A few days ago the Dodger family lost Ron Perranoski. And Mark asked about his leaving on bad terms. So I did some research to check on that simply because I could not remember the circumstances of his leaving.
Perry was born on April 1st, 1936 in Patterson, New Jersey. There is not much information on his Wikipedia page, but he grew up in the town of Fair Lawn, N.J. He attended Fair Lawn HS. After HS, he went to Michigan State University. One of his team mates there was Dick Radatz.
Radatz himself became a standout reliever in the majors. Mostly with the Red Sox. In June 1958, Perry signed with the Cubs as an amateur free agent. No draft at that time.
He started his career at Class B Burlington. He went 5-9 with an ERA of 6.43. At the time he was regarded as a starting pitcher making 13 starts in 18 appearances. In 1959, he went to AA San Antonio and was 11-10 with a 3.12 ERA.
On April 8th, 1960, he was traded to the Dodgers with SS John Goryl, and Lee Hanley, a minor leaguer for SS Don Zimmer. Zimmer was available because Maury Wills had taken the SS position over.
In 1960, Perry pitched for 2 teams, Montreal and St. Paul, both Dodger AAA affiliates. He had a combined record of 12-11 with a 2.58 ERA. But he was no longer starting. He was called up to the Dodgers in 1961 and finished with a 7-5 record with 6 saves.
In 1962, he went 6-6 but his saves increased to 19. His ERA for both years was under 3. 1963 was his best season in the majors. A major force out of the pen he went 16-3 with 21 saves and an ERA of 1.67. He was the only reliever who saw any action in the 63 series. Getting the save in Podres game 2 win. All of the other games were complete games by Koufax and Drysdale. Drysdale’s being a 1-0 3 hit gem in game 3.
Over the next 4 seasons he went 23-27 with 54 saves. After the 1967 season he was traded to the Twins with Bob Miller, and Johnny Roseboro for Mudcat Grant and Zoilo Versailles. In my mind, a bad trade.
1968 was not a good year for him, but in 1969 and 1970 he had a resurgence of sorts and saved 31, and 34 games and had a sub 2.50 ERA both years.
In 1971, he got off to a brutal start with the Twins and was picked up off of waivers by the Tigers. He was released by Detroit the following year in July, and on August 7, 1972, he came back to the Dodgers. He was 2-0 in 9 games, with a 2.70 ERA, but was released after the season.
The Angels picked him up in April of 73. He only pitched in 8 games for the Halo’s and was released after the season. That winter he was named the Dodgers minor league pitching coordinator. He served in that position until 1980. In 1981, He became the Dodgers pitching coach. He helped develop 3 rookies of the year, Sutcliffe, Howe and Valenzuela.
On September 23rd, he was dismissed as pitching coach in favor of Dave Wallace. And now comes the reason Perry was just a little ticked off. This was the strike year. Perry had gone with Lasorda and Claire to Wichita to watch Chan Ho Park, and Darren Dreifort pitch. This happened a few days after the players went on strike. They talked about players who might be added, and how to construct the staff. But nothing was said about his contract not being renewed, so Perry had no idea what was about to happen.
The bone of contention for Perranoski was when he got home from a family outing on the 23rd, he got the news via a telephone message on his machine. He thought there should have been better communication, and maybe even a face to face meet. Claire made the move on his own, with no disapproval from Lasorda. His reason was that he felt Wallace had a better relationship with the young guns coming up since he was the minor league coordinator.
There was a lot of speculation over the reasons for his dismissal. They included, he was not one of Lasorda’s boys, like Russell, and Cresse. He was the scapegoat for Dreifort’s arm problems. Paying the price for Lasorda’s frequency of using Dreifort in the 1993 season.
For his part, Perry never blamed anyone, he just did not care for the way it was handled. Claire said that the team never had so many young pitchers that were ready for the majors and he just felt Wallace could relate to them better. In 9 of his 14 years as pitching coach, the Dodgers were either 1st or 2nd in ERA.
His #16 was given to Hideo Nomo. Perry turned down an offer to coach for the Red Sox, who’s new manager, Kevin Kennedy had Dodger ties. In 95, He was invited to join the Giants by Dusty Baker so Perry joined the Giants as minor league pitching coordinator. He cited his reason as wanting to mentor young pitchers. In 1997, he was promoted to the MLB squad as bench coach. in 98-99 he was their pitching coach. In 2000 he became a special advisor to Brian Sabean.
