This past regular season, the Washington Nationals had the worst bullpen in baseball. Out of 30 MLB teams, they were #30 in ERA at 5.66. MLB average was 4.43 and the Dodgers were #4 in MLB in ERA. The Nationals bullpen was also worst in baseball allowing hitters a .266 batting average. To say that their bullpen was horrible would be kind. Yet, here they are on the way to the World Series and the Dodgers are watching it on TV.
Every team had bullpen issues this season… even Tampa Bay. I just get tired of the “parrots” saying that the Dodgers “have to fix their bullpen.” What? The Dodgers bullpen was one of the best in baseball, warts and all. Every time you say “Everyone knows the Dodgers bullpen is the problem” tells me you really are lacking comprehension of what happened. There are people who make things happen, people who watch things happen and others who say “What happened?” Wake up!
What happened is that the Nationals did it when it counted and the Dodgers didn’t. The Dodgers Postseason Starting Pitching ERA was 2.39 while the Nats was 2.04. The Nats bullpen performed better in the playoffs but it was mostly because Strasburg and Sherzer pitched in key situations out of the pen. The biggest difference was that the Nationals hit .393 with RISP while the Dodgers hit .135. BALLGAME OVER!
Kike Hernandez, Justin Turner, Russ Martin, and Max Muncy were 5 for 8 with Runners in Scoring Position, while the rest of the team was 0 for 29. Fix the bullpen? Bullshit! The hitting is still the issue. All is not lost, however. 2019 was Robert Van Socyoc’s first in LA. Assuming that he will be back also assumes that with another offseason and Spring Training, the Dodgers will improve even more. That’s the way it works. This is a new approach and it takes time to fully develop. I saw the difference. They did improve last season – they cut down on their strikeouts and they improved their hitting with RISP. Unfortunately, it did not carry over into the playoffs. To bat .136 with RISP is pathetic.
We have to single out the culprits:
- Cody Bellinger hit .211 in the playoffs
- Corey Seager hit .150 in the playoffs
- Chris Taylor hit .125 in the playoffs
- Will Smith hit .077 in the playoffs
- AJ Pollock hit .000 in the playoffs and struck out in 11 of his 13 AB’s (that speaks volumes to me)
Going into the 2019 season, it was assumed that Clayton Kershaw and Striker Buehler would form a great #1 and #2 duo. It turned out that Ryu was also right there. Buehler pitched like an ACE with a 0.71 ERA and allowed hitters a .119 BA against him. Clayton Kershaw had a 7.11 ERA in the playoffs, again showing that he cannot be trusted in key games. It is what it is. Patrick Corbin was just as bad… actually worse with a 7.43 ERA, but Anibel “Freaking” Sanchez at age 35 had a 0.71 ERA and carries a career ERA of 2.57 in the playoffs.
During 2019, Sanchez put up a 3.85 ERA, but when he counted, he showed up. It’s obvious to everyone (Andrew Friedman included) that Clayton is not a top of the rotation pitcher anymore and really never has been in the playoffs. During Friedman’s tenure, the Dodgers have always had two aces: Greinke & Kershaw, Kershaw & Buehler… now they have one. They need another one and there is only one option: Gerrit Cole. There is seldom a time to make a dope-fiend move, but this is that time.
Julio Urias is ready to step into the rotation and deliver 150 to 170 innings. Some say he is injury-prone. That’s simply not true. He had A Single Injury and that’s it. He’s back and has a 98 MPH fastball to go with 3 other very good pitches. He will slot as the #3 in the rotation behind Cole and Buehler. Kershaw will be the #4 and Maeda or May will be the #5. That leaves Tony Gonsolin in the pen where he has pitched before.
Andrew Friedman’s MO has not been to sign big FA deals, but this is different. The Dodgers can’t win without two or three aces. It’s not the bullpen, it’s the starting pitching and hitting. I loved Rich Hill and Hyun-jin Ryu, but let them walk. This is the solution.
The Nats are Living Proof
They started the season 19-31 and as little as a month ago there was still talk of firing Martinez as manager. His blunders were well-exposed to Nats fans, but they got hot and he quit making mistakes. Well, the players started executing so what some of you call mistakes was simply lack of execution by the players. When they fail to execute, the manager is always an idiot!
