Checkers or Chess?

This article has 48 Comments

1. Bring on the electronic strike zone.

2. Remove runner on 2nd in extra innings,

   1. Agree. No to the runner at 2nd in extra innings. I don’t think the 3 batter rule worked the way they expected either. Maybe it’s me but if I go to a concert or a baseball/football game, I’m paying good money. I don’t want the game or concert shorter. If anything, I want it longer.

3. I just found this out: Marshall Kasowski allegedly had surgery to reattach his UCL after the 2020 season, though he is expected to pitch at some point in 2021.

4. No doubt, Andrew Friedman is the smartest guy in the room.

   But I don’t think he know as much as you think he knows. He may have a pretty good idea of what is in the minds of the current Dodger free agents — playing time, starting, money, length of contract etc. I’m guessing, given the opportunity, most would like to remain Dodgers. Probably why he told them publicly to explore the market. Not exactly a secret, but Kike Hernandez wants to start. Friedman has made it clear what the LA plan is, nothing has really changed for those players.

   But for Corey Seager, he probably doesn’t know. I’m sure Seager wants to stay, but rumors of Lindor create doubts. He wants to be a shortstop, not a third baseman. Do the Dodgers see him at 3B moving forward? That will be a big issue for him. But the issue for Dodgers is probably more about health moving forward. Do they invest heavily in Seager, believing he will remain healthy for the duration of the contract?

   Certainly his talent, his ability to hit makes him a prime candidate to become a long term Dodger. Dollars won’t matter, length of contract won’t be an issue, shortstop is really not the concern — it’s all about health.

   That’s a tough call, all the data won’t give you the answer. Medical reports or projections aren’t a guarantee. Maybe they decide to wait to see what happens in 2021. Lot of shortstops on the market, only a few clubs can come up with those kind of dollars. The Dodgers can always match the best offer. Even post pandemic, the big ticket market may be somewhat depressed. Does Friedman believe the market will provide an opportunity to sign Seager or another elite talent to a better deal?

   Stan Kasten has said the Dodgers need to save money wherever they can, not exactly sure what that means for player payroll. What does Friedman mean by Pig? Take advantage of a depressed market?

   Good write-up today, Mark.

5. Hello all. Good article, Mark, very interesting about the MLB Draft League. Still not sure about it. Do not like losing the Great Lakes. And what is PBR an acronym for? Thanks.

   1. 

      or maybe Prep Baseball Report 😉

      1. Too early to think about. Have a nice Corsican red wine ready for after work. Big fruit low sugar.

      2. Thanks Mark. Makes sense. Guess I am a Checkers player not a Chess player though have been beaten in Checkers by very smart players. Here are my hopes for my Christmas Stocking.

         1. 28-man roster – yes
         2. Yes to the DH
         3. No to the runner on 2nd base in extra innings
         4. Still undecided about 3-batter rule
         5. Yes to Electronic Ball Caller
         6. Peace? Always.

6. No on the runner on 2nd. Just looks too much like a little league thing to me. Yes on the electronic K zone. 28 man rosters won’t happen. Yes on the DH. They go to 28 men on the 1st of September so I do not think any kind of expansion is in the works. The DH will be in the conversation. AF already stated he has told his players to test the market. No way Kike gets a shot at starting in LA. They have always seen his value as a super sub and he has never been consistent enough with the bat to get a starting gig.

7. This subject of Corey being concerned or upset about the Dodgers interest in Lindor and, therefore, his being moved to 3B seems to be media driven. Has anyone from the Dodgers expressed that they are interested in trading for Lindor? Of course not. That would be tampering. I read that Corey’s girlfriend read/heard that this was the case and made Corey aware of it and that it could affect how he approaches FA with the Dodgers. It’s like the Dodgers were putting out there that they might not really want Corey back long term. Again, I think it’s just the time of the year where the media has nothing better to do than make up stories on player movement. Kind of like we do here at LADT except it’s among ourselves. Much to do about nothing.