In 1983, Perry was elected to the Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame. He lived in Vero Beach Fla.
Nice write-up Bear. Never knew Perry and Radatz were teammates. If we really fired him with a phone message that was pretty low class after all the years he was with us.
Responding to SoCalBum’s comment about the Padres at the end of the last thread, I feel much differently about Tatis than I do about Machado. I respect the talent level they both have but Machado just seems to always come off as surly . Tatis, on the other hand, had some friendly exchanges with both Mookie and Bellinger when they were at second base. Big, broad smiles from all of them. I know some of you probably feel that you should hate the opposition, but I feel that as long as you’re giving 110% trying to beat them you can still be friendly towards them.
I had a real conundrum last night watching the Yanks-Rays game. Couldn’t figure out who I wanted us to wind up playing in the WS. The team I would most want to beat is the Astros, but it would be a really tough winter if we played them and lost to them again. The Yanks have always been a true rival so there again it would be great to beat them but tough losing to them. I’m actually a Rays fan and I appreciate how they play and how they’ve put their team together but I’d rather beat the other two teams. I’ve decided to just sit back and let it play out. I’ll have to deal with my emotions, good or bad, when that happens.
I agree, Machado is at the top of my list. Excellent point about Tatis, although he seems to be emulating Machado. I remember when Puig came up and Hanley Ramirez was on the team. It seemed to me that Ramirez led Puig down a bad path that soured him to many fans (including me). Tatis keep his head on straight and he has the talent to one of the best MLB players ever.
I agree with both of you. Tatis is my kind of player. Puig was a hot dog, and I’m ok with that to a point. It was his not hitting cutoffs and base running blunders that upset me. Machado just comes off as a jerk. What did it for me was his deliberately trying to hurt someone. That’s over the line. He’s the leader there now, but I think Tatis will assume that role eventually.
I have never disliked the Padres. It’s different with the giants. Maybe the younger fans will feel about the Padres the way the older fans feel about the giants. San Diego is a nice place and having lived in Northern California for years, and the Bay Area as part of that time, I can say I like that region a lot more than Southern California. Like a lot of big cities, unless you’re wealthy, LA kinda sucks. But obviously that has nothing to do with the Dodgers, Lakers and Rams.
When a player like Puig come from a totally different universe like communist Cuba, having the right mentorship is key to their success both on and off the field. Maybe the Dodgers failed in that respect?
Possible? Suppose so. But the Dodgers I believe are leading edge in multicultural understanding. Puig was the Wild Horse. He played like it.
Firing someone by phone message is classless. Especially for someone who served the organization well for so long. Reminds me of a I guy I knew whose company fired him by fax.
Sounds to me like it was a case of “time to move on”. And he did. Who among us haven’t gone through that a time or two?
I remain puzzled about how Doc used May in the SD series. I posted a few days ago (in real time, not in retrospect) that I thought it was a mistake to remove him after only two innings in the first game of the series. I understand the rationale that keeping his outing short (like a bullpen session between starts) would allow him to be used as a starter again later in the series, but I would have left him in there to finish that first win (or get close) in order to lessen the risk of using several more pitchers, one of whom might have a bad outing (as later happened for both teams). LA still had Urias and Gonsolin to use in games 3 and 4.
May did start game 3, but only as an opener and thus his capacity to go multiple innings was negated; Urias carried the bulk of that game. Gonsolin, whom many of us prefer as the third starter over May and Urias, never saw any action in the first two rounds and five full games. This makes the quick hook for May in game 1 all the more puzzling. Sure, LA won regardless, but there are numerous ways this could have backfired. If a game 4 were needed, who would have pitched? I suppose Gonsolin, but a lengthy outing would have essential, as I can’t imagine May and Urias would have been used two days in a row, especially with the possibility of a game 5 too. No one other than Gonsolin could have been expected to have provided more than two innings for game 4 unless Buehler or Kershaw were brought back early.