Did the Nats spend big money on a free agent? No. In fact, they let the biggest free-agent walk. So, once again, a big free-agent signing and winning had no correlation. The free-agent they did sign, Max Scherzer, saw the team bounced from the playoffs in his first fours years. 2019 was his worst season and they are going to the World Series. The worst bullpen in baseball and they are going to the World Series. No home-field advantage and they are going to the World Series. Wild Card Team and they are going to the World Series. The manager was maligned all season and they are going to the World Series. The team was built with castoffs and has-beens (Dozier, Kendrick, Parra, Adams, Cabrera, Difo, Suzuki) as well as kids (Soto and Robles).
Dodger fans said the Dodgers needed a better bullpen, home-field advantage and a better manager. All the Nats needed was better execution and they got it! Along with the bargain-basement cast-offs, a lot of the pieces were Home Grown, including Rendon, Soto, Turner, Robles, Strasburg, and Eaton who were either drafted or acquired as minor-league prospects.
The Dodgers do need Gerrit Cole and signing him may be a dope-fiend move, because his arm could fall off… or he could be a Justin Verlander clone. I think it’s a risk they have to take. Strausburg and Scherzer made $38 and $37 million respectively this year. Gerrit Cole will cost north of that. Getting Cole seems to me to be the most important thing the Dodgers could do… but there could be others. No one expected the Nats to be here… and yet they are. The Dodgers need Gerrit Cole and better execution and Dave Roberts will be a genius.
Dodger’s Media Guides
I have accumulated many Dodger Media Guides over the years, so a few months ago I decided to finish my collection. I currently have all the Dodger Media Guides from 1960 until the present day. In the process, I had to buy some duplicates, It turns out that I had to buy some duplicates to finish my collection. As of now, I have duplicates of the following years:
- 2016
- 2015
- 2005
- 1992
- 1991
- 1989
- 1986
- 1985
- 1984
- 1983
- 1982
- 1980
- 1979
Before I list them back on E-Bay, I thought I would see if anyone wanted them. I’ll make you a deal you can’t refuse. Let me know…
Scherzer and Strasbergs contract have deferred money, doesn’t affect the CBT but does reduce their actual seasonal costs. The Natshave already offered Rendon a deferred contract but seriously doubt he will rake it.
Dodgers bullpen in 2019 (Fangraphs): ranked 24th out of 30 teams in leaving runners on base; 25th in blown saves; 30th in left on base wins (negative 4.6). The Dodgers have several areas to be addressed in the off season, one of which is the bullpen.
“It’s obvious to everyone (Andrew Friedman included) that Clayton is not a top of the rotation pitcher anymore.” Two weeks ago you were insisting that he’s still the Ace of the staff.
Conveniently, there’s no mention of the 6 years 140 million they gave to Patrick Corbin.
If my memory serves correctly, the Dodgers had a 3-1 lead, gave it to the bullpen, the torched the place, but somehow the bullpen isn’t the problem. Next series, the Nats won their first two games while scoring 2 and 3 runs.
Cole and Rendon are both the types of players that you make room for, regardless of need. I’ll take either one and preferably both.
If I had to choose between Rendon and Turner, I would thank JT and say Au revoir. File this under, “It’s better to let someone go a year too early than a year too late”.
“Kike Hernandez, Justin Turner, Russ Martin, and Max Muncy were 5 for 8 with Runners in Scoring Position, while the rest of the team was 0 for 29.” I think this has more to do with age and experience than anything else. Hopefully, with another year the youngsters will learn to slow it down and let it come to them in the post-season.
Cole, Rendon, Will Smith. Might was well go big all at once!
The bullpen was not the problem, when May, Urias, Gonsolin and Maeda were all members of the bullpen. But, you’re planning on pulling 2-3 out of the bullpen and into the rotation. You also have a closer with 8 blown saves, HR Garcia, Wild Thing Kelly, and Tire Fire Baez in the bullpen that’s not the problem. We need one or two RELIABLE bullpen pieces to count on added to this group. In other words, we need two unicorns.
