A couple of weeks ago a LADT poster asked about Dodger minor league prospects whose status has risen or fallen since being drafted by the Dodgers. I don’t like to write about players whose prospects have declined. Although I can’t feel their pain, I can understand how difficult it must be for them. I am more interested in selecting players that have risen in the top 30 prospect lists and most interested in those who are climbing the ladder without the recognition of top prospect lists. That would be players like Kyle Garlick and Zach Reks among others.
The top player on my list who has made great strides this year is Rancho Cucamonga Quakes second baseman Devin Mann. Actually he has played about the same number of games at second and third base although second is his preference.
Mann was selected by the Dodgers in the 5th round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft as a junior out of Louisville.
He was a graduate of Columbus North High School in Indiana and closed his prep career as Columbus North’s career leader in average (.449), runs (118), hits (150), doubles (36), triples (10), home runs (20), RBI (111) and stolen bases (92).
Upon graduation from high school he headed off to Louisville for a 3-year college career. In his junior and drafting year he hit .303 with seven home runs, 17 doubles, 52 RBI, 65 runs scored, 59 walks and 15 stolen bases in 64 starts.
Mann was expecting to be selected in the 2018 draft and suspected it might be by the Dodgers. He had drawn interest from several teams including the Royals, Orioles, Phillies and Yankees during his junior season but he felt the Dodgers were the team that was most high on him. One expects the Dodgers selected Mann with the belief they could unlock untapped power in his bat with a few adjustments to his swing.
“They definitely showed interest throughout the entire process,” Mann said.
A 5th round selection is quite high yet until a few weeks ago Devin Mann was an invisible man within the Dodgers farm system. He was a generic type second baseman that had not separated himself from the pack.
Part of the reason for his anonymity might have been his first year as a professional in which he did not gather much attention outside of the coaching staff. He began his professional career in 2018 with the AZL Dodgers and after 2 games advanced to the Great Lakes Loons. Moving directly to class-A must have meant the Dodgers saw something in him that the rest of us didn’t. As a Loon in 63 games in 2018 he posted a triple slash of .241/.348/.332 along with 2 home runs and 30 runs batted in. Perhaps those are not 5th round numbers.
Mann was advanced to the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes to begin the 2019 season and the move has been a good one. The 22-year-old right-hand hitter has distinguished himself during the current campaign and is near the top in several hitting categories: 17 home runs(2nd), 55 RBI (2nd), 150 total bases (tied 1st), .532 slugging (2nd), .883 OPS ( 3rd), 48 runs (4th). As a result of his offensive urge, he was selected as a Mid-Season All-Star.
Mann is listed at 6’3”/180-pounds and is not a typical second baseman because of his height. Only two MLB second basemen are taller than 6’3” – D.J. LeMahieu and Travis Shaw. Eleven MLB second basemen are shorter than 6-feet. Dustin Pedroia at 5’9” is Devin Mann’s favorite player. He explains.
“I just like how he plays the game,” says Mann. “He plays the game really hard. He goes about his business everyday. That’s what they taught at (the University of) Louisville. I love that about him.”
This was Baseball America’s assessment of Mann before the 2018 draft.
“He’s a disciplined hitter who works deep counts, controls the strike zone well and spoils pitcher’s pitches until he gets something he likes. In 2018, he’s walked more (53) than struck out (43) and has at least solid-average hitting ability with a quick, level swing that currently produces more doubles than over-the-fence pop.”
Something has happened on the way to the ball park that Devin Mann is now a power threat. His doubles, as described by Baseball America, have turned into home runs. Is it the Robert Van Scoyoc affect? We might have to read between the lines as something happened with him during the off season.
“When I was at Louisville I was a very reserved hitter,” Mann said. “I didn’t really use my body well, use my levers well. Then, when I got drafted with the Dodgers, we made a lot of changes with my lower half and bat path, just making sure I was tapped into all the power that I have and making sure I’m staying through the zone better. It’s paid off so far. I’m happy with the changes we’ve made.”
Regardless of the coaching provided, a player must buy into what is being sold and devote countless hours to utilizing what he has bought. To Mann’s credit, he made a total commitment just as Dustin Pedroia would have done.
