2020 is/was a year to remember. It was the year of COVID-19, whose devastation will be calculated for years to come and I am not talking about the 300,000+ deaths. There is no way to calculate that cost. It also was the year of the biggest political divide I have ever witnessed in my lifetime, and it continues. When confronted with arguments they cannot answer, people on both sides hide their inability to answer the argument by attacking the other person. We will not allow that here, which is why we stay away from politics.
I have a person in my very close family who will not speak to me because we have different political viewpoints until HIS words come out of MY mouth. I have stayed away from talking politics with him, but one day he asked me “tell me what you think about __________.” So I did, but ended up saying “I have opinions. So do you. I respect your opinions. Can you respect mine?” That’s when he told me to “Go _________ yourself.” Of course, he did it in an e-mail. He would never say it to my face. I think it is a form of mental illness, but I am not a doctor.
The one thing that was good in 2020 was that our beloved Dodgers FINALLY, FINALLY won the World Series. The fact that it should have been the second one in the past three years made it that more bitter and sweet. Damn those cheating Asterisks! That will always leave a bitter taste in my mouth!
As this year winds down and we approach a new year, hope springs eternal. Very few people have had COVID-19 twice, but I am going for the trifecta! I have never heard of anyone accomplishing that! I am going for the record… OK, I am just kidding – I will get the shot when it comes around. The last time the antibodies protected me for about 7 months, so hopefully, I am good until May. I think that by around June we will see things return to normal (or some semblance of normalcy).
I just feel for the hundreds of thousands who have suffered permanent loss of family, marriages, relationships, homes, businesses, property, health (both mental and physical), and general well-being. In some ways, we will never be the same, but we have to move on. We cannot live in the past or the future. We can only live in the present. We can look back at the past, but we should never forget to live where we are. “Bloom where you are planted” is one of my favorite sayings. Bittersweet!
I think that our love of baseball gives us hope. Every season starts out fresh and “hope springs eternal.” Yes, the Dodgers were champions in 2020, but we all want more. We want Lindor and Arenado and Bauer and Hendriks. Most likely, none of that will happen. I don’t care if Bauer is trolling Dodger fans.
OK, it is fun to talk about, however. If… and I am saying “BIG IF” the Dodgers were to sign Bauer, it would mean most likely trading David Price and I don’t know how likely that is. The Yankees or Boston could be interested I suppose.
I have heard that the Reds would like to package Eugenio Suarez with Sonny Gray. Now, it gets even more interesting. However, Gray did not do well in the bright lights of NYC and the same might happen in LA. That would also put the Dodgers over the Luxury Tax Threshold, however. Just for fun, let’s say the Dodgers sign Bauer and trade for Suarez and Gray. Lux, Ruiz, and Bobby Miller should get that deal done.
Here is Plan 17(B)
Lineup:
- Betts RF
- Smith C (highest OB% on the team)
- Seager SS
- Muncy 1B
- Suarez 3B
- Bellinger CF
- Taylor 2B
- Pollock/Reks or Raley LF
- Rios DH (if they have one)
Let Rios strike out 200 times, but he would hit 50 Big Flys!
Bench: McKinstry, Barnes, Beaty
Pitchers:
- Kershaw
- Bauer
- Buehler
- Price
- Gray
Bullpen: Urias ((becomes the Josh Hader of the Dodgers), Gonsolin, May, Graterol, Jansen, Kelly, Knebel, Kolarek, Gonzalez, Floro
Just an idea… Don’t shoot the messenger!! It would put the Dodgers over the LTT, but it’s fun to dream. That would be an outstanding pitching staff! The starters would eat a lot of innings and the bullpen would be lights out! I would predict another flag flying over Dodger Stadium in November. I am already planning a trip to LA in August. It’s been over a year and I want to see me some Dodger baseball.
Bittersweet Surrender
Hot Stove News
- DJLM allegedly is asking for 5 years/$125 million – some report it is $100 Million. Who knows? Good luck with that, DJ!