All that is needed is a lock down reliever,and a Solid RH hitter.
… AND EXECUTION!
Hey, I realize a bunch of our guys let us down in the playoffs, but now you want to execute them?
Why not?
Can’t go wrong with that word, Mark. Why don’t they execute? Perhaps you mean removed from the team, taken out the back door, lined up against a wall…………..Why not execute some of these players? Not literally, but TRADE ‘EM!
Taylor has been weak for 2 years running. We’ve been platooning all over the field and we call it depth. Our utility players often are the starters. Some of our starters have lopsided splits and are automatically out of the lineup a lot of the time. To me, this is nuts. The team calls it versatility. I am not buying it. Wholesale auditions every year because they are looking for guys to step up. Very few do, especially in the BP. A great fielder may not be a good hitter. Do we compromise? If you’re a cheap charlie and most of your guys are team controlled, you have compromised, hoping that they will produce at some point. Dodgers are not a great team. They are good, but not great.
And the only reason why the dodgers are there every year on top because the West division is very weak. In 2 years the dodgers will not win there Division
I agreed 100%
Sorry, I just wasn’t a fan of the bullpen. An inconsistent lot at best. I was never quite sure if Pedro Baez was going to put out the fire or create a massive blaze, thought maybe he should get a new nickname … PG and E. Okay, maybe you have to live in California to get that.
Trust? I had none. Oh, there were times. I liked Maeda in that role, but when absolutely no one trusts your closer, you’ve got a problem. Friedman didn’t exactly give Kenley a ringing endorsement. There were all those communication issues between Jansen and catchers this summer. The catchers would call one pitch and Kenley didn’t want to throw it. He was a cutter guy, change was difficult. Roberts talked about it. Orel talked about it in the season wrap up show and what the Dodgers had to do moving forward. Obviously, the team hopes he will change. Will he?
MLB writer Jon Heyman is already linking Gerrit Cole to the Dodgers, noting his desire to apparently play on the west coast and be on a team capable of winning championships. He’s indicating the Dodgers are going to be serious about Cole, changing their approach from previous years. Think financial flexibility, money to spend.
So what about Cole and Rendon? Nah, I think you get one shot at this, not two. A $200 million vicinity contract is something the Dodgers won’t take lightly. They still have to extend long term deals to Cory Seager and Cody Bellinger in the future. And Friedman and the Dodgers will still want to maintain flexibility. They also have other needs, such as the bullpen. Make no mistake, Friedman still Thinks that is an area of concern. He was pursuing top flight relievers at the deadline for a reason.
Best of all worlds, Kenley bounces back and makes changes as Orel has suggested. Kelly is healthy and everything clicks in, and they find a couple of young arms in the trade market. Maybe they find a right handed bat, but Pollock had a terrific second half, but faded in the playoffs. If he’s healthy, the Dodgers will have a really good bat. They’ll probably look for a lefty who can get out both lefties and righties.
Maybe they pursue a Will Smith or maybe they don’t because free agent relievers don’t always work out, just ask Colorado. Plus such pursuits can be costly. Maybe they pick up Brandon Morrow or someone like him on a flyer and hope to catch magic.
They will give Maeda a chance to start, not wanting to bruise his feelings, but I think he’s really good in the bullpen and that’s where the team really needs help. Then there is Julio Urias, Dustin May and Tony Gonsolin pushing for starting roles.
I’m guessing Ryu won’t be back with Scott Boras already starting up the band to announce a big contract in his future. The Dodgers would certainly want him back, but at what cost? More likely, he signs with the Angels. For a few million more annually the Dodgers could have Cole. More risk, longer contract, absolutely. But the upside could be off the charts. As Friedman has repeatedly said, if you use common sense and logic, reducing risk, you’ll never get the player. Plus, they need to appease a somewhat angry fan base.
As to Justin Turner, you simply don’t get rid of the heart and soul of your team. He’s still productive, plus the fan base loves the guy. Deep breath, Dodgers are definitely going to make a few changes, but they’re not going to get crazy. They’re coming off a 106 win season and have won seven straight NL West titles. Pursuing a World Series title begins with winning the West. That’s not lost on the Dodgers. So radical change is simply not in the cards.