“I never really tapped into that before just because of the reserved swing,” he said. “But as we made the changes in the off season, just month by month would go by being out in Arizona and you would start to see flashes of it.”
It may be written that the California League is a hitter’s league and does not provide a true reflection of a player’s power. However, all the players in the California league have the same advantage so perhaps it is better to be at the top of the league with a power surge than on the lower rungs of the ladder. Can the league advantage take credit for a 401-foot blast to center field?
Hitting the baseball is the most difficult part of the game but catching the ball is just as important. Devin Mann has made strides on the defensive side of the ball also, willing to put in the time to transition from second to third base. He has improved his footwork, athleticism and arm strength at second base under the care of the Dodgers’ player development staff, and he’s received his first extended exposure at third base as well to help enhance his versatility.
“We’ve seen some really incredible plays out of him at both spots,” Kertenian said. “Fearless going for it, but having his legs underneath him. I think he’s gotten the ball in and out of the glove with some velocity on the throws very, very well. That’s been a significant improvement.”
Third base -hmmm. The invisible man has transformed into one of the Dodgers most promising prospects.
DC’s Minor League Lowdown
Highlight of the Day: 19-year old Miguel Vargas made his Quakes debut. He had 2 hits including a walk-off double in the bottom of the 9th inning.
DSL Dodgers (Bautista) 7 – DSL Red Sox (1) 3
Jerming Rosario and Christian Suarez opened up with a combined 5 scoreless innings on 3 hits and 4 strikeouts. Elgardo Henriquez and Carlos De Avila then gave up one and 2 runs respectively while Hendrick Briones pitched a scoreless 9th. The 17-year-old has allowed no runs over 12 innings.
The Dodgers scored three gift runs in the 2nd inning on an error, a sac fly and a wild pitch pitch. Three more came home in the 5th on a Luis Yan single and a Gregory Pereira double. Yan brought one more home in the 6th with another single.
DSL Dodgers (Shoemaker) 1 – DSL Rangers (1) 4
Osvanni Gutierrez pitched 4 innings giving up 3 runs while Jose Mendez allowed one in his 2 innings. Carlos Rodriguez and Horacio Andujar each pitched a scoreless inning. Andujar has not given up any runs in his five appearances.
The lone run came in the 7th on a ground out.
AZL Dodgers (Lasorda) 8- AZL Athletics (Green) 7
Orlandy Navarro continues to struggle and spotted the Athletics 4 runs in 2.1 innings while Igor Avila followed suit with 3 runs in 1.2 innings. After that Juan Gonzalez, Franklin De La Paz and Reinaldo De Paula combined for 5 scoreless innings on 4 hits and with 10 strikeouts.
The Dodgers scored in 4 separate innings with one run in the 2nd on a ground out and one in the 3rd on a Yunior Garcia single. Two came home in the 4th on a Wladimir Chalo single and 4 in the 7th on a Jaime Perez home run, a Tyler Ryan pinch hit triple and 2 fielder’s choices.
AZL Dodgers (Mota) 7 – AZL D-backs 6
Hyun-il Choi gave up a grand slam in the 4th inning although none of the runs were earned. Michael Martinez and Carlos Alejo each surrendered a run in a combined 3.2 innings pitched .Jacob Gilliland picked up the win in his 0.2 inning pitched.
Offensively the Dodgers scored 4 in the first inning on a 2-run double by Alex De Jesus and a 2-run home run by Steve Berman. Jeremiah Vison scored on a WP in the second while 2 came home in the bottom of the 9th on an Albert Suatez bunt and an Ismael Alcantara sacrifice fly.
Ogden Raptors – Orem Owlz (LAA)
Postponed due to wet grounds with a double header today.
Great Lakes Loons 3 – Lansing Lugnuts (Toronto) 4
The Loons wasted another great start by Robinson Ortiz who went 6 innings on 7 hits with 2 walks and 3 strikeouts. Joel Inoa and Mark Washington proceeded to surrender 2 runs each with Washington taking the loss.
Jacob Amaya had provided Ortiz with a quick lead with a 2-run home run in the first inning. Matt Cogen had extended the lead to 3-0 with an RBI single in the 6th inning.