   Unless the Dodgers have told Corey otherwise I don’t think he cares or is concerned about Lindor. I don’t think him playing 3B has even been brought up to him by anyone in the Dodger organization. The talk is of Rios getting most of the playing time there in 2021 and eventually Hoese becoming the regular 3B in the future. AF is not trading for Lindor this coming year. The only way he might become a Dodger is if Corey just flat out indicates that he’s moving on after 2021 or AF feels that Corey is not worth the risk long term because of previous health issues. If he can stay healthy in 2021 then he would be a player to invest in for the long term. Which, I hope, is the case. Corey is a talented player, a good teammate, and even better human being.

8. Is Seager a 10 year 300+ mil player for anybody here?

   1. AAV is the only number that matters.

   2. Would you rather have Corey or Manny? Manny signed for 300 million. Boras is going to ask the same for Corey.

   3. Not for me Cassidy. I’d like to see teams be able to move away from those kind of contracts, but I also accept the fact that is where things appear to be headed.

      If they extend him next year, a 10 year contract takes him through his age 36 year. He’s already had a history of injuries, what will he be like after he turns 30? Will playing shortstop continue to cause breakdowns or is he suddenly Cal Ripken Jr.

      I don’t know who the smartest guy in the room is but I know every team out there is attempting to hire genius in an effort to do it the Dodger way if they’ve got the money and the Tampa way if they don’t. Winning the last game in the playoffs has proven to be mercurial, with luck having as much to do with it as skill. Back to back hasn’t happened in 20 years. Yeah, we’ll be favored again, and every team out there is gearing up to beat us. The good news, we will be good again. The bad news is, well, look around, bad news is all over the place.

9. To each his/her own but I may be the only proponent of keeping the runner on 2nd rule for extra innings, although I would concede starting in in the 11th. I don’t understand the attraction to boring extra innings burning up pitching staffs and creating little excitement for who know how long. The runner on 2nd creates instant excitement and intrigue. I saw all the potential strategies used and I thought it was very fun. I also didn’t have to watch the last player on the bench pitch the 15th. Managers pretty much empty the tank by the 9th and every extra inning becomes a battle of iteration.
   The automatic balls and strikes can’t happen soon enough.
   28 man rosters lead to shorter starts, more pitchers used and less innings pitched so I supposed the Players Union will support that one, but it changes how the game is played, for sure.
   Please keep the DH. I no longer get a kick out of seeing inept pitchers try to hit and 2 or 3 free outs per contest.
   That’s what I would do if I was the Darth Vader of Baseball.

10. Baseball America article suggesting 180 player limit in MiLB rather than 150.

    Explores possible options including 2 complex teams. Also touches on possibility of loaning players to independent leagues.

    https://www.baseballamerica.com/stories/mlb-expected-to-expand-milb-player-limit-for-full-season-clubs/?amphtml&__twitter_impression=true

11. I always find Mark’s comments about the genius, Andrew Friedman, a little condescending, inconsistent, and result oriented (a form of proof texting).

    1 – We are fans. We have a right to an opinion, even if it’s not as educated as the team’s GM. Otherwise, why be a fan?
    2 – Ned Colletti was the GM with lots of information that we didn’t have, but that didn’t stop Mark from criticizing him all of the time.
    3 – People have opinions about all kinds of things that they really know little about – people think they know about the law without going to law school or reading and understanding Supreme Court decisions, they think they know about medicine/science without any training or real knowledge or understanding , etc. Opinions are famously like ***holes – everyone has one. But on the other hand, who here wants to preclude people from chiming in on the merits of a piece of legislation or a Supreme Court decision?
    4 – Many of the posters here have been following the team for 50+ years – certainly they (we) have earned the right to express their (our) views.

    1. Well said rick.

    2. I am pretty sure I never said anyone could not have an opinion, so I must have missed the point.

       How many jobs has Ned had since he was Dodger GM?