When I think about the 2017 World Series, of course things now are clouded by knowledge that the Astros cheated, but Doc’s questionable management of the pitching staff remains a major issue. That’s been an issue every year during his run. I hope 2020 will be an exception, but the May usage causes the questions to linger.
I think Roberts use of his pitching staff in the Wild Card Series and the Division Series was spot on. In addition to having Gonsolin for game 4 he had Brusdar Graterol, and Victor Gonzalez rested — each capable of pitching a couple of innings. Those three pitchers could easily get the Dodgers through 7+ innings. If there had been a game 5 the team would have Buehler, Kershaw, May, Treinen, Kelly, Jansen, McGee, Kolarek all ready to go. I think Roberts has had a terrific Division Series strategy, both offensively and defensively.
He could have accomplished the same thing with May going 3, followed by Urias. I don’t know what he was thinking and to my knowledge he hasn’t explained what the strategy was, not that he needs to. The Dodgers rolled through both series’. Bring on the Braves. And may I be the first to say I am so glad we won’t have to hear that obnoxious tomahawk chop nonsense. I am only like 1/32 Native American but I find that terribly offensive. I wonder how my grandmother’s grandmother’s people feel about all that Braves b.s. I read an article once how a Native American took his kids to a Braves game and some white morons showed up in war paint wearing full headdresses banging on a drum and falling over drunk. Dad was not happy about it. I really have no clue how people feel about Chief Noc-a-Homa (really? Noc-a-Homa?) but my guess is not much.
I’m thinking the game was for Urias and that May was aware he was in for one inning and if you think about it it made perfect sense. It’s likely Urias will now take attack mode his fist pitch whenever he starts. We’d seen it all before with both Maeda and Ryu learning they were better to attack right off instead of attempting to stretch innings and finding stressful starts. Some here have even hinted a plan like this of sorts.
Ironic that they take Urias, who has most of his problems in his first inning, and bring him in to a game to face one of the league’s premier hitters with the bases loaded. As you said Quas, hopefully this will have cured him and he’ll go to attack mode beginning with pitch #1 in his future starts.
Doc’s decision to pull May after one inning worked out, so that’s all that matters but if it were me, there are lots of guys we could have opened with for one inning. I would have saved May for game four and teamed him with Gonsolin. Between the two of them we should have been able to get 6-8 good innings. Of course we never needed game 4 so it all worked out.
Just a question concerning saves. Saves were not recorded before 1969 so how did Perry show saves prior to then? I did not like the trade with the Twins either.
Old memory — actually very old — I think saves were being tracked many years before they became an official MLB stat.
They’ve gone back and refigured a lot of stats. Babe Ruth had 162.1 WAR, and of course never knew he did.
If I remember correctly, you used to get credit for a sacrifice fly if a runner advanced after the catch, not only when the runner scored. Still seems like a good idea.
You mean that’s not the case any more? A run has to score in order to be credited with a sac fly? I’m with you, if a runner advances to any base make it a sac fly.
I remember when Vin Scully would comment during a broadcast that a ground ball to the right side of the infield that moved a runner from second to third should be considered a sacrifice as much as a bunt in that situation.
I agree with you SCDF. It should be a SF if a runner advances after the catch. But I do not remember if that was ever the case in the past.
I do not think that ever was the rule.
From ESPN – Tim Kurkjian
You don’t have to hit a ball in fair territory to get credit for a sacrifice fly.
You can get a sacrifice fly while hitting into a double play. You can reach base, and be credited with a sacrifice fly. Sacrifice flies have a long, strange history; they were recognized as an official statistic from 1908 to 1930, then again in 1939, but not continuously until 1954. For today’s installment, we are recognizing sacrifice flies after 1953:
In 1954, the first year sacrifice flies were counted continuously, the Dodgers’ Gil Hodges had 19 sac flies, which, 66 years later, remains the record.
Eddie Murray is the all-time record holder with 128, yet he never led his league in sacrifice flies in any season.
In 2004-05, Adam Dunn went 1,085 plate appearances without a sacrifice fly. He had 65 opportunities — runner at third base, less than two out — before he finally broke his streak. The crowd at Great American Ballpark cheered. “I have to be the only player in major league history to get a standing ovation for hitting a routine fly out to the left fielder,” he said.