Ranch Cucamonga Quakes 2 – Lake Elsinore Storm (San Diego) 1
Josiah Gray continued to shine in the California League pitching 6.2 scoreless innings on 4 hits, 2 walks and 7 strikeouts. Bryan Warzek gave up one run but Wes Helsabeck picked up his 5th win with a scoreless 1.2 innings pitched.
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the 9th, Miguel Vargas in his Quakes debut drove home Marchus Chiu and Deacon Liput with a double, his second hit of the game.
Tulsa Drillers 3 – Springfield Cardinals 9
Justin DeFratus and Victor Gonzalez coughed up 9 runs to the Cardinals in the 4th inning and the Drillers never recovered. Yordy Cabrera and Andre Scrubb cleaned up with 5 strikeouts over 3 innings.
The Drillers runs came on a Christian Santana home run in the 4th innings, a Victor Gonzalez single in the 5th inning and a Santana single in the 6th.
OKC Dodgers 4 – Nashville Sounds (Texas) 6
Dennis Santana continued his struggles coughing up 5 runs in 5 innings. Justin Grimm gave up a 6th run in his 1.2 innings while Chris Nunn pitched a scoreless 1.1 innings.
The Dodgers runs came on a Jake Peter home run in the 2nd inning, a Connor Joe 2-run home run in the 5th inning and a DJ Peters sac fly in the 8th.
Wonder if JT has an IL stint in his future after not being available last night? With Freese soon to be activated I’m thinking the Dodgers will put JT on the 10 day IL and let him get things right. Let the kids stay up a bit longer (Garlick and Rios) because it looks like to me they’ll need to find a permanent spot on the 25 man roster for Beaty. He looks real.
With the lead we have I’m expecting the FO to some serious “load management” with the 25 man roster. What a great time to be a Dodger fan.
Good write-up DC. Will keep an eye on and root for, Devin Mann, Vargas and other bright young stars. Re the Dodger game last night. All is well with the world. The Dodgers fought back and pulled off a win, the bullpen pitched well, especially Kelly and Mr. Suit was back in his seat behind home plate,
Deacon Liput made a nice play for the Quakes last night from short. He charged a slow roller, faked a throw to first and then in the same motion twirled and fired to third to get the runner who had started from second base but rounded third too wide. Sitting behind first base I had anticipated a bang bang play there and was surprised, with the rest of the crowd, to see the putout at third.
Roberto Alomar with the Blue Jays used to make plays like that. From second he would look to first and go to third.
WTG Deacon.
I’m the guy who has been lobbying for us to trade for Greg Holland since January. I am hereby withdrawing that recommendation. I can’t imagine how a guy must feel after blowing up that badly. Maybe a little less bad since the guy who followed him finished it off with another walk.
An amazing win last night.
The dodgers have too many good hitters (especially after Freese and Seager return) for the amount of positions there are on the field. That’s a good thing I guess. It makes for good pinch hitters.
How many closers have the Dodgers offense beat this season?
I hope the Dodgers don’t trade any valuable pieces from this offense.
Yesterday was a good example that if the pitching can keep the team in the game even if the offense is having a hard time driving in runners in scoring position, this offense will find a way to win.
Great post DC.. It’s a grind out there and it’s great to hear about this kid and others who work hard and achieve success.
I’m not going to jinx my 2019 Blue, but I will say sometimes I’ll take being lucky rather than good!!!
I’m a few days tardy but I wanted to talk about the game a few nights ago. During the broadcast Orel Hershiser made the comment that he has had a change of heart and now favors some form of K-Zone or Pitch Tracker to call balls and strikes. This was while we all watching C.D. Bucknor miss pitches both ways; balls were strikes and strikes, balls. He’s brutal. I too have had a change of heart on this. If you would have told me a few years ago that I would favor this technology I would have told you, as an old baseball purist, that you were nuts. Not anymore. Back in my day, hitting a high fastball separated prospects. Than everything moved down so Sammy Sosa, Mark Mac and those boys could spit on anything above the belt. Now the high strike is, or should be, back in the game. The Kyle Hendricks types pitch up in the zone despite below average velocity but great spin rates. They need that pitch. And the high cheese guys are so fun. For the most part, the strike zone has moved up. But baseball has allowed the “individual interpretations” of the strike zone. Some umpires refuse to call certain pitches and seem to get away with it. Other umpires are just bad. Which brings me to a question some others may know the answer to. How are MLB umps evaluated? I suspect there is a post game review and analysis. What are the consequences for consistently bad reports? How does C.D. Bucknor, Angel Hernandez even the obnoxious Joe West keep their jobs? Hernandez even openly questioned and grieved not getting post season assignments. Gee, I wonder why? It seems that despite being totally crappy, these guys just keep on ticking. Anybody know how the review process works for umpires?