       1. Here’s what you said:
          “When you or I make a trade or free agent suggestion, we are usually guilty of playing chess and it’s really simple why that is: Andrew Friedman probably works 70 to 80 hours a week on nothing but things related to baseball. Then he has scouts, analysts and advisors who do the same in more narrowly focused areas of baseball. No matter how hard we work or read the sports pages, we only know a fraction of what Andrew knows.”

          The implication is that that chess grand master Friedman knows and we really don’t – therefore…

          1. And that is true, because that is what we base our opinions upon. I have opinions… everyone has opinions. It’s just that our opinions are not based upon as much knowledge of any single issue regarding the Dodgers as Friedman’s.

             I am not trying censor opinions… just put them into perspective.

             OK, how is this: It is my opinion that Andrew Friedman’s Opinions on matters related to the Dodgers is more informed than your or my opinions.

12. Well I am an opinionated old fart anyway so here goes. First off, until they figure out just how the finances are going to work out, how many games they will be able to play and just how many fan asses are going to be allowed to attend, the chances anyone on the market gets a multi=year 30 million AAV a year contract are pretty slim. I think the question will drag all the way into the 2022 season and the new CBA. The only real one in a lifetime talent out there is Lindor. The other players are very talented it is true, but none are worthy of a contract that big. I do not even think Springer is going to get as big of a contract as he thought before all of this nuttiness happened. You are right Rick, fans are entitled to their opinions, their wacked out trade scenario’s and any other silliness than can think of. After all, this is America. I try to stay within the realm of reality, but sometimes I lose my head. But I read an awful lot and I try to stay informed. And Corey is no Manny Machado. He does not have Manny’s career creds. He is what he is, a very good hitting SS with some power, a great team first attitude. and the loss of almost 2 full seasons to injury. What he does as a follow up in his walk year will go a lot towards what kind of a deal he will be looking for. Until he is actually a free agent and we see what other teams offer, no one has a clue what his intentions are. And it is looking more and more like AF is moving away from re-signing Turner. But not towards a trade for Arenado or Lindor. JT has removed all reference to being a Dodger from his Twitter page. The only reference is to his charitable foundation.

    1. Good points, Bear.
       And Mark correctly highlights that Friedman knows the answers to questions I don’t even think to ask.

       Interesting that Turner has adjusted his social media to remove Dodger references. Hopefully that is just part of negotiations or suggested by his agent. I still would like to see him back for one or two years.

       In terms of Seager vs Machado, I will take Seager personally. He is 2 years younger, and his career OPS is .863 compared to .825 for Machado. Also, Corey has grown up in the Dodger system, and is a great fit with the team. And this year was Seager’s first season fully healthy in three years. He hit the ball harder than anyone in the MLB this year in both the regular season and postseason. Now, I wouldn’t sign Corey to 10yr/$300 million contract like Machado, but would offer him a 6 or 7 year extension at $25-$30 million per year.

13. Trevor May, one of the pitchers on the list that the Dodgers might acquire signed a deal with the Mets. Cohen strikes first…Your move AF.

    1. Knowing AF, he’ll do something kooky like trade Dylan Floro for a prospect.

       1. In other words, trading a rook for a pawn.

    2. Reported as $15MM for 2 years .

       That should start to set the market for relievers. (Kenley and Kelly are sitting home grinning from ear to ear)

14. A major aspect where fans and front offices differ, is that most of the fans want to win titles above all, and are certainly not averse to suggesting major signings and large contracts. The front office people always answer to the owners, in terms of how much to spend. That doesn’t mean that Friedman or any GM doesn’t want to win, but they are constrained to various extents.

    Why does Kasten want to say that the Dodgers need to save money any way they can? Does that mean cut payroll? Not sign any long-term contracts? Not expect to sign Seager or Buehler or Bellinger? How much money do they want to save? Do they actually need to save it, or just want to? Have you ever worked for a company where the owner gave a speech about the need to “tighten our belts”? That means, no raises, or nominal ones, no perquisites, everyone has to work harder. Whether the company needs to do this, or just wants to, so that the owner or owners can make more, is open to question. But it’s not something that any employee wants to hear. I am sure that there are many fans who have far less money than the ownership, have had to cut back on various things; and supporting sports teams might take a backseat to those, unless the entertainment value is great. If a fan wrote to Kasten and said that they needed to save money any way they could, so would the Dodgers cut ticket prices, do you think that they would be agreeable? Of course not.