- The Athletic’s Jayson Stark has a column on how long the MLB season might be and the COVID-19 vaccine. The answer is currently unanswerable. He did say this: “It might require some sort of government designation that professional sports hold enough economic importance that baseball and other sports get bumped to the front of the line. The union’s position was best summed up by Scott Boras, in his virtual Winter Meetings media scrum last week: “We now know that we can play this game, and we can do it safely — and with the vaccine coming, even at a higher safety level,” Boras said. “So the reality of it is, it’s not a question of whether we can do it, because we’ve already done it. So that unknown is erased.” It’s a thought-provoking read and is driven by (you guessed it): MONEY!
- Tom Windle signed with the Mets. Windle was a second-round pick of the Dodgers in 2013, and part of the Jimmy Rollins trade, but he still hasn’t cracked the majors.
- Howie Kendricks retired!
- Dodgers.com reports this: Edwin Uceta, RHP (Dodgers No. 22) Uceta’s fifth start for Estrellas Orientales (Dominican Republic) was also his best, as he delivered four scoreless innings of two-hit ball with five strikeouts. It marked the 22-year-old right-hander’s second scoreless performance in his past three starts, and he’s now limited opponents to one run or fewer in four straight turns. Added to the Dodgers’ 40-man roster in November, Uceta went 11-2 with a 2.77 ERA and 141/49 K/BB in 123 1/3 innings in 2019, splitting the season between Class A Advanced Rancho Cucamonga and Double-A Tulsa.
- I still feel like Kike Hernandez could be a Dodger in 2021…
- MLB is officially recognizing the Negro Leagues as a Major League. Thousands of players, like Josh Gibson – considered to be one of the best hitters baseball has ever seen, though he wasn’t allowed to play in a single MLB game – are now officially considered Major Leaguers. I understand what they are doing and it is noble, but is it “true.” It is repulsive that racism prevented the leagues from joining together, but can you re-write history? To me, it feels like the school in San Francisco that allegedly wants to change its name from Abraham Lincoln High School because Abe didn’t show that black lives matter. History ain’t always pretty and Josh Gibson was allegedly a great player, but is this the right move? Essentially, it is a re-writing of history.
Times they are a changin’.
Love the dream.
In your Reds trade – go bigger. Suarez and Luis Castillo (then there is no need to sign Bauer). I don’t think Reds want Ruiz as they have a young, ready now catcher (Stephenson?) who is at least as good, if not better than Ruiz. Lux, Rios, Urias, and Josiah Gray go to the Reds. Keibert Ruiz, Dylan Floro, and Scott Alexander go to the Brewers for Hader. Sign South Korean Kim to play 2b, and backup SS and 3b. And, there is still money to sign Seager to the extension he deserves.
Betts – RF
Seager – SS
Suarez – 3b
Bellinger – CF
Smith – C
Muncy – 1b
Pollock DH
Taylor – LF
Kim – 2b
SP: Buehler, Kershaw, Castillo, Price, May
RP: Hader, Jansen, Gonzalez, Kolarek, Kelly, Knebel, Graterol, Gonsolin
Bench: Barnes, McKinstry, Taylor, Reks or Beaty
SBC there is no way we trade Urais and Gray , and the DODGERS are not sure about Price.
Not likely to happen, but Luis Castillo is worthy of that type of trade. With Beeter, Pepiot, Miller, et al coming quickly the team could afford to make that deal to get another no. 1 starter and solve third base for the next 4 years.
Why do you only list 5 starters? The Dodgers usually utilize 6 starters in some order and this coming year that eill be especially needed, plus it is being planned by many other teams. I know it’s hard to break away from something that has been a fixture for so long, but as JR posted, “the times they are a changing!”
The guys in the pen are the stopgaps for that – Urias, May, and Gonsolin are all starters. They can be utilized in any fashion.
I think Sonny Gray would do a lot better at Dodger Stadium than he did at Yankee stadium.
I’m with you, I can’t wait to go to Dodger Stadium and see the upgrades and walk around the stadium. The last set of upgrades made the stadium so much better just because you can walk around the entire park. Now you will be able to do so without losing sight of the field for long. I like to go for a Sunday day game and take the train from Long Beach to Union station. Then walk across the street for some Phillipe’s or some taquitos at Cielito Lindo. Then back to Union station to take the shuttle to the Stadium.
