William Jennings Bryan Herman was born on July 7th,1909 in New Albany Indiana. He was one of 10 children born to William and Elizabeth Herman. He was named after the former Secretary of State, and three-time Democratic nominee for President, William Jennings Bryan. He once commented that he was named after a loser, but he hoped it would not carry over to his baseball career. Bryan was also one of the prosecuting attorneys in the famous Scopes monkey trial in Tennessee.
The Hermans lived on a small farm in New Albany. William though made his living as a machinist in a factory in Louisville. Herman attended New Albany High School, but playing in the major leagues was the farthest thing from his mind. ” I was a sub on the team-a substitute 3rd baseman and SS. I never played regularly in high school“. At the conclusion of his junior year, he dropped out of high school and went to work in a Louisville veneer manufacturing plant. He married his childhood sweetheart, Mary Jane Steptoe, in 1927. They had one son, Billy Jr. They would divorce in 1960.
Herman was playing for a church team in Louisville when he was noticed by Cap Neal, the general manager of the Louisville Colonels. A Class-AA team in the American Association. He signed for nothing. He later said he would have paid to sign. This was in 1928. He also said he was not any good. He was sent down by the Colonels to Decatur, a Class-B team, but he was sent back after a couple of days without even seeing the field.
The Colonels were out of town when he got back, so he hung around until Neal got back, and Neal sent him to Class-D Vicksburg. As low as you can get, and ” I couldn’t make it he said”. Neal saved his career by telling a little white lie, he told Vicksburg that no wonder he was not doing well, they had him playing SS, and his best position was second base. Herman had never played second in his life. He went back to Vicksburg, and although he did not do great, he did well enough to stay as their second baseman.
The next season he went back to Louisville and had a solid year. Despite his self-deprecating comments, his next two seasons were solid at the plate, and he was decent as a fielder. In 1931 he was hitting .350 through 118 games when he was purchased by the Chicago Cubs. That was on August 4th. On the 29th of August, he made his MLB debut at Wrigley Field and singled in his first at-bat off of Si Johnson.
The Cub’s second baseman in 1931 was Rogers Hornsby. He was also the manager. He could still hit the ball around the field hitting .331. He led the team in homers with 16 and RBIs with 90. Pretty decent for a 35-year-old. But in 1932 he turned over the starting 2nd base job to Herman after only 19 games. The Cubs were in second place with a 53-46 record when on August 2nd, Hornsby was fired and replaced by Charlie Grimm. There was some speculation that it was because of his gambling, but he and Bill Veeck said it was “philosophical issues”.
Herman was not sad to see the Rajah go. “He ignored me completely, I thought it was because I was a rookie, but then I saw he did that to everyone. He was just a cold human being”. He was a perfectionist and would chew players out when they made mistakes. Herman must not have been alone in his judgment because when it came time to divvy up World Series shares, they shut Hornsby out completely.
Herman’s defense was a huge plus as he had 527 assists. He hit .314 with 200 hits and drove in 51 runs. They met the Yanks in the World Series. The Yanks had little trouble beating them in 4. 1932 was the series where Babe Ruth allegedly called his shot. Herman disputed that. He always said that Ruth was pointing at the Cubs dugout. ” If Ruth had pointed at Center Field, he would have spent the rest of the series on his back.”
Herman was now entrenched in the lineup for the Cubs. Over the next two seasons, they finished in second place. In 1933 Herman accounted for 466 putouts at his keystone position, still an NL record. He continued to hit well even though he was sharing time at second with Augie Galan, a switch hitter. In 1934 he went to his first All-Star game. It would start a stretch of 10 straight years in the mid-summer classic.
By 1935 he was a fixture at the top of the Cubs order. Although he did not walk much, he always walked more than he struck out. He had a reputation as a good, smart, aggressive ballplayer both at bat and on the field. Winning was the only thing on their mind. This was the era when you had to earn your job with a team. Especially during the years of the depression. It was also the era of Al Capone. Capone would walk into Wrigley Field with all of his bodyguards like he was the President of the United States or something. One year Gabby Hartnett had his picture taken with Capone, the next year Judge Landis said players could not have their photos taken with people in the stands.