    That being said, of course the Dodgers and other franchises were hurt financially. I would think that the Dodgers have more resources to handle that than almost all the other franchises. But given that they are apparently signaling that they will not be taking any financial risks this offseason, this obviously makes Friedman’s options less, no matter what he may think about this or that player’s potential, or whether Seager will sign eventually. Unless that means that the Dodgers expect to be outbid by some owner who has billions and wants to make a splash; in which case we might pick up some middling infielders to try to replace Seager. They know how much they are willing to spend, we fans do not; so we are almost unanimously in favor of trying to sign our big three, and maybe picking up another major piece as well. But they aren’t going to do that. It is good that we won the championship, because we are, as always, required to put up with whatever the self-imposed financial constraints are, and hope that they are not too great to keep us from improving the roster every offseason.

    My rule preferences would be: get rid of the runner on second idea; keep the three-batter minimum; do not put in an electronic strike zone! I must be the only one who does not want electronic umpires; but then I always thought that Siri and Alexa were frightening concepts; and sure enough, there are horror stories about Alexa emitting scary laughs, repeating intimate conversations between two people in the house; now spreading anti-semitic propaganda from some anti-semitic websites, programmed into its memory data base,, along with millions of other things which are not checked or monitored. Electronic umpires are unlikely to do any of that, but I would vastly prefer that the game of baseball be played and umpired by humans, even with mistakes and flaws, most of which can be remedied by better training. But I am in the minority on this. “Beep-play ball-Beep.”

    1. Electronic umpires? That’s just weird man. I Robot behind the plate.

       Umpires must have access to the same strike zone to which we fans have access. It’s just too late to think otherwise. The broadcast can’t drop it from the screen now, fans would not allow it, and umpires have proven they are just too inconsistent to be trusted with it. Strike zones are all over the place. It can be done smoothly. Nobody will even notice. Yes to the DH, also yes to the runner on second, but that means Jansen doesn’t pitch in extra innings. I think I could steal third off his move. Ok, maybe not, but you get the point. As for the general idea of speeding up the game, obviously the 3 batter rule didn’t do it, but what would do it is stop with the managers dramatic slow walk to mound, the ensuing b.s. conversation with the starter etc. Make the call from the dugout, the starter leaves and the relief pitcher gets his ass out there in a hurry and gets 3 pitches to adjust to the stage and play ball. The whole thing is done in two minutes. Same basic thing with between innings. Pitchers don’t need 7 pitches between innings. Stretch it, throw 3, batter up. Frankly I don’t believe the league is serious about speeding up the game. The longer it goes the more ads they can sell. Players know that. Hel everybody out there knows that. We’ve all been to games and nobody on the field is in a hurry between innings. It’s even worse at football games.

       Here’s mother thing you can chew on. Running slow pitch softball tournaments we learned how to stay on time by implementing variations of some of the things I’ve mentioned. After the 10th inning every batter steps in with a 1-1 count. That will change the tempo of the at bat. I realize MLB isn’t softball but, this is where we throw it against the wall and see what sticks.

       1. It’s honestly easy to do:

          1. Agree on a strikezone that will not be perfect but the best possible.

          2. Have the view on the screen.

          3. If the ball touches any part of the grid it’s a strike.

          4. The ump gets a buzzer or notification so he can call it.

          5. He still does check swings, etc.

          No challenges on balls and strikes!

          1. I hear that Altuva or whatever his name is, can get the MLB a good deal on the type of buzzer he wore under his uni, known for good connectivity, even under a sweaty uniform. Sorry, still pissed with outcomes that are rigged, even more so now in 2020.