Nolan Ryan is the all-time leader in sacrifice flies allowed by a pitcher with 146. The record holder for most sacrifice flies allowed in a season is 17 by Larry Gura (1983) and Jaime Navarro (1993). Phil Niekro threw 284 1/3 innings in 1969 without giving up a sac fly.
The record for most at-bats in a season without hitting a sacrifice fly is held by Pete Rose (1973, his MVP season), Frank Taveras (1979) and Kirby Puckett (1986). Each had exactly 680 at-bats in those years.
The record for most career plate appearances by a non-pitcher without a sacrifice fly is an active streak — 976 by Travis Jankowski.
Joey Gallo hit 96 major league homers before he hit his first sacrifice fly. The previous record was 50 by Wily Mo Pena.
On June 11, 2014, the Royals beat the Indians 4-1. The Royals scored all four runs on sacrifice flies, the first team to score four runs in one game, all on sacrifice flies, since the 1980 Expos, but the first team ever to win a game scoring four runs, all on sacrifice flies.
The Cardinals’ Matt Carpenter came to the plate with the bases loaded and one out in the fifth inning at Wrigley Field on Aug. 17, 2013. He hit a high pop-up to the shortstop. The infield fly rule was called. After Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro had caught the ball, he wandered around, not paying attention, so the runner on third base, Jon Jay, tagged up and scored. So, Carpenter hit a 110-foot infield pop-up on which he was automatically called out because of the infield fly rule, but Carpenter wound up with an RBI and no official at-bat because that out was correctly scored a sacrifice fly.
Enjoyed your write-up, Bear. Thank you. Perry was one of my favorite pitchers and pitching coaches. Did not like the way he was let go. If true, he deserved more after what he accomplished with the Dodgers.
Congrats to the Tampa Bay Rays. If they can beat the Astros, and we beat the Braves, my and AC’s prediction of a World Series between the Dodgers and Tampa will come true.
Thank you DBM. It is true. Claire never denied it. And one can understand why Perry was upset about it after all his year with the Dodgers. It is the main reason he never returned on an old timers day or for any other special LA promotion. If my memory is right, and I am sure someone will check me on this, but his 16 wins as a reliever in 63 would have to be the record for a Dodger pitcher. Phil Regan won 14 one year, that I do remember. SC, I am not sure how they calculated that, but when I checked his stats on baseball reference, those were the ones that were listed. By comparison I checked on Clem Labine. Labine last pitched in 1962. But they have all his stats including saves from when he came in the league. He finished with 94 and had a high of 19 in 1956. The only way I can see to do that is if in some way they were unofficial before it was decided they were a true stat and a way to judge relievers outside of ERA and won loss records…that’s all I got on that my friend! Just in case you wondered how far back they went to check these out, Babe Ruth is credited with 4 saves in his career.
Padres are a good team. The team that they field on Opening Day next year is NOT the same team LA just swept. Of course, add Clevenger and Lament but also probably Yates anchoring the bullpen. Tatis is the real deal obviously and will be a transcendent athlete for a decade plus. I would swap him for ANY player in the league outside of Trout, and considering age, I would probably do that one too.
I saw where Bauer seemed to be hinting at a move to SD for next year. If that happens, SD becomes a favorite to win the west in my opinion. Right now they will get a lot of nods over LA.
LA needs to settle the 2nd base position and develop or trade for a front line closer. I know Jansen had another year, but I am not seeing what he has to offer as of now in ANY role at all. 90mph cutter that don’t cut, or make strikes are not a valuable commodity. Some can tout Driveline or whatever but he is just done. Great career but never recovered from 2017, then heart issues, then Covid. Who knows why but the results speak for themselves.
Some want to point at pure stats and that his ERA was as low, or lower that Hader, so therefore he is still and had been good all year. Hader had ONE game that ballooned his ERA. To compare Jansen to Hader is silly. There are maybe 1% of the MLB players that would take an AB against Jansen over Hader with a game on the line. …… if that. In my opinion, complete homer colored glasses there. I watch a lot of games and I can’t think of many times where Jansen has been light out this year, or last. Regardless, of stats, he makes too much traffic on the bases, can’t hold runners, can’t throw consistent strikes, and on and on. It’s over.
