In late November after the Dodgers won the World Series, Dodger’s President, Andrew Friedman said: “Let’s be pigs. Let’s do everything we can to go out next year and do it again.” Those were plain and very clear words. Andrew Friedman simply said that he wanted to win again in 2021 and he exhorted everyone in the Dodger’s organization to do everything they could to do it again! End of story.
Except that it wasn’t really the end of the story. Some Dodger fans took that to mean that Andrew Friedman was going to do whatever was possible within Fantasy Baseball to win another championship. They had delusions that he was going to trade for Nolan Arenado, sign Liam Hendriks, Trevor Bauer, Justin Turner, and other bullpen pieces, thereby blowing by the salary cap and stacking a team that would win 162 games.
That would be really cool… except that was not what he said and he has not done that in the past and in fact, has demonstrated that is absolutely nothing he would do. Words are important. They have meaning and Dodgersway.com wisely wrote this:
“Whether Justin Turner, Kike Hernandez, and others return or not is a specific problem that Friedman must address in the next few weeks. But however he arrives at the finish line, the stated end goal is gluttony and a repeat, which every Dodgers fan can get behind. Now’s the time to be greedy.”
HELLO! The stated end goal was gluttony, not the methodology of how to get there. A few of you believed that gluttony was acquiring players to Win Championships. It’s a free country and you can believe whatever you want, and you are also free to be stupid… I just don’t recommend it.
I do not think the Dodgers will exceed the LuxTax this year… unless they sign JT and then they hope to clear some salary or if they go over it won’t be by much. Jeff Dominique have both expressed the same sentiment… and we do not agree on everything by any stretch of the imagination. However we agreed on this.
Andrew Friedman did not say “Let’s do everything you think we can to win next year.” He said, “Let’s do everything we can to win next year.” I am going to submit that he is doing everything he can to win next year, but he is not doing everything you think he can do to win next year. Maybe he is under orders to say under the LuxTax threshold. You are not privy to that information. Maybe he has already done all he can do to win this year. You have no clue.
In fact, I am going to take JR to task who wrote this about Jeff and I:
“AF did say he wanted the Dodgers to be pigs. You and Mark can kiss AF’s tush all you want and make up your own little stories of what you think AF meant by being pigs but you keep saying the same BS over and over and over.”
Just to be clear, JR accused Jeff and I of the following:
- Kising Andrew Friedman’s Tush;
- Making up stories; and
- Saying the same BS over and over.
Essentially, he said we were lying ass-kissers who are full of crap. Pretty eloquent! WOW! He should have been as eloquent in supporting his position, but, of course, he has nothing to support what he wrote – just delusional, irrational thoughts. OK, I have said what I said and Jeff said what he said. Why would we kiss AF’s Tush? Do the Dodgers pay us? Do we get press passes? Do we get special perks? Hell No! We are just reporting what is obvious to most people. All JR is doing is resorting to slander when his weak and ill-thought argument is lost… and I do not appreciate it in the least! My advice would be to improve your argument or be quiet! Don’t make stuff up.
Here are the facts: Andrew Friedman was referring to being pigs with reference to winning Championships, not acquiring players. The Padres have “won the offseason several times” with all of their trades and signings, but they have no championships to show. Money doesn’t buy championships… or love.
There are pigs… and there are people who are pig-headed. The Dodgers are the best team in baseball. I’ll take it!
I think I read on this blog or some other that a poster was of the belief JT has already agreed to re-sign, but AF is working some moves to free up a roster spot on the 40 man and moving some $$ to remain under the CBT…..read Joe Kelly. Makes perfect sense, just don’t see JT going anywhere but LAD.
I think we might learn more this weekend and into next week what it is AF has up his sleeve.
The great William Shakespeare wrote “The lady doth protest too much, methinks”. The phrase has been used over the years to illustrate that the protestation is too excessive to be believed.
I will concede that you and AC are partially right in the notion that this isn’t fantasy baseball and that adding Barry Bonds to this team isn’t a possibility. But, after making such a proclamation it’s also reasonable for others to think that bigger moves would be forthcoming.
Sometimes it’s better to agree to disagree rather than be a Dic% about it.
It sure looks like the Dodgers will wind up bringing back JT, especially with one less option out there. It made a lot of sense all offseason and both sides seems to be waiting each other out to see who blinks first. I would think that AF still has backup plans beyond JT, but I’m not convinced that those plans would yield the same production that JT has provided thus far. I’m also not convinced that JT will provide the production that JT has provided thus far.