The bullpen wasn’t “the” problem, but it was “a” problem. Some of the members of the pen, even if they did execute at the top of their ability, would not have been pitchers you could consistently rely on, particularly in a playoff context as is evidenced by the fact that starters were being called upon instead of those that plied their trade all year out of the bullpen. I don’t believe it would hurt one iota to get one or two pieces for the pen that might be considered more reliable and could be called upon in the playoffs. Then again, we could sign Will Smith and his arm falls off in spring training. If that happened, then all of us could wax philosophical about how we knew that it was going to happen before we signed him.
If we signed them, and we were guaranteed that we were getting the Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon of today, I’m sure we could find a place on the 40 man roster for them. But there are no guarantees that yesterday’s success will produce tomorrow’s victories. However, if Stripling and Kike had to be traded to make room, as much as I like them, I would wish them well with their new team and start rooting for whatever prospects we got in return.
Every team had bullpen issues this season… even Tampa Bay. I just get tired of the “parrots” saying that the Dodgers “have to fix their bullpen.”
If every team has issues, that must include the Dodgers. If they have issues then why criticize the people who openly recognize that and want to correct them. No one wants us to go into next season with the same issues that we had this past year.
I agree with 2D2. Even though there are certain players that I would hate to see go to other teams, I would also wish them well and cheer for the new players who took their places. As to who that may be, I will leave it up to you experts as I am not knowledgeable enough to make those decisions. I do have my thoughts though, but they are based on basic stats, and what I see with my eyes and hear from everyone. You have been good teachers and I learn something from most of you.
I don’t have the exact stats in front of me, but I know that the bullpen turned a 2-1 game into a 6-1 game in Game 4, and then gave up six runs in Game 5 to turn a 3-1 lead into a 7-3 loss. The bullpen also gave up plenty of runs in last year’s World Series. But let’s not do anything to fix it, let’s just go out there again with the same people and hope for the best. Our bullpen gave up ten of the thirteen runs that the Nationals scored in the last two games, and thirteen runs in approximately eighteen innings of bullpen work in the playoffs.
The Yankees and Astros both have much better bullpens than the Dodgers. Washington did not this year, but it came up big in the playoffs, and they tried to improve it during the season, while we did not. There was no feasible way that the Dodgers could have won a World Series against the top two teams, because they would have eaten up our bullpen, much as the Red Sox did last year. But if we want to think that the bullpen is fine, then by all means don’t bother to fix it; it’s too effortful, anyway, and costs money.
It is very difficult to pick up a high-end starting pitcher. I don’t think we will get Cole, someone will outbid us. Maybe he’ll go to the Yankees, or maybe Padres or Angels. If so, where are we going to get this high-end starter? We probably wouldn’t, we would get someone who was good once, not so good now, but hope we could resuscitate him. As to Urias, I really have no idea how he would do as a full-season starter pitching a lot of innings. I do know that if we only have one high-end pitcher in Buehler, we would need a great bullpen to back up our iffy starters. If we don’t get that, and we go out there next year with Buehler, maybe some questionable pitcher we picked up, Kershaw, Urias, May, Maeda, we will not come close to winning a title next season, unless someone counts making the playoffs as “close.”
I suppose that just about any team which loses in the postseason in any sport can blame the loss on execution; i.e., if the players had just played better, they would have won. But to me, that is just a rationale for no major changes, thinking that surely we will execute better next time. Seven straight playoffs where we didn’t execute well enough, I guess. 106 regular season wins is impressive, but it obscures the fact that most of those were against non-playoff teams; and that the goal is to win the championship; and that had we won 130 games, it would not have made any difference as compared to 106, or 100, because the regular season and the playoffs are very different in the sport of baseball. It doesn’t seem fair, I don’t think the system is set up well, but there it is,; and a franchise which seeks titles must surmount it, and build a club which is set up well for the playoffs, with at least two really good starters (Verlander/Cole, Scherzer/Strasburg), a strong and deep bullpen, at least two really good hitters who can hit in the clutch, and a manager who knows how to make the right moves in the crucial late innings. As to which of those we don’t have, everyone is entitled to their opinions. I would say, none of them, except maybe the two hitters, but not in the last two seasons’ playoffs.