1935 was probably his best year, he led the league with 227 hits, and batted 341. His double-play partner was Billy Jurges. They both led their positions in four defensive categories. Assists, putouts, double plays, and fielding percentage. The Cubs went 22-3 in September to overtake the World Champion Cardinals and the Giants. They played the Tigers in the series. Lon Warnecke won two games, but the rest of the staff could not stop the powerful Tigers and they lost the series in six games. Herman hit .333 in the series and drove in 6 runs.
Over the next couple of years, Herman established himself as the best second baseman in the league. His manager, Grimm, said he was a better second baseman than Frankie Frisch. He hit over .300 in six of his first eight seasons as a starter. The 1938 season mirrored the 32 season because the Cubs were tied with the Reds for third when management decided to replace Grimm with Gabby Hartnett. Unlike replacing the taciturn Hornsby, fans wondered why Grimm was being replaced. The explanation was he not getting the most out of his players.
On the 26th of September, the Cubs were 1 1/2 games back of the Pirates. But a three-game sweep put the Cubs up, and Pittsburgh could not recover. They would finish two back. The Cubs faced the Yanks in the series again, and once again they got swept. ” We came, we saw, we went home,” said 1st baseman Rip Collins.
Jurges was traded that winter, breaking up one of the best keystone combos in the league. Dick Bartell came from the Giants as his replacement. The Cubs sank in the standings. At 30 years of age, Billy showed no signs of slowing down. He hit .307 and led the league in triples with 18,. Herman was the king of the second basemen. In 1940 Wrigley hired Jim Gallagher as the Cubs’ general manager. Gallagher was a Chicago sportswriter who was always critical of the Cubs front office. Wrigley offered him the job saying ” If you think you know so much, you run the club”.
In 1941 Gallagher traded Herman to the Dodgers for Johnny Hudson, Charlie Gilbert, and $65,000. Durocher really wanted Herman to help his young SS, Pee Wee Reese. The Dodgers won the pennant, and Herman was up against the Yankees again. The Yanks won the series in 5 games. Billy was 1-12 against the Yanks in series play.
Billy was once again right in the middle of things in 1942. By August, the Dodgers were cruising, ahead of the Cardinals by 10 games. Larry McPhail came into the clubhouse and chewed the whole team out, including Durocher, about their drinking, card playing, etc. He said to them you are not going to win the pennant, the Cardinals are. St. Louis went 43-8 over their last 51 games and finished with 106 wins to the Dodgers 104.
If anyone was worried that Herman was slowing down, he put that to rest in 1943, hitting .330 and driving in 100 runs, a career-high, while hitting only 2 homers. With WWII in full swing, players were starting to be drafted into the service. Herman was classified 1-A. Instead of waiting to be drafted, Billy joined the United States Navy. After his initial training at Great Lakes, he was sent to Pearl Harbor. He spent much of his time playing baseball on base teams located on the Pacific Islands. He missed the 44 and 45 seasons. He was discharged from the Navy on December 16th, 1945.
He returned to the Dodgers for the 46 season, but Eddie Stanky had taken over second base, so on the 15th of June, he was sent to the Braves for C Stew Hofferth. Between the two teams, he hit .298 and drove in 50 runs playing back up at 2nd and 3rd base.
Billy had a desire to manage in the majors. He had wanted to manage the Cubs but the opportunity never came. On September 30, 1946, he was on the move again, part of a seven-player deal with the Pirates. Once there he signed a two-year contract to be a player-manager. The Pirates were in rebuilding mode, so not much was expected. Under Herman, they finished in last place with a 61-92 record. 32 games behind the Dodgers who won the 47 pennant. He resigned as manager on the 25th of September, 1947. The Pirates’ front office was not placing all the blame on Herman for the results, but the parting seemed mutual.