So, let’s say they ultimately resign JT and no other moves are made. Although, with the slow moving warm stove, I’m sure that AF will still improve around the edges like he always does. Is the team better than last year if they only bring back JT, Treinen and the import of Knebel? If the team is not improved from last year, can you really call it being pigs?
If the Dodgers do bring back Turner, they are over the CBT. There’s only a couple of moves they can make to clear payroll that wouldn’t hurt the team a lot. You can probably get performance similar to Kelly or Jansen? But, neither was bad enough to get evicted from the pen and neither justify the millions that they’re making. So, they would probably have to send a prospect to the acquiring team in order to take on those millions. The problem there is, just like the Dodgers, most teams would probably want cheaper options for similar production. So, I can’t really see them unloading salary just to get under the CBT when they’re gonna be under next year anyways allowing them to reset. Remember, AF doesn’t like to lose prospects either.
Every year, several teams voluntarily go over the CBT. This year, no team is over thus far. It does look to me like the owners are using the covid to drive prices downward.
So, back to being pigs. I certainly don’t feel like bringing back JT and Treinen and trading for Knebel is being pigs. Even Doc made a comment about bringing in new players. Again, I took that statement as adding a few players from outside the organization. Maybe he meant the adds would be from the farm system as it currently stands. But again, letting major leaguers walk and backfilling them with minor leaguers is NOT being pigs.
Changing the subject, I really enjoyed the BA podcast that you all posted yesterday. I thought it was BullCR@p that the Dodgers system was recently ranked outside the top 10. But, like all statistics, you have to look at the methodology used to create the ranking. I think most of these system rankings looks at how may players each team has in the top 100 and then gets ranked based on the strength of just those players.
The couple of points that got me really excited was that they thought we should have as many as 6 players in the top 100 as soon as this year. Wow! The other thing that they said that REALLY EXCITED me was that they felt that our guys in the 30-38 rage would be in the 14-15 positions in mid and lower ranked systems. They spoke about how extremely rare that is.
They also mention how young our core of major league players is. They feel that this team has no “window” saying they could maintain their dominance for the next 5-6 years. Considering the ages of all minor leaguers, you really can’t project further than that. So, while I sometimes criticize AF for the lack of action on the major league roster at times, I will say that no one is better at creating a constant stream of talent in the pipeline.
I think most of us can agree that the Dodgers are the best team in the league right now, and it sure looks like we have the deepest farm system right now. We’ve won the division 8 years in a row, appeared in 3 of the last 4 WS and are the defending champions. My question is when do we start calling this team a Dynasty? IMO, you have to win multiple championships to be a dynasty and when we repeat this year, we can certainly stake our claim to such a lofty title. If the Astros didn’t cheat, we would already be able to state that claim.
BP,
Here’s what you are missing. AF was talking about being pigs by winning another Championship. He was talking about the “why” not the “how.” The statement was directed to the team and there are lots of ways that could happen, like training harder, getting better over the offseason. AF is not in control of the LuxTax Cap.
Me and my wife are going out to eat at our Favorite Italian place this evening. We’re gonna be pigs and order a salad and some sparkling water. Then we’ll go home and have some egg whites and have an orange for dessert! 😉
I’m gonna be like Journey and “Don’t stop believing” that Andrew has a trick up his sleeve. Please kindly respect my delusions and stop hating me for them. The Dodgers will pay tax this year.
I think the horse is dead enough and only AF knows what he meant and who’s to say what was said didn’t have his desired outcome? To me those 3 little words (pun by accident) are winning most whipped when saying less. Can we kindly move on? Soon Ken Burns will have to add this to his documentary on baseball.
Well said, Quas! One thing we know for sure is that we know nothing!
Let’s be honest, Turner signs a 2or 3 year deal. AF is waiting for it to be closer to Spring training to announce it. They have 2 spots to free on the IL on the 40 man roster without designating anyone for assignment. Bet on it.
Very plausible. We still have redundant parts on the roster. Let’s see if he can swing a trade for a RH bench piece that kills lefties.
I had a player in mind from St. Louis. He could take the place of Kike. His name is Tommy Edman. He’s a Switch hitter that rakes vs LHP. With Arenado taking over at 3B and Wong being a 2 time GG at 2B, he would be a natural for us. Then a realized Wong is a FA and Edman will probably take his place.