Suarez would be a nice pickup for that ever elusive right handed bat. I’m surprised that more action hasn’t already occurred via trade and free agency. Andrew is very patient waiting for the market to develop. I just hope he isn’t too patient. JT is a nice fallback plan, but I would really like to solidify 3B with a RH bat right now.
I’m rooting for you to get the Covid for a 3rd time. Wouldn’t that be something? How about a ring for each time you get Covid? The Dodgers owe you one for next year already.
I find it interesting that NBA players eagerly sacrifice big money in free agency to win a ring routinely, but that doesn’t seem to happen in the MLB very often. I think a lot of that has to do with the difficulty and uncertainty it is to win the Championship in the MLB. It just seems like the MLB season is harder to predict.
I’m not sure I can survive a third round! 😉
I’ll bet you a bottle of Macallen 15 that you do! 😉
You think I’m a cockroach… hard to kill!
I just figure that I can’t lose that bet.
The Athletic has a great Q & A with AF:
You have already brought back three former pitchers this offseason on minor-league contracts: Brandon Morrow, Brock Stewart and Jimmy Nelson. What did you see in each of them to warrant another go?
We see real upside potential. Obviously with Morrow, we saw it up close and personal in 2017 and feel good about where he’s at right now. He’s excited to be back. We’re excited that he’s back. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he’s a real factor for us in 2021.
With Jimmy, the 2020 season played out in an unfortunate way for him and for us, and in the short time that he was able to be around the guys and our training staff and our performance group, he really enjoyed it. He feels like it’s an environment where he can thrive. He was talking in July and August about how much he wanted to come back and help us in 2021. We feel very similarly about the upside potential and are excited that he’s back.
With Brock, we really value the competitor and the human. We had to kind of rush him four years ago to the big leagues, and didn’t give him quite the foundation that we would have ideally preferred. As is often the case when that happens, there are some stumbling blocks along the way. We feel good about where he is and the upside potential. We’re excited about how much he wanted to come back and also about what the potential is with him.
The rest is here:
https://theathletic.com/2267336/2020/12/21/dodgers-corey-seager-offseason-moves/
I really like those moves. High upside and depth as a worst case scenerio. On the flip side, all of our bullpen additions are one year adds. It would be very shortsighted to not take advantage of the market to ink a longer deal for a pen arm at today’s prices. I would give Hendricks 4/40 in a heartbeat. I wouldn’t blink at 4/48 after giving Kenley 5/80. Now, go get a couple of elite relievers.
A healthy Morrow would be terrific, as would Nelson who could be a swing guy in the bullpen. AF saying the right things about Brock Stewart, but seems like a 4-A pitcher to me.
Nelson would be one hell of a swing guy! I sure hope he’s healthy this year. I can only dream about Morrow coming back to 2017 form. Problem is Morrow has never pitched a full season. I can see him working slowly to get back and joining the team in June. I’m wondering if he has some sort of an opt out by certain date if he isn’t on the 25 man.
Spot on assessment. I feel certain that all three have an opt out if not on the active roster by a certain date (assuming they are healthy)
I wonder how any opt out dates would be affected if the season starts a month or two late.
I’ve also seen some good things written about James Pazos, a lefty reliever AF signed. Another wildcard, admittedly, but you never know.
Good questions about opt out dates. Forgot about Pazos; a legit chance to pitch this year out of the bullpen
Dodgers projected arb figures. 60, 162, 37% of 162
Scott Alexander – $1.0MM / $1.2MM / $1.0MM
Austin Barnes – $1.4MM / $1.7MM / $1.3MM
Cody Bellinger – $11.5MM / $15.9MM / $13.1MM
Walker Buehler – $2.3MM / $3.1MM / $2.3MM
Dylan Floro – $900K / $1.2MM / $900K
Corey Seager – $9.3MM / $15.0MM / $10.4MM
Julio Urias – $1.6MM / $3.0MM / $1.7MM
Friedman said after the turn of the year they will start working on things.
I hope nobody else I know gets Covid. I know several who have. A few have died. A couple said they feel scarred for life. I know the feeling. I had malaria. I am scarred for life.