He retired as an active player after the 47 season and finished with a .304 average, 2,345 hits, 486 doubles, and 839 RBIs. His fielding pct was .967. For you youngins, that was how they measured defense back in the day. Un-deterred by the Pirate’s bad season, Billy would spend the next 16 years either managing in the minors or coaching in the majors. He spent 1948 with Minneapolis, then went to Oakland in 1950. From 1952-to 57 he coached for the Dodgers. 38-59 with the Braves, moving to the Red Sox in 60 to 64. With two games left in the regular season in 64, he replaced Johnny Pesky as the skipper on an interim basis. He was then hired for the head job for 1965-66. But the Sox went 62-100, 40 games back of the Twins. 66 was no better, the Sox were fighting the Yankees, Senators, and Athletics for the cellar at 64-82. Herman was fired on the 8th of September and replaced by Pete Runnels, His managerial record was 189-274.
He resurfaced as a coach for the Angels in 1967. He then moved to Northern California and became a scout for the Oakland A’s from 68-74. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on August 19th, 1975. ” I expected it sooner, not later,” said Herman. “But I’ll take it. Sure it’s a thrill. It’s very satisfying; particularly when you look at all the outstanding ballplayers there have been who aren’t in”.
He returned to coaching, joining Roger Craig’s staff in San Diego in 77and 78. He then retired to Florida with his wife Frances whom he had married in 1961, He played a lot of golf and had a 3 handicap and he also enjoyed playing bridge. Fishing was also one of his hobbies. Billy passed away on Sept 5, 1992, in Palm Beach Florida from cancer. He wasn’t a Dodger very long, but he had an impact on the Dodger teams he played and coached for.
Padres, Twins Agree To Trade Involving Chris Paddack, Taylor Rogers
By Steve Adams | April 7, 2022 at 8:15am CDT
The Twins and Padres are in agreement on a trade that will send left-handed reliever Taylor Rogers to San Diego and starter Chris Paddack to Minnesota, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports (Twitter thread). The two parties were reportedly in talks on a deal last night. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets that the Twins will also acquire right-hander Emilio Pagan as part of the swap. The Athletic’s Dennis Lin tweets that outfielder/first baseman Brent Rooker is also going to the Padres in the deal.
Minnesota is acquiring a pair of arms under club control for multiple seasons, as Paddack, who is earning $2.25MM in 2021 is only in his first season of arbitration eligibility. He’s controlled through the 2024 campaign. Pagan, meanwhile, is earning $2.3MM this season and is controlled through 2023 via arbitration. Rogers, 31, is set to earn $7.3MM this season in his final year of club control before reaching free agency. Rooker, 27, doesn’t yet have a full year of Major League service and is controllable through the 2027 season.
Rogers was outstanding last year. I’d rank him as one of the best lefty relievers out there. It’s somewhat surprising that the Pods pulled the plug on Paddack, but they want to win now, I guess. It’s going to be a pretty competitive NL West again this year.
Yeah, one of the best…
Josh Hader
Roger Suarez
Jake McGee
Andrew Chafin
Aaron Loup
Jarlin Garcia
Alex Vesia
Richard Bleier
Steven Okert
Dietrich Enns
José Álvarez
T.J. McFarland
Tyler Rogers
How you like dem cherries ya picked?
Not all cherries are created equal. If you think FIP is a better stat than ERA and WHIP, that’s your prerogative. These are the left handed relievers with a better ERA and WHIP than Tyler Rogers.
When I watch baseball games, they post ERA and WHIP quite often. Those are the gold standard for pitching stats. No talks about FIP as much as you do. That’s because it’s more of an excuse than a stat.
This pitcher really sucks this year, but his FIP is good. Must be the fielding behind him. Just forget all those line drives and runs scored.
It would be awesome if you two continued this specific banter for the entire season.