The bullpen was not allowed to be the deciding factor in the playoffs. The playoff bullpen was not the same as during the season. The Dodgers had a definite bullpen advantage over Washington. But, because of Roberts poor decision making that advantage was erased. Roberts did the same thing during game 2 of the 2017 WS by pulling Hill out prematurely. The bullpen for 2020 will need some reinforcements. Hopefully, we can get some help from our farm system as opposed to signing a high priced or overvalued reliever.
I agree with Mark in that our stars (other than Muncy) failed, again, on the big stage. Muncy had OBP of .391 with 3 HR and 7 RBI. Our other big bats:
Bellinger – .211 with 0 HR, RBI with 7 SO
Seager – .150 with 0 HR, RBI with 8 SO
Pollack – .000 with 11 SO in 13 AB
I know it’s a very small sample sized, but come on. Can someone at least make contact with a baseball.
I’ve said this since he was a rookie, but Bellinger’s swing will never be successful against top of the line pitchers. Throw him a fastball 94+ between his waist and letters and he doesn’t have a chance to hit it. He can get away with against average to mediocre pitching. Why does he have to try to hit the crap out of the ball almost every time he swings. You don’t get extra points for how hard you hit the ball. He is so strong and athletic he doesn’t have to swing so hard. I think his approach is selfish. And, how does a guy so athletic have such a awkward swing against LH. Go with the outside pitch. Step into the swing. Don’t stick your butt into the first base dugout while you’re swinging.
Seager has similar issues with swinging too hard. He compounds that with poor pitch recognition. Or he may be committing to swinging before the pitch is made and if he guesses wrong it’s too late to adjust. I think with an off season to work on his game and not in rehab could be beneficial. I have a feeling Seager will have a much better season in 2020. I just think there were too many things he had to adjust to during the season such as arm and hip recovery and playing at a lighter weight. We’ll see.
As far as FA signings I think (like most on this site) Cole is the top priority and the only premium FA we should pursue. Rendon would be nice, but I don’t think the FO will spend on two “dope fiend moves”. It should be an interesting off season for the Dodgers.
Scott Boras represents:
Pedro Alvarez
Elvis Andrus
Nolan Arenado
Jake Arrieta
Adrian Beltre
Xander Bogaerts
Jackie Bradley Jr.
Zach Britton
Kris Bryant
Wei-Yin Chen
Shin-Soo Choo
Gerrit Cole
Michael Conforto
Chris Davis
Jacoby Ellsbury
Jose Fernandez
Prince Fielder
Carlos Gonzalez
Gio Gonzalez
Carlos Gomez
Bryce Harper
Matt Harvey
Greg Holland
Matt Holliday
Eric Hosmer
Lance McCullers
Mike Moustakas
Anthony Rendon
Francisco Rodriguez
Carlos Rodon
Trevor Rosenthal
Addison Russell
Hyun-Jin Ryu
Max Scherzer
Corey Seager
Stephen Strasburg
Denard Span
Troy Tulowitzki
Jayson Werth
Matt Wieters
Need to update the list; several have retired, and one (Pitcher Jose Fernandez) a tragic, and untimely death
It was the only list I found with one quick search. I figured it would be interesting enough even though dated.
For the umpteenth time, the bullpen was the problem.
Doc has repeatedly used or stayed with Kershaw too long because he believed the bullpen was the problem.
It’s one thing to bring in a key starter in the sixth inning to go 3 or 4 innings or to get one out but bringing in that key starter with 2 out in the 7th and leaving him in to pitch the eighth screams lack of confidence in the bullpen.
Staying with an injured Kelly after he showed he lost his command again shouts a lack of confidence in the bullpen.
We don’t have to make guesses miles away from the action about the quality of the bullpen. We just have to watch how and when the bullpen is used to know what the decision makers think of the bullpen.