As walk offs go that was a ‘walk off’ for the ages. The script was flipped with all of the runs charged to Stripling and the bullpen was nails. Kelly may have turned a corner in his performance and his usage. It’s time for Urias to take Hill’s spot and Strip to be the long man IMO, or give each of them a try on Sat and Sun before the AS break. It will be easy enough to send down Garlick and Rios for Freese and Corey but Beaty will be missed when AJ is activated unless they go with 12 in the pen which they sometimes do. How does Strip strike out 7 but still give up 7 hits? Sometimes he is too much in love with his curveball.
Kelly was filthy last night, but somehow always operates with a lot of baserunners. He’s close. Did I see 100 MPH sinking just below the knees? Who the hell can hit that? FIL-THY!!! If he can command an off-speed pitch, he would be unhittable.
Does Bellinger lead the league in walk-off walks?
DODGERS ACQUIRE RHP CASEY SADLER
RHP NATHAN WITT TRADED TO TAMPA BAY RAYS & LHP RICH HILL TRANSFERRED TO 60-DAY IL
LOS ANGELES –The Los Angeles Dodgers today acquired right-handed pitcher Casey Sadler from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for right-handed pitcher Nathan Witt. Sadler was added to the 40-man roster and optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City. In order to make room on the roster, left-handed pitcher Rich Hill was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Sadler, 28, appeared in nine games for the Rays, going 0-0 with a 1.86 ERA (4 ER/19.1 IP) and 11 strikeouts. The Oklahoma native has spent parts of four seasons in the Major Leagues with the Rays and Pirates, collecting a combined mark of 1-1 with a 4.38 ERA (19 ER/39.0 IP) and 26 strikeouts. He was originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 25th round of the 2010 First Year Player Draft out of Western Oklahoma State College.
Witt, 23, appeared 22 games for the single-A affiliate Great Lakes, going 1-2 with a 5.32 ERA (14 ER/23.2 IP) and 31 strikeouts. The righty has been with the Dodgers since 2017, going 4-2 with a 4.32 ERA (20 ER/41.2 IP) in 41 minor league games. The Michigan native was originally drafted in the 17th round of the 2017 First Year Player Draft out of Michigan State University.
Hill, 39, was placed on the injured list on June 20 with a left forearm strain. In 10 starts this season, he is 4-1 with a 2.55 ERA (15 ER/58.0 IP) and 61 strikeouts. The southpaw is in his 15th Major League season and is a combined 65-42 with a 3.84 ERA (397 ER/931.2 IP) and 993 strikeouts.
There’s your bullpen piece. Great ERA! 😉
So Hill will be back in September?
From Brooks baseball on Sadler:
Pitch Repertoire At-A-Glance
Casey Sadler has thrown 604 pitches that have been tracked by the PITCHf/x system between 2014 and 2019, all of them occuring in the MLB Regular Season. In 2019, he has relied primarily on his Sinker (94mph), Cutter (90mph) and Curve (82mph), also mixing in a Change (87mph). He also rarely throws a Fourseam Fastball (93mph).
BETA Feature:
Basic description of 2019 pitches compared to other RHP:
His sinker has slight armside run, has slightly above average velo and has some natural sinking action. His cutter has slightly above average velo, has some natural sink and has strong cutting action. His curve is much harder than usual. His change (take this with a grain of salt because he’s only thrown 19 of them in 2019) generates fewer whiffs/swing compared to other pitchers’ changeups, is much firmer than usual and has some natural sink to it. His fourseam fastball (take this with a grain of salt because he’s only thrown 2 of them in 2019) is basically never swung at and missed compared to other pitchers’ fourseamers, is an extreme flyball pitch compared to other pitchers’ fourseamers, has some natural sinking action and has essentially average velo.