Oh well sometimes the best laid plans of mice and men often do astray as they say.
Robbie Burns
Bulls get rich. Bears get rich. Pigs get slaughtered.
Bears get rich? Not in my lifetime. Bears sleep for a few months, all that inactivity leads to being very hungry when they wake up.
Ok, substitute Ian Desmond for bears then.
Okay, I can roll with that. You have to admit, Desmond has made a lot of cash.
There’s an argument that his signing was the domino that started this trainwreck [to mix metaphors]. Bad signing to begin with then they messed with the lineup to accomodate him.
Good morning, a little spirited repartee in the morning is a good thing. I personally think there is not a person on this planet who knows what Andrew Friedman is planning except Andrew Friedman. I read on Twitter dozens of Dodger fans moaning and groaning because it is their stance that Friedman should sign every single A type free agent and to hell with the CBT. They do not look at his past off seasons and read the patterns. He went off script last year because the player he traded for was a generational player. Betts is one of those once in a lifetime players. And if you look at what he gave up, and what he took on, it was a steal. Verdugo is going to be a very good player. Downs has a very good upside, but as yet is unproven, and Wong could still develop into a usable piece. But the Dodgers got and MVP and a Cy Young winner in the deal. They saw what the MVP could do last season. Hopefully they see what the Cy Young winner can do this year. And they got the Sox to pay half of his salary. To say AF is done is way premature. He still has to fill out the AAA roster, so there will be some non roster guys signed before spring training. The Turner question will probably be addressed before next weekend, or at least before pitchers and catchers report in 2 weeks. He lost 3 bullpen pieces, and has added a starting pitcher without having to trade or sign for one, numerous BP pieces. Maybe not the ones the be a pig faction wanted. He did not resign his redundant pieces in Joc, Kike, and Baez. He said at the beginning of free agency that he wanted those guys to see what was available to them, and they have. Turner obviously knows already where he want’s to be. He just has not committed. All the Arenado rumors can stop now. He was never going to be traded to LA by the Rockies anyway, no matter what the fans thought. There are still trade possibilities out there if Turner moves on. And obviously the Dodgers would love to move Kelly’s salary in any of those. But except for a few pieces, the core is still intact. Both of the team leaders in HR’s last year are still here, the series MVP is still here. They have some talented prospects who will get their shot in spring. And I have seen many times posters plead with them to ” Play the kids”. Maybe this spring one of those kids suddenly bursts on the scene the way Arozarena, who was on no ones radar, did for the Rays. Only time will tell. Oink.
You jogged my memory with your play the kids theme and that BA podcast. They also said that McKinstry was similar in talent to Cronenworth. That would be a welcome surprise. Taylor, Lux and McKinstry will compete for that 2B job. No holes in the lineup. Even if they didn’t resign JT, we still have Rios. The lineup would still be stacked, if not very left handed which would be a problem against teams with good left handed pitching.
I love the depth and talent of the pitching staff as a whole. Kershaw and Price eat innings which takes stress off the bullpen. Having a bullpen with multiple guys capable of closing is a huge advantage. The rankings don’t love our pen, but the projections are useless with bullpen’s because of the often mentioned volatility of bullpen arms. The talent is there as is with Kenley, Knebel and Treinen. The bridge is very strong with Graterol, Gonzales and Floro. He choices to round out the next couple of spots are outstanding with Kelly, Kolarek and Alexander. The depth is absolutely incredible with all those kids, Cleavinger, Jackson, Uceta, White, Carrillo, Santana, Sborz. One of the young starters May, Urias, Gonsolin becomes part of that pen at some point and possible surprises exist in Stweart, Schwaab, Nelson, Pazos and Morrow.
Wow! Pitching, pitching and more pitching.
No idea.
Ask again in March.
But hey, at least we can move away from the Nolan Arenado fantasies.
Rumor has it that the Cards and Dodgers are talking about a trade for Arenado.
Sorry, couldn’t resist. 🙂
Just thinking what a team leader might think. I’ll make a hand-shake agreement now but we don’t sign it for a couple weeks. If I do it that way, one of the kids won’t get cut.
I have no idea if that is even a possibility as to what is going on.
I agree with Mark on what it was AF meant by being pigs. I do not however appreciate how he often expresses himself. We are free to be stupid? Come on man.