I’ve got Urias in the rotation and Gonsolin at the ready but in the pen. I’ve still got Turner/Rios and 5 WAR out of third base. Much depends on how the season plays out. I know Bora$ sees 162. I don’t. Vaccines won’t roll out to everyone until summer, which is what I said in May.
Betts
Seager
Turner
Bellinger
Smith
Muncy
Pollock
Lux/Taylor
Kershaw
Buehler
Urias
May
Price
Gonsolin
Lux slash .260/,330./.430. 399 plate appearances, 14 home runs 45 runs, 48 RBI’s, 6 stolen bases
96 wins. Or, a .592 win percentage on however many games are played
Bellinger odd year returns to the cleanup spot. Come on Cubbies, trade us Kris Bryant! I sure hope the real Gavin Lux stands up this year.
The worry is who the real Lux is.
The Gavin Lux that hit 324 and 347 in back to back seasons is the Gavin Lux I’m referring to. Plenty of guys had down seasons last year, call it the COVID effect. On top of that, Gavin is from Kenosha, a hotbed of “Peaceful Protests”. Add in the fact that he was burdened with being the favorite to win ROY. I think the poor kid just had way too many distractions to deal with.
I also blame the Dodgers quite a bit for not giving him more games at 2B in 2019. When he had his lone off year in the minors as a 19 yo, hitting just 244 in A ball, he roared back the following year hitting 324 and the next two levels in A+ and AA.
As bad as Lux hit as a 22 yo with all those other factors, he still hit better than Joc did as a 22 yo.
I like players that excel in the minors against players generally older than them and Lux, like Pederson, did that. Pederson bounced back with a full season and 113 OPS+ (mostly earned in first half like Bellinger’s MVP season) and hopefully Lux will do even better. I do not get as enthused, right or wrong, about players that don’t jump out of the minor leagues like Taylor and Muncy.
Both Lux and Pederson had things that kept them from a normal season in an abnormal season in 2020. I wouldn’t want to trade Lux for a rental unless that rental said he would agree to an extension before the trade was made and even then, I would think twice about swapping Lux out for an big payroll guy.
Josiah Gray might be ready by midseason. I agree we were one starter short this postseason but that was due to the every day scheduling, no Price, and lack of development time for May.
I think we’re good without trying to raid the Reds’ roster. Just sign a few more FAs and be done. The NRIs will yield a gem as well.
We may have stolen Gray from the Reds and we would be giving him back if we traded Gray for Gray.
Reds could be looking to offload some contracts. Suarez could be a good fit at 3rd. Every team in Baseball would be better with Castillo in their rotation. Sonny Gray may or may not be an upgrade. I don’t think Friedman would have taken Price from Boston if he didn’t imagine him contributing in the rotation. I’m hoping a year off helps him come back strong in 2021.
Simple path: bring back Turner. Sign another reliever ie Hendricks or Hand.
Trickier path: trade for Suarez or Matt Chapman. Hader is available, but if they want a lefty, Hand only takes $$, not prospects. I’d just sign Hendricks or Hand.
Bananas Path: trade for Suarez and Castillo.
(Lux, Ruiz and a couple pitchers might get Cinncys attention).
Sign Hendricks/Hand
Sign Ha-Seong Kim.
In any case LA is strong, and has lots of options. Fingers crossed they can keep everyone safe and healthy for 2021!
Mark, I don’t think the Dodgers will be as good offensively as we might hope if Bellinger winds up hitting 6th and Muncy hitting 4th. Bellinger is either a stud or he isn’t and hitting him 6th says he isn’t.
Yes, Muncy gets walks and that helps his OBP but if he is our best cleanup hitter then we are in trouble. I like him hitting 8th or better yet traded.
If Ruiz were traded to the Reds who do not need a catcher, he probably would be flipped to a team like the Rays.
I don’t think Price or Betts wanted to play in Boston and I don’t think Price would be traded back to Boston. Bauer obviously wants to play for LA and given the Angels need pitching there could be a trade that sends Price to the Angels if the Dodgers signed Bauer.