Great, more bargain bin shopping. He’s not a closer and isn’t left handed. Sounds like Floro 2.0.
It’s trading for a pitcher with ML experience for a 23 year old pitcher with 23.2 innings of low A ball. This is what AF does. Maybe he catches lightening in a bottle, maybe not. But there was no real cost. If Tampa can develop Witt, good for them. Floro may not be a legit lock down reliever, he has had his moments.
I am more concerned as to what this may portend for Rich Hill. How serious is his forearm injury?
Considering that Sadler was a DFA, it looks like Hill’s recovery will be slow, and he will be a loogy when he comes back because there won’t be time for a build up and it solves the “problem” of too many starting pitchers when Urias inevitably returns to the rotation. Although forearm tightness is synonymous with TJ, it is diagnosed as a flexor tendon strain. As you probably know, tendon and ligament strains are usually 6 weeks so this isn’t entirely unexpected.
Back to Sadler, it is what it is. A guy who is not the solution, but may have some useful innings until we fix the bullpen closer to the deadline.
ERA doesn’t mean anything.
Career 1.41 WHIP, 753 OPS against, a mere 6 K’s per 9 innings.
His stats this year is subject to a small sample size of 19.1 innings.
Last nights game gave a whole new meaning to the old expression, A WALK IN THE PARK.
Nice midseason writeup of our farm (and everybody else’s farm):
https://www.milb.com/milb/news/midseason-farm-system-grades-national-league/c-308694104?tid=216111950
Meanwhile I’m on full Kawhi Leonard alert, supposed to be a decision coming later today. The Lakers may have pulled it off and other players want to join up like Iggy and Boogie.
I”m right there with you my man!!
But remember what the Pacemaker ‘s #1 fan M.T. said, LeBron in wheelchair by mid season. Put that bong down M.T.
Meanwhile, just for AC, DJ Lameheu was named the AL player of the month for Jun
Found the Trayvon Robinson article that Mark provided yesterday quite interesting. In particular, Robinson’s saying that when Seattle brought up to the parent club he didn’t feel ready. In contrast look at how well our rookies have performed this year. The Dodgers are not rushing any players. Instead they are doing their best to make sure they can succeed at the highest levels, even if it means delaying their promotions longer than one might expect (for example, Alex Verdugo last year).
NBA Free Agency is the complete opposite of MLB Free Agency. No one can officially sign a deal, yet everyone is signed already.
I may be wrong, but this is how I see this playing out. Leonard grew up a Lakers fan and his favorite player was Kobe. The Clippers were the Lakers Red Headed Stepchild during that time. He always wanted to come home to play. If he doesn’t sign with the Lakers or Clippers now, when there’s an opportunity to do so, he may not get another chance. AD put $4 mil back on the table, do you think he did so for the Lakers to spend it on second and third tear players? Or, do you think he spoke to Leonard before he offered that up? Do you think Leonard thinks he can beat AD and JaBrone in the finals? He beat the crippled Warriors who without Thompson, Cousins and Durant. Leonard is thinking right now that he and AD are Kobe and Shaq redeux.
This is a done deal.
So the latest is that Hill won’t be available until late August at the earliest at best. If there is concern that he can’t make it back what if the Dodgers trade for a starter and leave Urias in the bullpen for the rest of the year?
Someone like Bumgarner and Smith?
Or Zack Wheeler and Seth Lugo from the Mets.
Or a walk off win!
At what cost for Bumgarner,and Smith.?
Although Farhan has repeatedly stated that he would have no problem trading with Friedman and AF has said the same, there is no way in the world that he would ever trade Madbum to us. That’s where the line would be drawn. If he did it, the Giants fans would burn his house down.
Smith, Dyson, Watson and others, no problem. Madbum or Posey, not in a million years.
Interesting note from Dodger Insider. ” The combination of Julio Urías and Pedro Báez was nearly unhittable in June. Opposing batters were 11-for-102 (.108) against the pair. They also had a combined 1.16 ERA in the month. Let’s now make the group larger with Kenley Jansen and Joe Kelly. The quartet combined for a 1.62 ERA in June.