It’s not a stretch to say the team with the best roster has the best shot. That’s us. Everybody, except the stupid maybe (and that’s nobody here) agree that the Dodgers remain deep. Our “system” isn’t ranked in the Top 10. So what? It doesn’t need to be.
We are the model organization in MLB. We’re not perfect of course. Nobody is. But everyone else is chasing us. Several teams have gotten considerably better. We’ve done, by comparison, very little. And when all this dust settles, who will be favored to win the World Series again?
I remain where I was weeks ago. Staying home a lot and waiting for the team to sign Turner.
Will they play 162? Will ST start on time? Will fans return? Will we reach herd immunity by the playoffs? Those are the questions that most interest me.
Totally agree. And here is one stat no one quotes. Total NL West titles. Dodgers 19, Giants 8, D-Backs 5, Padres 5, Rockies 0. Stay well Badger. Things will get better.
Yes, stupidity is an absolute freedom. It’s in the Bill of Right.
It is not recommended!
It’s in the Bill of Rights?
Oh, you must mean the 2nd Amendment
I think that’s a political statement and should be stricken from the record.
Hey, you got any Penguin distributors in Northern California?
Gregorius back to the Phillies, 2 yrs/$28MM.
Maybe JT has a kicker in his contract that says he gets extra money if he’s the last free agent to sign.
Rodon going back to the White Sox pending a physical, and Phillies traded Irvin to the A’s to make room for Matt Moore.
Rumors about trading Price? Why can’t a reporter simply ask AF what HE meant about being pigs? Why can’t we offer Cards a better package than they gave Rockies and they sign Turner? We should have our answers by the end of February. Take a deep breath!
Again, the point is missed. No way the Dodgers are taking on Arenado’s contract. Not where it stands right now. And say he has a monster year in St. Louis and then opts out. You think he is going to give LA a hometown discount to stay under the CBT? Unlikely. We should all just move on from him and concentrate on what we have. And what we have is pretty good. Even with all of the Padres moves, the Dodgers are still the favorite. The games are played on the field, not in the front office or on paper. Pads got better. So what? They were a long ways behind to begin with. Time will bring AF’s plan into focus. Until we see the product on the field, it is all speculation.
As Bear said, Colorado was never going to trade Arenado to LAD. The player return to Colorado is not considered great, maybe even lukewarm. But Colorado wanted Arenado and his contract gone and not to LAD. There is no clarification as to who the Rockies get in return, but there is speculation, and the Cardinals did not have to include 3B prospect Nolan Gorman, which I beleive surprised everyone. There is talk that as many as five are headed back including LHSP Austin Gomber. He is nothing special, but he can be a decent back of the rotation starter. He pitched well in 2020. He is expected to earn slightly over MLB Minimum. Another is RHRP Jake Woodford who did not pitch well in 2020. He is expected to earn MLB Minimum. The other three are prospects:
#9 – OF Jhon Torres
#13 – RHP Angel Rondon
#23 – 1B Luken Baken
Per Jon Heyman, Arenado will receive another year guarantee of $15MM at the back of the contract. The presumption is that this was required for Arenado to waive his no-trade rights. The Dodgers would have had to do something similar even if Arenado did not require it. MLBPA will not let their players waive a no-trade clause without something tangible in return. They are not protecting Arenado, but all players with similar clauses. Arenado has suggested that he could formerly waive his no-trade sometime today. There are a lot of moving pieces, many of which require multiple approvals.
Yes, the Dodgers could have put a package together that would have been better, but Colorado was not going to satisfy Arenado or help a division rival. They got what they wanted. Salary relief and he is not going to the Dodgers in 2021.
Why can’t a reporter simply ask AF what HE meant about being pigs?
ANSWER
Because it is clear what he meant… and he is not going to tell you the “how.”
Why can’t we offer Cards a better package than they gave Rockies and they sign Turner?
ANSWER
1. AF is not going to take on $150 Million in Salary for a guy who may be average offensively;
2. The Rockies are not going to send Nolan to the Dodgers. Period!
3. The trade is done. Nolan is a Cardinal.
4. AF is not an idiot!
Well right now without Turner we’re just a little piglet!