There are players that I like and would like to keep but have always felt they probably would leave when they reached free agency. Seager has been one of those players. It is with that feeling that I would be willing to trade Seager.
I think the Dodgers can keep Bellinger. I hope so. He would be the Dodgers best chance to get Glyber Torres from the Yankees but with Pollock showing he is no longer the center fielder the Dodgers need, Bellinger needs to be kept as the Dodgers long running CFer.
To get Torres’ righty bat in the Dodger lineup I would like to see if Seager would help get him. Seager gives the Yankees a much needed lefty bat. Are there other players that would have to be included in such a trade? There usually are.
Unlike almost everybody else, I am not a Verdugo fan, at least not a big one. To get another righty bat, I would offer him to Seattle for Hanigar. I have done that offer before but both players are coming off injuries and both teams might be more willing to consider trading them.
Bullpen:
1. If the Dodgers re-sign Hill, I would hope it would be as a Miller type relief pitcher at $5M plus innings pitched incentives.
2. I would make Maeda the closer but would also use a lefty in that spot against strong lefty hitters.
3. If possible, I would trade Jansen. Nationals?
Bums, you do not have to be a Verdugo fan to realize that a trade of Verdugo for Haniger is not even close to be realistic or even on par.
Verdugo (last year because only time with regular role):
vs LHP – .327/.358/.485/.843
vs RHP – .281/.336/.471/.807
Haniger (career)
vs LHP – .277/.358/.471/.829
vs RHP – .264/.344/.482/.827
Verdugo is 5 1/2 years younger than Haniger, and is a better defender with a plus plus arm. Where is Haniger a better player? Because he hits RH even though he does not hit LHP as well as Alex? Or is it because Alex is a threat to Joc playing regularly? None of your trade proposals have ever included Joc, but with his 36 HRs and .876 OPS this year, he is probably at his zenith in trade value. Of all of the OF’s, Joc is the most likely to be traded this winter because he will bring a better return than either CT3 or Kike’ who are more important as utility players, and because he would only be a #4 OF with LAD. Or Pollock who does not have very much trade value at all. But Joc’s problems remain his inability to hit LHP much less quality LHP. 50 plate appearances against LHP; 0 HRs, 2 doubles, 1 RBI. I will miss his bat at the leadoff position. Of his 36 HRs, 33 were in the leadoff position. Both Beaty and Rios are LHH and can play LF but also 1B and 3B.
AC, if you want to trade Joc be my guest. I don’t.
Do you want to trade Joc because he is a threat to Alex playing regularly? — Read between the lines on that one. I rarely comment here any more. I will be commenting less in the future.
Yes, Verdugo is younger and has a better arm. That and $1.65 will buy a cup of coffee. Might there be other players in a Verdugo / Hanigar trade? Fine. Do I have to name them? Might I leave that to Friedman or maybe even to you where you could add a Mariner to that trade to make you more comfortable with the fairness.
I do not want you to comment less. I love your commentary. I love your trade ideas. But everyone knows how you feel about Joc. To always bring up trade ideas that do not involve Joc does bring out the counter-argument. I do not dislike Joc, I just do not value him nearly as much as you do. Others value Verdugo far more than you. I obviously value Verdugo far more than Mitch Haniger. And there are no other Mariners that I would be interested in to make the trade “fair”. Very few value Seager more than me. With all of the talk about trading Seager (including you) should I stop commenting? I do not know of anyone who valued Alex Wood more than me, and when he was traded, I did not stop commenting. I still wear my Wood jersey. The same is true with Caleb Ferguson and all the talk about how a 23 year old should not be considered for a MLB job.
I don’t overvalue Joc. He is what he is. I just like him and will enjoy watching the dodgers more with him on the team.
I’m not going to suggest any trades that include Joc. That doesn’t mean I try to trade players that compete with him. There is no friendly way to suggest that.
Do the math. Trading Verdugo for Hanager does not reduce the number of outfielders Joc has to compete with so your insulting statement that that was the basis of my Verdugo for Hanager trade doesn’t pass the math test.