As far as 2nd base goes, I am not sure. Lux doesn’t appear to be the player that many thought he could be but who knows. He is still pretty young but when he is touted as what he was and you see the Soto’s, Tatis, etc of the world, its easier to give up on him. Friedman seems to have a good eye for that type of thing, so I trust whatever he does will be a good tract to take. Part of me would like to put CT3 there, and let him play. I love watching him play. I wish his heart could be put into every player on the team. He just hasn’t proven that he can do it in a full time position.
As far as Roberts, I like what he has done outside of the Jansen/Kelly game. I was happy that he didn’t sit in the dugout and watch Jansen give the game away like he normally has, but going to Kelly was such an odd move there. I honestly STILL don’t get it. I know that it worked out, so for many that means it was a good move, but how you can sit there and watch Kelly walk batter after batter and not make a change is maddening to me. Looked exactly like the Nats debacle game last year.
Love me some WIll Smith though and not just because of the 5 hits. He has to be the most unlucky guy that I can remember. He has great swings on balls and doesn’t chase much.
Machado is just a street punk with millions of dollars. Dirty, ends justify the means type of person, selfish. I loved Muncy coming out and tell him to “get the f*ck back in your dugout b*tch”. I predict many fastballs into Mannys ribs over the years. I admit, even guys I am not a fan of for other teams I come to like if they play for LA. Some take longer than others but eventually I come around. Never did with Machado and honestly, I am not sure I ever would. I deal with punk all the time in real life, and he is one.
On a side note, I am not an NBA fan anymore. I was in the 90’s. A huge fan. Can’t do the modern game and its players. I know most of you are LA sports fans but it does surprise me how many of you are LeBron fans reading your stances on MLB players through this blog. My hats off to James as a family man and someone that doesn’t litter the papers with arrests and whatnot but as an athlete and NBA face, zero respect at all from me.
Dodgers have a handful in Atlanta but the Braves have a bigger one in LA I think. Atlanta beat a couple bad playoff teams albeit in impressive fashion. LA beat one bad playoff team and a great team not nearly at full strength. Who knows what any of that means, if anything. I like LA to win the series, especially in the 7 games in 7 days format. LA is too deep all around and has so many effective weapons. However, thats why they play the games.
I would rather play Houston in the WS. To beat them legit yes, but I think they are the easier of the teams to beat as well. Greinke is Greinke which is an above average pitcher at this point but not anything compared to TB top 2 guys. Astros can hit for sure but LA can pitch. I think LA takes out Houston in 5. TB presents many more problems and can’t see that as an easier opponent.
Its a good time to be a Dodgers fan but to think that SD isn’t for real is denial. If LA doesn’t win this year, Machado’s declaration that SD would win a WS before LA could actually come true. LA’s window isn’t closed after this year, or even closing in the near future as some think, but there is definitely another team crowding through that window for sure and LA has more large question marks to change to periods over the next couple seasons than SD does.
Careful Jason. You don’t want to be poking the bear in here. Not Bear, you can poke him all you want. He can take it. But some can’t. San Diego is indeed for real. Take Machado out of their lineup and it’s a team worth rooting for.
Your points are well made. I think we still beat them at full strength but I don’t believe we sweep them. All those guys could be better next year, and we won’t play at .700 again…. unless Covid is still around and we play 37% of a season otra vez.
One point with which I take issue – I’d rather Houston go home, and stay home for the next decade. They don’t deserve another shot at it. Not this soon.
Yep, and even playing at .700, SD still was only a few games behind.
I hear you on the Houston comment. I would love them to slip to irrelevance. It didn’t happen though. They squeaked in and have made the most of their opportunity. It is frustrating to watch, especially after they lose Cole, Osuna, and Verlander.
However, LA needs to win. End of story. Be a shame if they can’t close this out and Kershaw has that ring that he should have. If it is at all close, I love to see him as the MVP.
This is the time. This is the year and I think Houston offers that best chance for that to happen. If it comes to that, I am hoping for some really good baseball Gods karma to take hold and the Dodgers could sweep them. I consider myself a man “growing in his faith in God” and am trying to better myself in the church since the death of my wife at 43 but I would be lying if I didn’t root for a terrible injury to Bregman, Correa, Machado, or Altuve. Something about Springer doesn’t stoke the same emotions although he is just a culpable. Not sure why.
