realistic in offering the likes of Bryce Harper and Manny Machado.  But the problem is that many of the non “generational” type players wait until the top players sign and then hope that those that miss out on the Harper’s and Machado’s may be in…

Read More >>

Collusion or Just Frugal and Prudent

December 2, 2018

So far, this year is beginning to mimic last year a bit. There has been some movement, but it is for the lesser thought of FA or in one case a player who wants a bigger pay day next year (Josh Donaldson).   It seems that a lot of teams are looking for the trade route first before even considering a high cost FA. Look for Harper and Machado to…

Read More >>

Financial Considerations

November 10, 2018

There are currently 38 Dodgers on the 40-man roster without consideration of either Yasmani Grandal or Hyun-jin Ryu accepting their respective QO.  With the current makeup, the Dodgers will have a salary total of nearly $179MM or approximately $27MM under the 2019 competitive balance tax threshold.  We will all know no later than Monday, November 8 at 2:00 PM PT if either accept.  Assuming they do not accept, below is…

Read More >>

One More on FAZ and My Final 2018 WS Autopsy

November 3, 2018

I hope you all bear with me. I would like to somewhat continue the FAZ discussion from yesterday.  And then to give one last autopsy report on the 2018 WS. As Mark indicated, FAZ took over a team that had a payroll in excess of $250MM. One would think that a team with that payroll would be loaded.  However when they arrived on the scene, the team had only 3…

Read More >>

Projected 2018 Dodgers NLDS Roster

October 2, 2018

Now that the regular season is through, we can begin to speculate as to what will make up the NLDS roster.  It really shouldn’t be that difficult for 23 of the 25 players, but those last two will surely draw some scrutiny. IMO the givens:   Starting Pitching (4): Clayton Kershaw Hyun-jin Ryu Walker Buehler Rich Hill   Bullpen (8): Kenley Jansen Kenta Maeda Alex Wood Pedro Baez Scott Alexander…

Read More >>

What Comes Next For The Dodgers

June 9, 2018

  Editorial Note – I wrote this before the Buehler injury. The 2018 Amateur Draft is now over.  All that is left is the signing of the draft picks.  The Dodgers did not select a high school player in Round 11 indicating to me that they expect the top 10 to be close to the bonus pool + 5%.  There will be some savings with picks #9 and #10 as…

Read More >>