Whoa. There was nothing intentionally insulting meant. If you took it that way, then that is all on you. You are constantly trying to trade everybody else’s favorites, but when someone suggests to trade Joc you go ballistic. Actually some may find the constant Verdugo for Haniger trade idea insulting. Okay so be it. You go ahead and trade everyone not named Joc and I will stay quiet. I don’t even want Mitch Haniger.
Fact check. I haven’t responded to anybody that included Joc in a trade.
Do the Yanks get any say in whether they have to trade Torres or does Andrew make the decision and Cashman has to go along with it?
To begin with Torres has 5 years of control left versus Seager’s 2. That’s a gigantic difference right there, even if you want to say that they are equally good players and most people would give the edge to Torres.
I think the better plan would be to keep Seager and give him another year to round back into shape, part of which would be to put a little meat on him this off season.
Yes, I think it would be only fair to give Cashman a say. I’ll add another Dodger. Who would need to be added to make it fair?
Dodgers News: Joe Kelly Dealt With Knee, Quad & Arm Trouble During 2019 NLDS
Any word on whether there is any surgery in Kelly’s future? What kind of arm problem?
Major breakthrough with the treatment of depression using magic mushrooms. All you need is a fresh cow patty and shake the shit outta that shroom over the meadow muffin. .
Okay now who in the hell says we go after Torres from NYY??
AND we start with Seager..
Have you seen Glaybar (?) play ball??
Since Bums is throwing out trades, maybe I will throw one out. The ChiSox reeeeeeaaaaaaly wanted Joc last year. They have absolutely no LHH or SH who can hit with Joc. They have no DH. They are losing 33 HRs from Jose Abreu. Ryan Goins, Matt Skole, Daniel Palka are the LHH, Yolmer Sanchez and Leury Garcia are the SH, and they totaled 14 HRs combined. The only other SH on the roster is Luis Alexander Basabe and at 23 had a very mediocre year at AA (.246/.324/.336/.660 and 3 HRs). Joc could be a hero in Chicago with a very nice hitters park. They will need a 1B and another quality LH bat. Joc and Edwin Rios for Aaron Bummer. The ChiSox still have Colome’ for the pen, and they still believe Jace Fry will be a quality reliever. But I still do not believe that Chicago will trade Bummer who has 5 years of control without a significant overpay, and Joc and Rios is not an overpay much less a significant overpay.
Not that they couldn’t use Joc but isn’t it a given that they’ll bring back Abreu?
I wouldn’t have any problem giving them Joc and Rios since I don’t consider either of them essential here but hasn’t Bummer had only one real standout season? I don’t think he’s worth any more than those two, although I’ll grant you that Joc only has one year of control left and that reduces his trade value.
If Andrew values Bummer as much as you do, he certainly has the players and/or prospects to get it done and if Sox management feels the same way about relievers as other front offices, they should take advantage of Bummer’s season and trade high.
Yes, Bummer has had one good year, which is why I would not include a high level highly regarded prospect. Rios is good, but the Dodgers have multiple players who can fill that role. If the Dodgers do not trade Joc, then they have to try to extend him as a platoon OF and nothing more, because that is all he is for LAD. His trade value has never been higher than this year.
Always Compete
Aaron Bummer is 1 of a list of 4 pitchers that I would like the Dodgers to get.
This comes from the White Sox website:
Inbox: Will White Sox make the playoffs in 2020? Beat reporter Scott Merkin fields fans’ questions.
“What is your honest opinion on what the White Sox are going to do this offseason?”
“I said this last week and I still believe multiple additions are coming: two starting pitchers, a right fielder, a designated hitter, hopefully a left-handed hitter among that mix and a reliever. These next few months will be very active for the White Sox, who have a great deal of room to maneuver payroll-wise.”
Joc certainly fits what the White Sox need but I don’t want the Dodgers to trade Joc because then what? Pollock full time in LF ? No thanks. I think its time to trade some prospects.
Edwin Rios, Ross Stripling, Joe Kelly, Josiah Gray for Aaron Bummer.
We give them one of our top starting pitching prospects (Gray), a mid level prospect (Rios), an automatic upgrade to their starting pitching (Stripling), make them eat a bad contract (Kelly) or it may work out for them.