Won’t argue your logic. To beat them would make it nearly all worthwhile. I’d just as soon they watch us win from their living rooms.
Jason agree with most of the post especially James. I would throw Kerr and popovich in there as well.
As far as the padres they will be awfully good but so will the Dodgers. The Dodgers are proof that you have to be more than good in the playoffs. The former braves with glavine , Smoltz, Maddux were unbeatable until they weren’t. The Dodgers future is bright!
As far as this year I believe Tampa pitching is far superior to the asstros and overall I think Tampa is better. If we win I would rather beat the asstros but if we don’t I would rather lose to Tampa.
Great comments all around. I love it. A couple of things. There have been very few players who have come to the Dodgers that I did not like. But there have been a few. Machado was one that at first I thought, wow, they got a true all star and a guy who is going to be a force. That did not happen. Machado was good, but not nearly the player he had been in Baltimore. And he for sure did not look like someone you would trade 5 players for. His BA dropped 40 points, the prodigious power he had in Baltimore did not manifest itself in LA. His K rate increased. Some said it was adjusting to the new league. Bunk. A guy with that much talent and a track record like that should be able to hit where ever he goes. I remember another Manny coming over at the deadline and tearing NL pitching up. I also found it interesting that against the Dodgers main foes, the NL west, he was well below .300 against them all except the Giants. He only hit .200 against Arizona. He hit 5 of his 13 homers against the west, 4 of them off Padres pitching. He never had that signature moment that sticks in the minds of the fans, and they never forget it. On another site we nicknamed him ” The Smirk” for that smug look, which he still has, that was always on his face. And outside of the playoff series with the Brewers, he stunk in the post season. In the series against the Red Sox, he may as well have not even been there. All of his 4 hits were singles. But like Badger, what sealed the deal for me was him trying to spike the Brewers 1st baseman. Just totally wrong. So his antics now are just old hat to me. He is one of the most self centered and selfish players I have ever seen. Tatis on the other hand has a lot of youthful exuberance, and I can live with that. I liked Puig, and I think in his early years a lot of what he did could be based on his immaturity. The talent level was there. We all saw flashes of it. I think he lost direction when Juan Uribe got traded. Uribe and Gonzalez were stabilizing influences. Ramirez was not.
I believe that the Padres will be a better team next year. I also believe that no matter what happens the rest of the way that this will not be an idle off season in Dodger land. Friedman will do what he feels best for the Dodgers no matter what the Padres do. He is not going to make counter punch moves. That much is certain as we saw at the deadline. SD got 10 new players. LA got none and we still beat them. Yes, they were not at full strength, but the Rays beat a Yankee team that has been battling injury all year, and no one belittled their win. I think a lot of factors went into Lux not being the player they thought he would be this season. Not showing up immediately at the restart was one. The Covid outbreak has affected everyone. The break between when spring stopped and the restart did not benefit a lot of players. Some over came it, and some did not. Cody, Muncy, and Joc, never got untracked. But I think going into next spring, Lux will still be close to the top of the list as a candidate to be the starting 2nd baseman. I think Kike, and Joc are gone for sure. So Taylor reverts to his role as super sub. I also think Taylor is the starting 2nd baseman the rest of this season, shifting to left when needed. I believe they will find a way to keep Turner, if for no other reason than his impact in the clubhouse and the community. I think Jansen will no longer be the primary closer, and one way or another, trade-free agency, they pick up another arm for that job, Graterol is probably the closer in waiting. But he needs some more seasoning first. Unless something changes, the rosters will go back to 26 next season. So how the bullpen is handled takes on a whole new meaning. I do not think the window is closing on the Dodgers. I think it is for a few players on the Dodgers. Who knows if they extend Kersh beyond next season. And if they do, it will not be for the 31 million a year he is getting now. 2022 could feature a rotation with Buehler, May, Gonsolin, White and Gray. or toss in Urias as the lefty since all of those guys are RH. Not a bad bunch and a good match for anything SD will have. I think the Dodgers future teams will be every bit as competitive as anything anyone in the NL runs out there. I hate to admit it, and I do not always agree with how he does it, but Friedman has the Dodgers set up for success for many years. The pipeline may not be at the top of the NL, but it is still full of some big time prospects.