Maybe Rios is Boss Hogg
Perhaps another consideration as to why JT has not yet been signed. Per the CBA, A player cannot be placed on the MLB 60-day Injured List after the conclusion of the MLB regular season, and during the post-season and off-season, up until the start of Spring Training (beginning on the date that pitchers & catchers are scheduled to report). I have no idea if this is a consideration, or that it has even been suggested. To me, it is just another possibility as to why JT has not re-signed YET. Pitchers and catchers are due to report to camp February 12. On that date, both Caleb Ferguson and Tommy Kahnle can be added to the 60 day IL and a roster spot opens up. Nobody has to be designated. No unfavorable trade (in AF’s eyes) has to be made. Of course there is still the imaginary line in the sand, the CBT Threshold which will be crossed unless some contract is eliminated.
Just a thought and nothing more.
Trying to get Mark excited here–Dodgers bring up Ruiz, move Smith to 3rd, sign Bauer instead of Turner.
Bauer becomes Friedman’s boar. See what I did there.
I am not saying that will happen, but it’s more likely it could happen than most of you believe.
Bauer would be fun. I like his FU attitude on the mound.
But you’re the one that doesn’t believe he will go above the CBT? And Bauer will cost a lot more than JT
This is a recording:
Bauer is not coming to the Dodgers.
Beep!
Here is what I think JT and Friedman discussed at the end of the season. Friedman told JT we want to sign you, but you need to find out what you are worth. You need to get the most money possible. Then would you come back to us and tell us what that is. If JT’s contract is very good then Friedman says good bye. If it close to what Friedman thinks JT is worth, then he signs with the Dodgers. I just do not know if anyone has given JT a concrete offer yet.
Most HR in 2021:
1. Bellinger
2. Muncy
3. Betts
4. Seager
5. Pollock
6. Smith
7. Rios
The Dodgers are very good. Are they the best? We will have to play the games to find out. Have we improved from last year? If Price is healthy he will be a big boost to the rotation. So, the starting pitching should be expected to be better. The bullpen: I would take knebel over Baez, treinen is back and he could improve. Kahnle, morrow, nelson (a second time) are all health risks. Our bullpen is on par with last year which was very good. Mb somebody in our system makes it to the big show. Right now I don’t see an improved bullpen but about the same. The starting 8 have not improved as of this writing. Even if we sign turner it may not be improved because turner is aging. I hope la signs turner. I do not believe there is any way in hades pollock can stay off the dL for a full 162 game season.
So as of now our starting 8 are not as good. Now , our bench has taken a big hit losing kike and joc. We do not have the people on the roster who can adequately replace these guys. The improvement will have to come from better years from bellinger, muncy, lux, and the continued strong play from seager, betts, smith plus above average from pollock, turner if we sign, plus Taylor and Rios. So I think our starting lineup and bench are weaker as of today. That quality depth we had is of a lesser quality it appears for now. A key injury or 2 could really be a game changer.
So, our pitching if healthy looks to be as good if not better. Our lineup and bench looks to be weaker. It looks like the cbt has got us standing pat. I think the last time we went that route the Nationals knocked us out of the playoffs quickly. It just seems the pads have pulled off big trades without giving up much at all. The Mets and cards did the same. It’s frustrating to me that there are so many opportunities out there but we are frozen. Even the Betts trade we have to give up a top prospect in verdugo and downs while we pay to get rid of maeda the twins number 1. The pads, cards, Mets have improved greatly without giving up anybody the caliber of verdugo but they get arenado, lindor, snell etc. As of now there is a strong argument that we have taken a step back. There are several teams who will have a real shot. Braves, Cards, Nats, Pads, Mets, have all improved and are very good. We are going to need to get better if we are to repeat.
How about a $40 Million Dollar Contract for JT – 8 years?
How about $100 Million for 40 years and if he should not live that long, balance goes to his widow
36 years old, his chances of making it to 76 would be pretty good. There is at least movement now. Players are getting signed and traded. Spring is in the air, well not in the northeast. Looks like they are going to get blasted.
For all you Rams fans, we just traded Goff plus a couple first rounders and a third rounder to the Lions for Stafford .
That’s a big time trade. Giving up picks to get rid of Goff’s contract but also upgrading at QB
Stafford and Kershaw have been best friends since they were young kids, so I’m sure CK is happy with the trade.
Rams will probably never have another first round pick. They just keep trading them away.
Stafford is 33 with two years left on his contract so they better come up with a plan for three years down the road, although maybe Stafford will be good into his 40’s like Mr. Brady.