Eric, I like Joc and would miss his 36 HRs, but unless you plan on extending him he has 1 year before he is a FA. I would not trade Jo Jo Gray for a reliever. As much as I like Bummer (and I liked him last winter), he has had one decent year. He could be a bust next year, and Jace Fry could be the White Sox reliever to have a career year. One year of Joc and a potential slugger in Rios should be enough to get it done. If it required Strip and Jo Jo Gray, I would walk.
Always Compete
I know you wouldn’t trade Stripling but do you think the White Sox would bite on an offer of Stripling and Rios for Bummer?
I have been told that I value Dodger players and prospects too high, but if I am offering Strip and Rios for a non closer reliever, I would want more than Aaron Bummer, and I do value Bummer. However, I do think Strip will be traded. He has value to others, and is a luxury to LAD. It is not important how I value Strip. It is obviously more important as to how much AF and the trading team values him. NYY could want Strip. If Houston loses both Cole and Miley, they could have interest in Strip. Cincinnati could use Strip (Michael Lorenzen?). Strip has three years control. Most teams value SP more than RP, and Strip should be a SP.
Yes, I am planning to extend Joc. 3 years, $30M.
If Joc has another good year like 2019, he will get $100 million in Free Agency.
There are two chances of getting Torres: Slim and none. They might trade May, Lux and Seager for him.
May, Lux, and Seager for Torres would be one of the worst trades in Dodgers history
Gleyber Torrez 3.9 WAR
Corey Seager 4.0 WAR in a down year after two surgeries and no Spring Training and 10 less games played.
The Smart money says Seager will be better than Torrez next year.
Close but Dodgers need a righty bat and Yankees need a lefty bat. Gleyber is having a good post season.
Agreed SoCalBum. In my opinion.
A stupid and crazy trade idea: Joc, Pollock and Rios for Stanton, a reliever and money .
Sorry, Sorry, I haven’t eaten and I’ve only been able to sleep 3 hours in the last 24 hours!
They have a lot of outfield and 1st base types on the Yankees. What they need is starting pitching. Not the mediocre kind.
Friedman over-explaining why Dave Roberts’ Decision To Use Clayton Kershaw Out Of Bullpen In NLDS Game 5.
https://dodgerblue.com/dodgers-news-andrew-friedman-believes-clayton-kershaw-availability-out-of-bullpen-in-nlds-game-5-was-helpful/2019/10/17/
Really makes me think he had a lot to do with that decision. And that’s why Roberts is coming back next year.
How about this Andrew? Stay the freak out of the game planning conversation. You never played in the Majors, the stats don’t tell the whole story, you don’t know what the hell you’re doing when it comes to in-game decisions.
I told you a few days ago, that leaving Kershaw in was an “organizational decision.” It was.
Having the front office involved in game planning is nothing new. Houston, Boston, NY and most other teams do it. The manager has the final say.
Are you really trying to say that unless you have played in the major league, you don’t know what you are doing? Do you want to go there?
For the record, I am all for getting better in the pen and everywhere else, but when you hit .135 with RISP, you don’t deserve to win.
Mark, we will disagree about this forever. In my book, the manager makes ALL the decisions about who plays and who sits. Period. The GM / POBO can suggest, that’s it.
Then, as far as an MLB manager goes. Yes, he should have played in the Show, or at least toiled in the minors. Then he should have coached and managed in the minors before becoming a manager.
Here’s a list of top major league managers of all time. I just went through the top 10. Every single one of them played professionally…
https://www.ranker.com/list/best-mlb-managers-of-all-time/ranker-baseball
As far as winning goes. We outscored the Nats in the series, therefore we should have won. (See what I did there, I cherry picked one stat and made an argument, just like you did.)
We had 6 outs to get with a 2 run lead. That’s called a save situation and more often than not, waaaayyyy more often than not, you win with a two run lead in the 8th no matter what your RISP is. By the way, the Nats won the first two games of the next series protecting a slim lead. By the way, the Nats tied that game with 2 solo home runs – neither of these count towards RISP.