Don’t forget David Price will still be under contract next year.
Price is under contract for 2 more years. He is not a free agent until after 2022. But he has been easy to overlook because he has not been here. Haven’t seen him throw a pitch since March. Now, with Buehler, Kersh, and Price as the 3 top pieces of next years rotation, the Dodgers are in pretty good shape with the kids that they have behind them.
Let’s see if Machado, Hosmer and Myers can duplicate the year they had this year. They weren’t very good the year before. And Belly and Muncy will be better next year. And I still believe in Lux. Price will be back and May, Gonsolin and Urias will be ready to shine full time. Gray will give us more injury depth.I like our chances next year for number nine. I think the Pads have to sign Bauer to stay with us over the course of 162
Good point about Myers and Hosmer. They are 30 and 31, so, technically past their prime. But they no doubt can put together 60 game runs. By the way, Muncy is 30, and Bellinger isn’t likely to OPS over 1.000 again. The league is on to him. High and tight, low and away.
Good point Cassidy. Machado, Hosmer and Myers were all blah in 2019 and could very well revert in 2021, especially Hosmer and Myers. If so, the Padres offense is weaker. The one guy I don’t expect that out of is Tatis. I expect him to just continue to pile one good year on top of the next. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Preller trade high on Myers this winter.
Jason mentioned above that Bauer was indicating he might very well sign with SD this winter. He’s just having his usual tweet fun. He made similar comments about going back to the Reds and going to the Yankees. I’m not saying he won’t wind up in SD but that guy is very hard to figure out. One sure thing, he’ll play his free agency out in a manner that will get him lots of publicity. Maybe he’d enjoy the challenge of being the Dodgers’ closer. I hear there’s an opening at that position.
Bauer went to Santa Clarita High if I’m not mistaken. That’s up by you isn’t it Jefé? SoCal boy, through and through. He should be pitching out here somewhere. All 3 teams in the area could stand to benefit from having him around. You know, his overall stats aren’t that impressive, but at 30 I’ll bet he can still lead a staff in innings pitched.
Yep, not too far from here, although I’m in the San Fernando Valley and he’s from the Santa Clarita Valley (about 15-20 miles north).
Just checked and he went to Hart High School in the Santa Clarita Valley. A number of major leaguers have come from Hart, including James Shields, Mike Montgomery and Tyler Glasnow among others.
Considering we’re practically neighbors, maybe if I put in a good word for Andrew he’ll sign with us. On the other hand, if we put it to a vote, I’m guessing half the folks here would vote “no”, just based on his personality.
Named for silent movie cowboy star, William S. Hart. I used to go up to his house that is a museum now. All I can say is people back then were a lot smaller. His staircase is very narrow.
I believe that this is a fair point considering Hosmer and Myers especially. Machado will have some great seasons over his contract and probably more poor ones.
To be fair though, do we really know what LA has in Muncy or even Bellinger. Muncy has had a good little run but who is he exactly? Is the 2020 player, the one the last few seasons before 2020, or the one the Oakland cast off?
With Cody, he had an incredible first half of 2019 but honestly fairly average since with the bat. His defense at multiple positions and his speed don’t slump but I worry about him with the bat. Stupid I know, but he was the suggested 4th overall pick in our Yahoo fantasy draft and I didn’t take him with the 4th pick. immediately got a bunch of texts from guys saying “I thought you would take Belli for sure!” I just said I didn’t believe in him. Not sure I do still? He is a great player but he set the bar high in the first half last year, and then got figured out for the most part. Feasting on weak NL West pitching isn’t going to be the norm in a regular year. We will see.
I read a lot on here that all of our guys are going to come back, be better, and the farm guys will be great. The others team guy are not as good as they have shown. Optimism is awesome but realism has a place as well.
I am not saying that you are being the positive Pollyanna, but that happens on this blog a LOT by a few. It’s just not very good analysis. Again, I am not trying to be rude to you at all. I know that its going to come across that way and I have reworded this a few time to make it not so rude sounding but this is the best I got!! LOL
Who did you take with the 4th pick?