“If you think FIP is a better stat than ERA and WHIP, that’s your prerogative.”
Here’s what I actually wrote about FIP:
“Personally I’m not a big fan of FIP, xFIP or WAR by themselves. I prefer to look at ERA, and then I glance at FIP to compare. Then I like to look at the strikeout rate, followed by the BB%. There is no such thing as a perfect stat.”
“When I watch baseball games, they post ERA and WHIP quite often. Those are the gold standard for pitching stats.”
Says who? Ya think the Padres analytics department is just sitting around looking at ERA and WHIP? They just shipped off a former top prospect for a bum reliever, according to BullPuck. What were they thinking?!!!!
“This pitcher really sucks this year, but his FIP is good. Must be the fielding behind him. Just forget all those line drives and runs scored.”
FIP is tied to league ERA. League ERA and league FIP have to be the same. That means that some pitchers are going to have a FIP above their ERA, and some pitchers will have a FIP below their ERA. It’s useful to compare a pitcher’s FIP to his ERA and understand why they might differ.
“If you think FIP is a better stat than ERA and WHIP, that’s your prerogative.”
Here’s what I actually wrote about FIP:
“Personally I’m not a big fan of FIP, xFIP or WAR by themselves. I prefer to look at ERA, and then I glance at FIP to compare. Then I like to look at the strikeout rate, followed by the BB%. There is no such thing as a perfect stat.”
“When I watch baseball games, they post ERA and WHIP quite often. Those are the gold standard for pitching stats.”
Says who? Ya think the Padres analytics department is just sitting around looking at ERA and WHIP? They just shipped off a former top prospect for a bum reliever, according to BullPuck. What were they thinking?!!!!
“This pitcher really sucks this year, but his FIP is good. Must be the fielding behind him. Just forget all those line drives and runs scored.”
FIP is tied to league ERA. League ERA and league FIP have to be the same. That means that some pitchers are going to have a FIP above their ERA, and some pitchers will have a FIP below their ERA. It’s useful to compare a pitcher’s FIP to his ERA and understand why they might differ.
Not long ago, Chris Paddack was a top prospect checking in at no. 34 overall right inbetween Ian Anderson and Alex Reyes just above him and Alex Verdugo and Keibert Ruiz, just below him. Pretty good company. Just another of a long list of Padres pitching prospects that have been shipped off for other pieces.
Taylor Rogers is a lefty, so that’s bad news for the Dodgers. His record wasn’t great and his ERA was decent last year…
Record – W-L:2-4,Sv:9,BSv:4,Hld:8 Meh!
ERA – 3.35
Just to get an idea of what that looks like, V-Gone who was pitching injured most of the season last year…
Record – W-L:3-1,Sv:1,BSv:1,Hld:17
ERA – 3.57
They look pretty close.
Here’s where it gets weird with the stats. V-Gone was worth .5 WAR in 35 innings pitched. Rogers was worth .4 WAR in 40.1 innings.
Which one is the better pitcher?
What stat page are you looking at?!!
I’m seeing V-Gon’s WAR as .1 vs. 1.7 for Rogers.
Rogers’s ERA was inflated by a BABIP that was nearly .400 (bad luck). His FIP is 2.13. He struck out over 13/9 innings, which is awesome, and walked less than 2/9 innings, which is pretty decent.
V-Gon had a run in 2020 where he was outstanding because his BB rate was .89/9 innings. He was great. Last year his BB rate ballooned to 4.84/9 innings. He couldn’t find the strike zone if you gave him a map. This was his problem all through the minors, and it’s why he was never really a top prospect in the system. He almost quit baseball, actually. He found control in 2020. He lost it last year. Hope he finds it again.
Baseball Reference.
He’s a ground ball pitcher. His hits / IP was in line with career norms, so don’t blame babip. FIP favors ground ball pitchers. While he didn’t walk a lot of guys, struck out a lot of guys and didn’t give up many homers, the results were lackluster. 4 losses in just 40 innings pitched. Right handed hitters hit 287 against him, lefties just 170. In his career, righties hit 260 vs 200 for lefties. He’ll no doubt be very good against the Dodgers.