             Yes on 28 man roster,
             No to 3 hitter rule (just ridiculous)
             No to DH (just a boring game with little to no management skills required)
             YES to robot strike zone.
             No to man on second in xtra innings (no more silly playground rules)

             1. Well played

15. 28-Man Rosters – yes
    Universal DH – yes
    Runner on 2B in Extra Innings – yes
    Three Batter Rule Remains – yes
    Electronic Balls and Strikes – biggest yes of all

    With the exception of electronic balls/strikes I would have voted no on all of these before I actually saw them used last year. In my opinion, they are all more positive than negative.

    One last yes – name Theo as commissioner
    Since I know that won’t happen any time soon, have him chair a committee on how to improve the game.
    Guaranteed we would get some good ideas.

16. So what is Corey Seager worth in the Covid economy? What is any player worth today? Hard to say. Have we seen the last of the $300 million contracts for awhile? Even with fans back in the stands at some point in 2021, most teams in baseball may take a few years to recover, the losses being steep.

    There is no magic pill to solve this. The vaccine may solve the virus, but the economic issues will linger. The losses are real.

    Take the Dodgers. Figuring that most season ticket holders (30,000 plus) probably rolled their purchase of seats into 2021 (we did) there will no new revenue there even if fans are back in seats. That’s a lot of money.

    Yes, the Dodgers may be positioned to weather that more than many teams, but it is still a business.

    Other than Cohen and the Mets, it will probably be a difficult financial path moving forward for most clubs. That will probably last two or three years, maybe more. Covid will have a lasting impact throughout the economy. That may mean less money and shorter contracts for players.

    Yes, the Dodgers gave an enormous contract to Mookie Betts during a pandemic. But as losses mount, will there be another similar deal in the near future?

17. 28-Man Rosters? No, but 27 players yes and 30 on September
    Universal DH? Yes
    Runner on 2B in Extra Innings? No, but runner in 1B yes
    Three Batter Rule Remains? No, but Two batter rule yes
    Electronic Balls and Strikes? A definite NO!!
    And not time to ask for review, it should be instantaneous, without giving them time to first review if they ask for it or not …

18. As far as AF I believe he is elite in his field. With a World Series win he has elevated himself into the top tier of which only those exist. Part of his excellence lies in things that most of us probably don’t even care about. Such as meeting deadlines, assembling teams, looking ahead to every deadline etc. blah blah blah. One thing I am very interested in is the roster. The farm is among the best, player development is highly rated, he tends to sign his own such as kershaw, turner, Kenley etc. it seems our drafts are very good and our international signings have improved since he fired the first crew. He has pulled off several exceptional trades including the puig, Kemp, and Betts trade to list a few. I don’t really think it was due to his chess playing but more his using his financial clout to swing the deals. He is good at throwing money at closing deals. He can do things in LA due to finances that he could of only dreamed about in Tampa.

    Not in favor of the 28 man. Cost more and where does it end? It seems more players just means more relief pitchers. Will teams eventually just have openers only? More players just means more leeway to make poor roster decisions such as gore or go for more specialization rather than whole players. I’m not saying Gore was not useful but rather a luxury not a necessity.
    DH-yes strengthens lineups/ takes away some opportunities for dumb manager moves
    Runner on 2b in xtra innings-yes
    Three batter rule remains-yes the “Roberts rule”
    Electronic balls and strikes- would like to c it used in the minors first to c what it would look like. On the fence for now

19. Personally, I like the idea of the electronic strike zone. Doesn’t it bother you when the ump gets the call wrong? When it comes to balls and strikes, it happens with frightening regularity. It is now painfully obvious, watching the game on tv, whenever this occurs. I say, let the players make the errors, not the umps!

    I must say that this season convinced me about the desirability of the DH. There’s no worse rally-killer than a weak hitting catcher batting 8th, followed by the pitcher, batting 9th. Pitchers are getting better and better, so adding the DH “levels the playing field.”