I think Bellinger will wind up getting more ABs in the cleanup spot than Muncy. You have to remember that both of them sucked during the regular season and Cody had twice as many ABs in the cleanup spot than Muncy did last year. Muncy got hot at the end of the year and earned the cleanup spot for the post season. I don’t see that as set in stone moving forward. I don’t think Muncy is an 8th hitter, but I agree that he is over-rated. I’m not a fan of three true outcome guys. They are the reason why OPS and OBP are so misleading.
I would much prefer trading Muncy and keeping Lux in any trade where Muncy could be substituted for Lux.
Me too.
Turner and Hendriks and a second ring. Simplest path
I agree.
Will it be kept simple? I don’t see why not. We were pretty good last year and the main pieces of the lineup, and rotation, are all still here. Nobody is really that old yet. Even Turner, 36, who projects well over .800 OPS for this year. Price is 35, but has had a full year off. Not sure what might be asked of him, but he should be around a 4 ERA and chew up innings. He’s always been reliable for that.
I just don’t think the “Simple Path” is necessarily going to win you Championships and bringing back Turner and Hendricks isn’t “Being Pigs” in my definition. We were more than “Pretty Good” last year, but we almost lost to the Braves. What happens if they get one of the 3 big third baseman and big outfielder? Could that push them over the top? Could the Padres, Phillies or Mets improve enough to challenge? Not if we’re pigs, possibly if all we do is sign Turner and Hendricks especially if Turner’s downward trend continues.
Players age very quickly sometimes. Howie Kendrick at age 35 OPS’d 966 and at age 36, 705. Now he’s retired. JT just completed his age 35 season.
I think relief pitchers with swing and miss sliders will replace 95+ mph fastball relief pitchers as the thing beginning in 2021. Jansen will be so yesterday and maybe the same can be said about Hindricks.
Maybe Snell would be the perfect closer.
There was an interesting story on Friedman today on Yardbarker. He was saying how understanding the passion of Dodger fans has affected how he approaches his job. He enjoys the fact that they are passionate about the team and demand results. But he still has to temper that with what the organizational needs. He can be aggressive when the situation calls for it. He kept at the Betts trade when it looked like the deal was going to fall through. He does not usually like to trade his best prospects, but in Betts case, it was most likely the only way it was going to happen. And it turned out great for the Dodgers. Signing Betts long term and removing the anxiety fans would have gone through this winter was another brilliant move. And the non trade of Joc and Stripling paid off. The Red Sox not wanting Graterol was probably a stroke of luck. They did not like his medicals, so the Dodgers had to adjust the package. Verdugo and Downs were gone no matter what. But Boston taking Connor Wong, well that was also a lucky break. Wong is a good prospect and might break through in Boston, but he had little chance of that in LA. As for Lux, I think most of you are concerned because of his performance in spring last season, and his having the yips. All I have read is that he is going to get every opportunity in spring training to be the starting second baseman. And it is my belief that he will be the player we think he can be, 2020 has been an anomaly in sports. All the major sports have been affected. Players have opted out, whole teams have opted out in some sports. Nothing about this year has been normal. We do not know how affected Lux was by events at home. What we do know is that he was definitely unhinged by something. I have to believe the talent is still there. And I think he will come to spring training ready to re-establish himself. I also believe that none of the trade scenarios presented here today have any chance of happening. AF and his team have worked hard at getting the Dodger farm to the point it is at. He is not going to just trade his best prospects at the drop of a hat. He might trade one or two who are seemingly blocked by established players. But just trading for the sake of trading is not going to happen. He also said that he fully expects Price to be with the team when spring opens, and Price has also stated that is his intention. So, like it has been since free agency opened, and the winter meetings passed, we will have to wait and see. it is a little under 2 months until spring is supposed to open. We will have a much better idea of who will be there by the end of January. Everything else is pure speculation.
I don’t consider Gray enough of an upgrade to spend the prospect capital it would take to get him.
Castillo, on the other hand, is a different story and well worth a phone call.
Like many of you here, I would be fine with just bringing back JT and signing one of the top 2 or 3 relievers on the market, but I’m going on record as saying that AF will pull off something bigger than that. He’s very good at playing the market conditions and, with the exception of the Mets and Jays, most teams are not in a spending mode, whether that be signing free agents or taking on fairly decent sized contracts in trade in order to get something else of value.