The Dodgers had the second-best bullpen ERA in June at 3.26. This was a significant turnaround from May when Dodger relievers ranked 17th at 4.64.”
Maybe the pen isn’t as bad, right now, as it seems.
Not coincidentally, Alexander has been on the DL for pretty much all of June, so he hasn’t been around to let inherited base runners score and NOT get lefties out. Talk about addition by subtraction. Hopefully he was crappy because he was injured and not injured because he’s crappy. It’ll be nice to have a loogy on the roster because we sure do know that Doc likes to use them.
Rosscup, Alexander and Ferguson are our lefty bullpen options come playoffs. You can probably throw Rich Hill’s hat into that ring as well. We might get lucky and get by with this motley crew, but I would feel a whole lot better trading for better options like Smith and Vazquez.
Friedman should play the “You owe me, I didn’t have to let you interview with the Giants” card on Farhan and acquire Smith for some of Farhan’s favorites. We can start with Alexander, Joe and Rosscup.
I agree with you Campy. We had almost 5 innings last night of good relief. Kelly is looking better. Baez has been good all year. Jansen just has to keep working on his slider. Even Floro pitched well last night. I can see Kershaw, Beuhler, Ryu and Urias as the four starter in the playoffs. I do not think Hill will make it back. If he does , he will go to the pen. I think Stripling and Maeda will go to the pen.
If Barnes could just hit .250. He certainly is good enough defensely and he calls a good game.
The problems they have when Pollock and Seager come back are going to be good problems.
It really looks lik Joc has to play first. I can see Taylor starting to play some first base to platoon with Joc.
Beaty, Garlick and Rios will get a lot of playing time until Seager and Pollock come back. One will stick with the team. I like Beaty. I hope two get traded this winter for some more farm kids. They deserve an opportunity.
June Uncle Ray’s Players of the Month – Devin Mann included.
Rancho Cucamonga (Dodgers) third baseman Devin Mann led the California League in home runs (10) and total bases (63), was second in slugging percentage (.656) and RBI (21) and was third in OPS (1.017). He posted nine multi-hit games, including four straight games from June 20–23. Mann, 22, was drafted by the Dodgers in the fifth round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Louisville
A half year of Bumgarner for 6 years of White and a half year of Smith for 6 years of Kowoski seems fair enough unless Zaidi can get more from some other team. Adding Bumgarner to the Dodgers might feel like the betrayal many of us felt when the Dodgers added Marichal.
Zaidi would get arrested for Robbery and Friedman would be institutionalized if he did those trades.
I won’t disagree with that. We are still watching Santana play and he is the American League starting all star catcher this year. Casey Blake did his part to try to get the Dodgers to the World Series but is a good example of a trade that sought short term success at the expense of long term competitiveness.
I am satisfied that AF will not spend on a reliever. Mark mentioned Dave Dombrowski did not value a bullpen but the one he had last WS was lights out at the right time. I do not understand why that is different from when I say that AF does not place a lot of value on a bullpen. He would rather have the other components good enough to make up for an “okay” bullpen. I agree with Mark that AF is convinced he can make due with internal options rather than spend for a proven reliever.
Felipe Vazquez is having a better first half than Brad Hand had during the first half of 2018. Brad Hand and Adam Cimber cost the Indians #1 prospect catcher Francisco Mejia. That was the cost that set the bar. To think that it would not cost at least Keibert Ruiz (as a starter) for Vazquez is thinking with your heart and not with a GM head. To beleive that AF would trade Ruiz is not sound thinking either (IMO). Vazquez has one more year of team control than Hand had. Vazquez is about 16 months younger than Hand. Like it or not, it has never been in AF’s game plan to trade a high profiled prospect in any trade, much less for a reliever.
People can convince themselves that because Urias, Baez, Jansen , and Kelly had a good June that they may be good as a group. Urias is going into the rotation probably after the All-Star Break. That means that Zac Rosscup will be the sole left hander in the bullpen. Still feeling good? Waiting in the wings is Scott Alexander and Caleb Ferguson. How about now? I am a Caleb Ferguson fan, but I sure would not be comfortable with Caleb facing Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Judge, Didi Gregorius…in the WS.