This is a prime example of why FIP is a worthless stat. If you believe that all hits other than homers aren’t the pitcher’s fault, than you can go ahead and believe FIP is useful. Pretty ironic on a post about a 300 hitter with 100 RBI and only 2 homers. All pitcher’s FIP against Billy Herman would be minisquel. A career 300 hitter with just 47 career homers. I guess he was extremely lucky.
“He’s a ground ball pitcher.”
Not really, but ok.
“His hits / IP was in line with career norms, so don’t blame babip”
A .300 BABIP is considered the league constant. If a pitcher’s BABIP is .400, he’s getting hosed by bad luck/bad defense and we would expect that: #1 that BABIP will come down to Earth, #2, it inflated his ERA. If a guy’s ERA is a lot higher than his FIP and he has a high BABIP, then you would expect that is the reason, and you would expect his BABIP and ERA to regress to the norm.
“While he didn’t walk a lot of guys, struck out a lot of guys and didn’t give up many homers…”
You mean, awesome?
While we’re on the subject of worthless stats, Win/Loss record? For a relief pitcher? Really? Josh Hader was 3-5 in 2019. Man, that guy must suck?
Personally, and although I think looking at FIP is useful, I think it has flaws. I don’t really like completely scrubbing batted balls out of the formula. I’d like to see an updated stat that maybe includes hard hit % or maybe barrel rate … maybe average exit velocity. These are things that a pitcher is in control of … maybe normalize base hits to a standardized .300 BABIP. I’m not a math nerd.
Buckle up buttercup it’s opening day 2022.
Can I ask why we are not playing on Opening Day – must’ve missed it?
They used the schedule that was already in place. When they decided to open on the 7th, teams who are scheduled to play today will. In the original schedule, the 7th was a travel day for the Dodgers.
Ah ok I see – makes sense now.
I’m glad we’ve got a fairly easy looking few series to kick off with – give a few a chance to find their stroke.
Twins are no pushover, and the Rockies are always trouble in Coors. And with cold weather, especially for Saturday’s game, anything can happen.
Not for the Dodgers, they open tomorrow in Denver. Brrrrrrr.
Is it pretty cold out there right now? It’s hot over here for the next couple of day. Santa Ana winds kicked up.
It is 55 here in Canon and about 60 up in Denver. But the wind is blowing like a banshee. So yeah, it is a wee bit chilly. Heading out to Cali next Wednesday. I will get your contact info from Mark.
Perfect, another new jerk to kick his ass… Fresh meat!
I still remember when that monster-faced guy pitched at Dodgers stadium, and the stupid SD commentators saying ‘WOW, look at his scary expression, even his own teammates are scared”
That night the Dodgers hit him out of the game very easily… Welcome to the real world.
I’m glad I won’t have to see that horrible face again.
Jorge, what is the deep reason you are so angry with the Padres?
Easy. Machado and Tatis Jr.
I bet it’s the cultural appropriation of the team name.
::Ducks::
Let’s go Brandon!
Brandon Brown won Talladega this year. Real life Rickey Bobby.
?
What does that have to do with Jorge and/or the Padres?
Am I missing something obvious?
BUT! If we’re doing non-sequiturs, I’m about 50% through Forbidden West. Let’s go Aloy!
That was my response to the nonsense term “cultural appropriation”. Especially when posting it on a “Los Angeles” Dodgers site and talking about the “San Diego Padres”. All words that came from Spain, a country in Europe, that was heavily occupied by Africans.
It was a joke!
Wasn’t that obvious?
Do we really think Jorge is resonating on cultural appropriation??!?!?!?
And even if you thought I was serious, your response to something you found nonsensical was to be more nonsensical???!??!?
“It was a joke!”
Never miss an opportunity to argue about trivial stuff online.