There are lots of possibilities out there. I think one or more of them will wind up in Dodger Blue this season:
Suarez, Gray, Castillo, Lindor, Ramirez, Bryant, Arenado, Sugano, Kim, Chapman, Darvish, Bauer, Hader plus a number of younger players who might be available by taking on another player’s heavy contract. Andrew is in the driver’s seat here as opposed to previous years. He’s won his championship and really doesn’t need to do anything.
Last year he pulled off the trade for Mookie when everyone knew he was desperate.
He is not desperate now. He is in a good place. He knows he has some holes to fill, and he obviously know’s who he has in mind for that. I do not think there is a player on that list who comes to LA this year. For some, it is just money, for others the cost in prospects might not be to his liking. Oh, he will do something, and sign more than he has already, but I do not see a Mookie like deal happening anytime soon. Too much uncertainty.
I would like to see Darvish in Dodger Blue again.
Dodger Gray might be ready mid season and Reds Gray would be ready day one. Could they switch teams?
I mentioned earlier that I would like to see Snell as the Dodger closer. If as a starter he is only good for 4 2/3 innings every fifth day then let him pitch one inning 3 out of 5 games.
I have always liked Turner. He was the one Dodger that seemed to come through with RISP. I am ready to move on though.
I forgot to add Snell to my list. He’s another possibility.
Not saying I’m endorsing it, just that I could see AF adding one of those guys.
I think Darvish is probably the least likely to return. High cost of contract, and the fact that LA fans really dislike the guy whether the Astros cheated to beat him or not. And he said that was one of the main reasons he never considered coming back to LA>
I would like to take a minute here to apologize to Eric, Thing got a little heated and out of hand. We both have our own opinions as to what stats are important and which ones are not. They are simply that, opinions. We are not professionals in the game, and we do not make player decisions. We go with our gut and our heart, and pick guys we believe will help the team. I did not agree with your choices, but I probably could have expressed that better. I do apologize for that. I respect your opinion although I will not always agree with you. We look at the game from different perspectives.
Good for you, my friend. I hope Eric meets you half way.
Your fierce hold on your opinions plus your ability to think about how you expressed those opinions are what makes you such as asset to this site. I salute you!
Thank you Blue. I am always willing to admit when I err. And also, at my age, the drama is unneeded. If someone were to argue face to face it is much different and I have had some spirited disagreements with a friend of mine who is a Giant fan and lives in the area, But doing it from a computer is so impersonal, and unless you have already met the person. I am not agreeing with his assessment of those pitchers, but I am acknowledging his right to his opinion and the stats he uses to do so.
Darn you SingingTheBlue. I have been going around for the past few days, singing
” We had Drysdale, we had Drysdale and with Koufax and Drysdale we don’t fail
Could we embarass Maris and handle Mantle who use their bats as a prop
Oops there goes another Yankee kerplop”
Joey Bishop show video was great and I loved it. Wish I could get all the words to the
parody though. I tried but could not get them all. Played it so many times which is probably why the song is engrained in my mind.
Darn me! 🙂
Agree, save the bear claws for breakfast.
It’s cool. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.
Now to all.
I want to correct something I said in the past. I listed Soria, Doolittle, and Melancon as 3 free agents that I believed would improve the Dodgers bullpen (whether or not Friedman is interested or not). Well I’m not high on Melancon, so scratch him from my list of relievers. He’s not a difference maker. But I am high on Soria and Doolittle.
I find this year’s free agent reliever list unimpressive. Almost all of them have flaws. Call me picky if you want and you may be right. But I’m looking for difference makers in the age of 3 batter minimum.
I know Doolittle and his wife like the DC area, but money COULD change that.
As I said before, if it wasn’t for woman/wife beating allegations Roberto Osuna would be number 1 on my list of free agent relievers. So it’s not as though I prefer older relievers. It’s just that this year’s free agent reliever list is unimpressive. Keep in mind relievers usually pitch 1 inning possibly 2, so age shouldn’t matter.