Arenado. I didn’t win
Found this doing some research on what it is that might make Joc and Muncy more Stanton-like. Of course, neither will ever be 6’6”, but they can improve their bodies.
http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/CFJ_2015_06_Baseball_Putnam5.pdf
I’m voting no on Bauer based on Buehler, May, Urias, Gonsolin and Gray. No way AF is paying a pitcher in his 30’s and he shouldn’t! We’ve got to write out some big checks for Seager, Belly and Buehler coming up. It will be interesting if AF makes a move for a closer this off season. It’s the most unpredictable move to make. If Graterol develops a better off speed pitch he could be devastating for next few years.
If Bauer truly intends to go one year to year contracts, I would take him in a second @ about 25mil
He wants to win and will have options on that front from the suitors there will be for him.
If he wants a 3 or more year deal, hard pass.
Bear, thanks for the article on Perry! He was a closer before they coined the term. Which makes me wonder, how are we going to manage without one in the series against Atlanta? Looking over the position-by-position comparison on the MLB website today, I was struck by the fact that there were only two areas where they are clearly better than we are: DH and relief pitching. Otherwise, we match up very well against them. Assuming that KJ is no longer the go-to option in the 9th inning of a tight game – are you listening, Doc? – who is the alternative? It’s alright to say that the answer is situational, but who would that be? Graterol? Impressive stuff, but not enough seasoning. Gonsolin? Good choice, but then he couldn’t be a starter. Baez? Too risky. McGee? Maybe. Gonzalez? Very promising, but too young.
Curious to know what you all think!
I expect the closer role for the remaining playoffs will be situational and not given to any one particular pitcher. All of the guys you mentioned plus Treinen might be used at one point or another but I don’t expect to see any of them used exclusively.
Let’s face it, even the best of closers can be inconsistent. Chapman is one of the very best, yet he has given up homers each of the last two years which have led to the Yankees being eliminated.
Treinen?
Treinen has closed before. Personally in certain situations I could see McGee coming in. But Atlanta is RH heavy. Their main LH threat is Freeman. They do not have much else from that side of the plate.
You are right, DBM. I had forgotten about Treinen. He’s been very good at times, but he’s not the dominant closer of a couple years ago. I guess my point is that we have a number of options, but without the old KJ, we lack the “lights out” closer of the past.
I wonder where they came up with the BP evaluation. Because statistically, the Dodger pen was better.
Did I stop the presses? lol.
I wasn’t suggesting Treinen for a permanent closer, but he might be one, who knows, just reminding David that he might have forgotten to add him to his list.
How old do you have to be to be a closer? Steve Howe became the closer at 22. Hader in Milwaukee was 24. Jansen was 24 when he became the main guy. Now, Graterol might be a little raw, but he has the stuff to close. The main thing with a closer is the shut down mentality. I myself honestly believe that McGee could be a shut down guy at some point in these playoffs. We will see how it works out. I just know I am not comfortable with Jansen in back to back games.
I think Jansen might be fine for 15 pitches. Seems to me it’s clear to see when he doesn’t have it anymore. Don’t wait. Get him out of there when his velo drops or he starts missing his spots and don’t pitch him back to back. I think the veteran guys we have down there should be fine getting the last three outs. Treat it like it’s just another inning. You can lose games in any inning. Happens all the time.
Exactly. He’s been good at times this year, but the duration is an ephemeral thing. It’s seems pretty obvious within a dozen pitches whether he has it that given day. Just pull him after 3 batters if it’s apparent he doesn’t have it. I don’t believe Roberts has done that once this season, despite it being called for several times. Roberts has lived to tell, but game 2 was inexcusable. And then to insert our wildest thrower in a one run game, thankfully Barnes was money and we only needed one out.
Good points, Bear. It’s all in the mentality. Closing by committee is also an option that I’ve suggested before. Since there is no clear path to our next ‘closer’ and many possibles, committee is the best choice, IMO. Let them compete for it. We are in good shape with our pitchers and youth, both starters and relief. Adding Bauer will block someone. Price is the wild card here. If he’s still got a game, we don’t need Bauer or anyone else. CK is good to go for another 5 years!