My hunch is that Jorge is a very strong social justice advocate and objects to the veneration of Spanish missionary cultural invaders and colonizers who exploited the native tribes to perpetuate Western hegemony. Why not just call them the San Diego Genociders?
Serious or sarcasm?
Come to think of it, baseball itself it rooted in white supremacist structural modes of systematic oppression. It is comprised almost entirely of white cis males, especially in positions of authority, and continues to promulgate a pro-capitalist, cisnormative gender binary, as well as ableism, racism and patriarchal and misogynistic toxicity.
Yes. Sarcasm
Weather for tomorrow in Denver should be mild since it is a day game. Temps could get up to 67. Saturday is a night game and it will be cold, 43. Be glad they are not playing tomorrow’s game under the lights, it will be 30 tomorrow night. Yeah guys, it gets that cold here in May even. Sunday should be a balmy 61.
Nehamiah Persoff passed away today. 102 years young. You might not know him unless you saw him in a couple of movies. He was born in Jerusalem when Palestine was a British protectorate. He got the acting bug late in life. In the 50’s and 60’s he was very active on TV shows. Usually playing a bad guy of some sort. I remember him best from playing the bad guy in John Wayne’s, The Comancheros. RIP.
Dee Gordon back in the majors with the Nationals. He and Makail Franco informed they had made the team. Will be his 11th year in the bigs. Strasburg placed on the IL. Dodger roster not set yet. But if they cut anyone, it will be a pitcher. Still shows May and Bauer on the roster, but there are only 12 position players.
The 40 man is also set. Danny Duffy is on the 60 day, along with May and Nelson. Bauer is on administrative leave, so the list of 44 plays on MLB.com is correct. They just haven’t updated status for Bauer and Duffy yet.
Opening Day Roster…
Starting pitchers (6)
Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw, Julio Urías, Andrew Heaney, Tony Gonsolin, Tyler Anderson
Right-handed relief pitchers (6)
Craig Kimbrel, Blake Treinen, Daniel Hudson, Brusdar Graterol, Evan Phillips, Mitch White
Left-handed relief pitchers (4)
Alex Vesia, David Price, Justin Bruihl, Garrett Cleavinger
Catchers (2)
Will Smith, Austin Barnes
Infielders (7)
Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, Trea Turner, Justin Turner, Hanser Alberto, Edwin Ríos, Gavin Lux
Outfielders (3)
Mookie Betts, Cody Bellinger, Chris Taylor
Injured list (7)
Dustin May (60-day), Jimmy Nelson (60-day), Danny Duffy (60-day)
Phil Bickford, Tommy Kahnle, Caleb Ferguson, Victor Gonzalez
They sent Bickford to AAA.
Thanks for the correction. That’s good in case they need to call him up within 10 days, eh?
Yes it is.
Mostly because I’m bored, here’s the 40 man guys that didn’t make the roster…
Starting Pitchers
Trevor Bauer – SP – R Admin Leave
Danny Duffy – SP – L 60 Day IL
Andre Jackson – SP – R Minors
Dustin May – SP – R 60 Day IL
Relief Pitchers
Phil Bickford – R Minors
Caleb Ferguson – L 10 Day IL
Victor González – L 10 Day IL
Michael Grove – R Minors
Tommy Kahnle – R 10 Day IL
Jimmy Nelson – R 60 Day IL
Darien Núñez – L Minors
Infielders
Jacob Amaya – R
Eddys Leonard – R
Jorbit Vivas – L
Outfielders
Zach McKinstry – L
James Outman – L
Notable Non-Roster Invitees
Eddie Alvarez – S
Jake Lamb – L
Kevin Pillar – R
Death Pool – DFA / Trade candidates if/when Non-Rosters, 60 day IL, Administrative (Suspended) list players make the team…
1 – Jacob Amaya
2 – Darien Nunez
3 – Zach McKinstry
4 – Andrew Heaney
5 – Andre Jackson
6 – David Price
It’s really frustrating (to me) that the team has to keep Bauer on the 40 if he’s on administrative leave.