Money could change their minds that is true. My concern is more his performance in his latest full season, 2019. He did have 29 saves, but he blew 6 games. His K ratio was decent. but he gave up more homers than he had at any other time in his career, 15 in 60 innings. He also gave up more than a hit an inning. Before that, he was much better. Now, it is possible he could rebound from a less than stellar year in 2020, but he also is pushing 35. Depending on the contract he might want, He could be a good addition. I just believe he is a little long in the tooth, and generally unless a player is on a very team friendly contract, AF tends to shy away from the older guys. There have been exceptions, like Hill.
Happy Birthday to Steve Garvey and Kenny Landreaux. Garv turns 72 today. He finally caught up with Badger and me.
White Sox signing the #1 international prospect, Cespedes. Yep, he is Yoenis’s half brother. Mets checking on a Japanese pitcher who was recently posted. Little else on the burner. Cali has a new Senator, and he is a Dodger fan, Alex Padilla.
Bear, that was a nice apology. As one of the leaders of this blog you stepped up to be the bigger man. That means a lot to us mere participants knowing that some of our moronic opinions won’t be held against us!
except for the “Jack in the Box is better than In n Out” nonsense
Shake Shack has them both beat hands down!
Depends on where you are Bobby. I cannot stand In n Out myself. Never have liked them. And in the taste department they are way behind Burger King and Carl’s Jr. to me since both of those chains char broil their meat. But there is a place here in town called Burger World, not a chain, just a family run place who’s burgers take a back seat to nobody. Back in the day, I loved Whataburger and A&W’s Papa burgers.
+Thank you Cassidy, I felt after some thinking that the entire episode could have been avoided with a little tact on my part. Opinions, and the difference of is what a blog is all about. It is much nastier on sites like Facebook where politics and religion are argued on a daily basis. And honestly, I do not think anyone on here is a moron. Although sometimes I might think they are hitting the juice too often, or really into the wacky weed.
the wacky weed would be me and Badger (and Wat across the pond), via our edibles.
But in our minds, it makes us smarter
The mind is a terrible thing to waste. Wacky weed aside, i think you pass as intelligent enough.
… or as Terry Forster used to say, “A waste is a terrible thing to mind.”
Now I am hungry dammit.
Looks double good
Phillies promote former MLB outfielder Sam Fuld to GM. Minor league signings heating up.
Question, if you were going to trade Andy Pages as part of a deal, which player would you include Pages in a deal for. I have seen a guy on twitter who has included him in deals for Kris Bryant and Tanner Scott, who until I read his baseball reference page I had no idea who he was. Did a nice job for the O’s last year, but I think his K ratio is not impressive. Also this guy wanted to trade Beaty and Pages for this guy. I would not do that deal. He also wanted to send Mitch White with Pages for Bryant. I personally do not feel either of those trades are something AF would do.
There are very few players I’m trading Andy Pages for and that list does not include Bryant or Scott.
Pages just turned 20. His last season of competition (2019-Ogden, where he was 2.5 years younger than the average player), his OBP was just under .400 and his OPS was over 1.000. He’s a keeper.
My sentiments exactly. He will most likely start at High A this year which would be the Loons. Or they might even jump him to AA. Hoese is getting glowing reports and some think he will debut sometime this season. Just watched the Lakers get their rings. They did it virtually for the presenters. Still no fans allowed.
KB is a former MVP. There were 10 guys with and OPS over .900 at Ogden that year. Everybody hits at Ogden.
How many of those 10 guys were Pages’ age? Really asking, I don’t know the answer to that one.
KB is a little too inconsistent and injury prone for me, although at his best he’s excellent. I just wouldn’t trade Pages for only one year of Bryant.
Former is the key word, and if Pages starts at high A, he will be playing with the Loons. 20 years old with all those tools, I am holding on to the kid.
Pages, Hoese, Ruiz, Cartaya, Busch.
There are a couple of All-Stars there… just not sure which two.
That’s why you keep them.
I am on the fence about Lux.
To quote Aaron Burr:
Wait for it.
I thought that was Achmed, the dead terrorist.
MLB declares Oscar Colas a free agent. He is a pitcher/outfielder who was with the SoftBank Hawks of the Japanese league after an ugly dispute with the team. The contract he believed to be for 3 years, but contained several team options. Colas is 22 and due to his lack of experience, he will only be able to sign a minor league deal. Originally from Cuba, he signed when he was 18.