    With regards to trades and free agents, I really don’t know what to expect. I think that is Mark’s point. There is a lot of information we are not privy to. It is fun to speculate, of course. Besides, what else do we have to do in the off-season? I am surprised that AF apparently isn’t acting more aggressively to keep JT. I am sure that some other teams would find him a valuable piece for a year or two. If the Dodgers are not planning to try to sign a Nolan Arenado or Kris Bryant, then I am curious what Plan B is.

    With regard to Seager, there are many questions. How durable is he? Can he keep putting up numbers like in 2020? Is he willing to switch to 3B? Of course, we are biased by the “recency effect” – the tendency to give too much weight to a player’s recent performance. Our last beneficiary of the recency effect was Joe Kelly. Remember his 2018 WS performance? Apparently, so did the Dodgers’s front office. Unfortunately, that is not the Joe Kelly we got. Are we now similarly biased by Corey’s 2020 performance, especially winning the WS MVP? Or is this the real Corey Seager?

    Finally, as fans, it is our nature to form attachments to the players. We like the idea of keeping the gang together. Personally, I would feel sad at the prospect of losing JT. He’s one of those players who just makes you smile. And, of course, his transformation into one of the elite hitters over the past 5 years is a real feel-good story. However, the decisions that AF will make are based on future performance, not sentimentality. That is the irony. Fans are sentimental (me included). Yet, once a player’s skill set begins to seriously deteriorate, we aren’t so sentimental anymore. Imagine JT has a poor 2021 season, but AF signed him to a multiyear contract. We might still like JT, but we would probably blame AF for a bad decision. If JT can’t catch up to major league fastballs anymore, we’re not going to care that he looks like a cross between a Viking and a Smurf! That’s why they pay AF the big bucks. To be analytical, and not emotional.

20. I used to hate the DH, but after watching it up close for a season, I am fully for it. Tired of watching pitchers KILL rally’s Of course some hitters do that too. Also a huge NO on the runner on 2nd. Looks bush league to me. The 3 hitter rule was installed to reduce all those trips and pitching changes happening after every hitter. In that sense, it worked. Sparky Anderson would hate it. But it is not that big of a deal as far as I am concerned. The rosters are at 26, I see no reason for an increase. But I do like the taxi squad idea so you do not have to call up a guy from 1000 miles away. The electronic strike zone is coming. I am for it as long as it reduces some of the really bad calls that some of these umps make. And it will reduce bad calls when replacement umpires are used. They usually have inconsistent strike zones anyway. Of course there are going to be fans who disagree about all of these issues. Only time will tell which ones are going to be implemented.

21. We put up our tree last night. With a new kitten, we decided to not put tinsel or any decorations on it, especially glass ones. The tree came with lights on it. We put only one ornament like a star on top of the tree. It has a baseball mitt and ball and the words:

    World Series
    CHAMPIONS
    LA Dodgers

    Now let us hope the kitten does not destroy it.

    1. I bought a 32 inch fiber optic tree from WalMart. I put it up the day after Thanksgiving. No tinsel, but have garland and a few small ornaments. I do not have a cat, so no worries.

       1. We’ve got one of those! It’s really cool. Changes colors. It’s not 32” though.

          1. I love it, It changes colors and sometimes it is multicolored and others solid. Mine is apartment sized Badger. Do not have a lot of room. By the way, I mailed you a Christmas card the other day with a little surprise in it. Enjoy my friend.

22. HOPE:

    https://www.cnet.com/how-to/two-vaccines-for-covid-19-may-be-ready-by-the-end-of-2020-heres-what-to-know/

    1. A lot of information there.

       I want to encourage everyone out there to GET VACCINATED AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!

       I’ll be over here watching. Hey, it’s the manly thing to do. Women and children (and all y’all) first.

23. I am more concerned about the new stimulus package. Too mean to catch any virus. And besides, I do not drink Corona.

24. Instead of having a DH, why not have an offensive team and a defensive team?

    1. Uh, I do not think that is feasible. You would need a lot more than 26 players.

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