Will Smith? He would be a great addition, but Farhan is not going to let the Dodgers steal him, and someone is going to give the Giants a better package than what the Dodgers would. I still believe that Omar Estevez would be an ideal primary part of a package.
Ken Giles? He is RH and if AF is convinced that Baez, Kelly, and Jansen can hold down the RH back end of the rotation, the Dodgers will not pay the price.
I hope I am wrong, but it would appear that the best the Dodgers may be willing to pony up for would be Jake Diekman.
AF recognizes that his bullpen is not elite which is why he and Brandon Gomes are looking at relief pitchers in the draft. IMO, AF likes the potential of Jordan Sheffield and Marshall Kasowski. I think they are high on Andre Scrubb and Jack Little. They are going to need a lefty for that group. Will Caleb make the full transition and be that guy?
Instead of Will Smith or Felipe Vazquez, get used to the idea of Yimi Garcia, Dylan Floro, and Zac Rosscup.
You forgot Scott Alexander. 😉
No I didn’t
Completely agree with you with one exception. We are all thinking the Dodgers are looking for a lefty reliever. But are we better off with Urias in the pen and the Dodgers getting a starter to replace Hill?
If we are going with internal resources, shouldn’t the Dodgers be seeing how the do before the trade deadline then after?
Well, you won’t get a starter better than Urias. If something like that becomes available, it will cost you more than what a closer would cost. But, I agree about internal resources. If that was the plan, they should already be here.
At the beginning of the year, I thought this bullpen would be elite. That was with Cingrani back and Joe Kelly being a shutdown 8th inning guy / part time closer. This still may be the case. Kelly looked dominant last night for the first time this year. Beaz has been pitching like a setup guy. Yimi is Josh Fields. If you can get rid of the homers, he would be awesome. Ferguson was more than good enough as a lefty. Maybe Rich Hill or Alexander is the other lefty. It could be a very good pen if all those things work out. But, that’s a lot of ifs. And Kenley simply isn’t as good as he used to be.
I would rather trade for some insurance and I think it will happen. My reasoning is everyone has written that the pen is our only weakness. Andrew has come through at the deadline each of the last 3 years. If you put it together, it’s obvious. I don’t entirely buy in that since AF didn’t do something in the past, he won’t do it in the future. Everyone said he wouldn’t spend money on a reliever, until he did by signing Kelly.
I’ll join this guesswork.
With the proviso that I know nothing.
I think it’ll be a strong bullpen arm. My reasoning has a bit of everything, but the main one leading me to this shore is simply…
I can’t figure out where else a move is needed. Obviously there could be an injury or two. But it’s bullpen arm, or… backup 2B??!?!!?!?
If anyone is still reading this, then I’ll even venture a name. Vazquez. He’s a LHRP to offset Jansen and Kelly. He’s used to high-leverage situations, so theoretically the coaches could use him in interesting “non-save” situations.
It’s a guess.
Bluto, none of us know anything. We are all arm chair GM’s.
I just like reminding people of my ignorance.
You usually do 😉
Go ahead and trade joc now. He won’t be worth much after the all star game.
Not a fan of Joc in the home run derby?
Cody Time
All I have to say is read my first post up top.
It turns out the Diamondbacks relief pitchers had good reason for not throwing the ball over the plate to the Dodgers hitters… Belli absolutely pieced that ball.
Don’t look now but Joc Peterson is creeping up close to a .250 batting average while getting a base hit against a lefty and playing a good 1B.
Would the Pirates like to unload Chris Archer’s contact (approximately $16m through 21 plus remaining 19 salary)?
Could we use him if Hill is out of rotation and leave Julio in the BP, or extend the deal to include Vasquez?
Would be a sweetener for Pittsburgh to get him off the books the way he has performed for them so far.
The Pirates GM flat out said he’s not trading Vasquez. And Roberts said he expects Hill back the beginning of September with the goal of using Hill when it counts in October.
I have always been a fan of Archer. Great teammate, charismatic, and sometimes a really good pitcher.