I wonder what the thinking is behind that….
Wait, I spoke too quickly.
According to the Google:
Administrative leave removes a player from the 40-man roster and onto the restricted list. It’s an agreement between MLB and the Players Association, usually for one week at a time. That’s the case here too, with Bauer’s leave extended through Saturday, March 19, per multiple reports.
Can someone smarter than I let me know if that’s correct?
Grrrrrr.
Actual documentation from MLB doesn’t even really address it.
http://content.mlb.com/documents/5/9/0/296982590/MiLB_DV_SA_CA_Policy_English_2018.pdf
If he’s still on the 40, that’s super frustrating.
If he’s not, it should be way easier to discern.
He doesn’t count against the 40-man roster while suspended or on administrative leave.
Thanks!
I don’t see including Jackson on your list of DFA/Trade candidates. I think the front office has some real hope for him to develop into a decent asset.
Amaya, Nunez and Zmac won’t be a problem if they need to be jettisoned. They would each be claimed off the waiver list.
Heaney and Price are a different story because of the size of the respective contracts. Much harder to get rid of unless we pay some team for the favor of removing them from our roster.
I struggled with Jackson, but he’s a trade candidate simply because there’s better options coming. He’s a bit of a toss up with Price, who won’t get you much in return and you may have to pay some of his salary down.
Jackson never had the prospect hype that Pepiot and Miller have, much less Gonsolin or May. With Bruns and Nastrini rising stars, I don’t see how Jackson is going to crack the rotation. I don’t think he’s considered higher on the list than Mitch White. Now we have a couple of former blue chippers in Fulmer and Burrows. Jackson is older than almost everyone mentioned here.
So, like you said Heaney and Price are much harder to get rid of, so if you want something back, Jackson might be expendable.
BTW, it was really hard to come up with a list at all. Pretty much all of these players would probably get picked up. When are we going to sign Upton?
What’s wrong with Victor Gonzalez?
Elbow soreness
Terminal Wildness.
Fake injury?
No, and he has been nails this spring losing weight and pounding the strike zone. Pitchers usually get some arm soreness in spring, Gonzalez is just experiencing a little late in spring. And he is on the 10 day IL. He Kahnle, and Ferguson could be back up before you know it.
McKinney made the A’s roster.
Just for grins….
Imagine the Dodgers SP rotation who for various reasons are NOT on the OD roster:
Bauer
May
Miller
Duffy
Jackson/White/Nelson/Pepiot/Knack… Who am I forgetting?
And there are a lot of good RPs in the wings.
And yet, and yet—
Will they really have enough depth?
Seems that all of us are excited about Miller for good reason. With his size and power and presece he reminds me a bit of Drysdale.
I don’t suppose there is any answer to the ?, WTF is Manfred and MLB doing about the Bauer situation? I guess Rob is content to sit back and scratch his ass while we don’t have the pitcher or the 40 million?
Is there something here that all the parties know about but the us chicken? How does Manfred get away with this and why are the Dodgers reluctance to make a stink about no decision? This leads me to believe something is up that we don’r know about.
The League has until the 16th. I wouldn’t expect anything before that.
30% of me thinks the Dodgers like having no responsibility of action.
I made that phrase up!
To answer your questions…
No
Dragging their feet as long as they can.
Yes
Yes
You answered your last question yourself and I agree.
They have to make this painful for Bauer so he can think twice about mouthing off about how bad the commissioner is. This is Manfred’s way of showing him who’s boss. I think Bauer’s lawsuit against The Athletic was a shot over the bow by Bauer to let Manfred know he’s serious about lawsuits. The Dodgers don’t want to make a big stink while leading MLB in payroll right after a lockout. The Dodgers want to be as quiet as possible to play the PR game.
Padres lose with Arizona scoring 4 in the 9th. The Braves lose to Cincinnati.