It’s Time to Let the Kids Play

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1. Good stuff Mark. I am ok with them getting some of the kids playing time. I do not think Lux can be an everyday SS either. I saw the same things you did when he did play there. Taylor would be a better option at SS than Lux. MLBTR reporting that the Dodgers have a lot of interest in Rodon, but I don’t see him coming to LA. Cubs and Giants both have a lot of interest in Bellinger.

   1. You will read a lot of stuff connecting the Dodgers to many free agents.

      Believe none of what you read and half of what you see! 😉 Really, I am serious. AF will make it look like he is in on players, but don;t believe most of it!

      I think AF may have moved on from Bellinger and may not even give him an offer.

2. What’s the biggest need? Mark, what is your current call on Busch. Is he an just an average big league bat or more, and where does he play?

   1. SS and another contact hitter.

      Bogaerts, Outman, Boegarts, Benentendi and Vargas replace the Turners, Gallo, Bellinger.

      Benintendi, Bogaerts, and Vargas are great bat-to-ball guys who strike out at a much lower rate. They are spread throughout the lineup and should make the lineup even more potent.

      If they need pitching, pick it up at the deadline.

      1. Mark you have absolutely nailed things as I see them.

         Get the bat to call guys in, play the kids, see where we are at the TD.

         Poor game at the World Cup. You were much better than us, but a draw as predicted.

3. Great post Mark. You need to forward it to AF. I am more than ready for an infusion of youth. I don’t even care if we win the division. Just make the playoffs and take our chances.

4. Boys

5. Like your thinking MT, but I just hope we make a very serious push to resign TT. I could definitely live with Bogaerts and I’m slowly warming up to the possibility of Correa but would definitely prefer TT. Hopefully Bauer issue gets resolved VERY soon and wouldn’t mind at all if he came back. Great work by Bear, Evan, B&P and yourself!!

   Viva Azul

   1. Xander and Correa are both Boras clients, there is never an aav large enough or a contract long enough

6. Boys in blue played pretty well today Watford. You guys looked in snooze control today. If we can’t beat Iran on Tuesday then we don’t deserve to go on. US needs a great finisher at forward to compete at top level. What would it take to trade for Cain? Ha ha

7. There is no possible way that I see a 33 year old CT3 at short unless it’s for resting the everyday guy. I know he came up with the Mariners as a SS. He is an adequate SS with a pedestrian .960 fielding % there. I really hate his 40% strike out rate. I would like to see a replacement with much better contact as part of a movement to improve contact throughout the non-meat of the order line up.
   I’d still like TT back but we’ll see. 5 years max at 30 million per? Too much.
   Bogaerts, at 30 is the best available SS, as a total package, slightly ahead of Correa, by a whisker. I think Boston will resign him. Correa at 28 is more attractive but will take 30 million a year for 5 to 7 years, same as Turner.
   Amaya would be my pick if AF chooses to not shell out 30 million a year deal. MLB ready as a defender but with questions about his bat. At 24 he needs a shot or moved in a trade. He is a .258/.762 guy in MiLB so he’s not awful. Give him some time and left him get comfortable at the MLB level. It’s not like we didn’t carry .200 hitters last year with huge strikeout totals. Amaya strikes out at a useful 23%.
   I would give Amaya the shot and save my 30 million to be spend elsewhere if it wasn’t Trea.

   1. Phil, I think you’re way low on your numbers for TT and Correa. I really think they won’t have much problem each getting a package between 275-325 million. Although most teams won’t be anxious to give them more than 5-6 years, they’ll both get closer to 8-10 years, IMHO.

      At some point we’ll have those numbers and you can call me on it if I’m wrong. It wouldn’t be the first time.

8. I like your lineup, Mark.

   Only one problem, you have Trayce and Outman platooning in center when both hit righties better than lefties last year. Trayce has never hit lefties well. He just happened to figure out how to hit righties last year. Just don’t see that platoon making sense.

   Although I don’t know how well he can cover centerfield any more, maybe Pillar would be a good platoon partner. His career numbers against southpaws are good.

   1. Trayce has never done that before. Probably not again.

9. Did AF non tender B&P as well as Bellinger?

10. Mark’s proposed lineup here would be very good. MLBTR has Bogaerts at $27 mill x 7 yrs and Benitendi at $13.5 mill for 4 yrs. Both reasonable amounts for two good players. Also, it would leave a very solid bench that could provide depth in case of injuries or rookie struggles.
    While the Dodgers farm system is consistently highly rated, other teams like the Braves seem to produce, play and retain more quality MLB players. Recent brave homegrown players include Michael Harris, Strider, Riley, Acuna, Albies, Swanson, Anderson, Wright, Soroka, Fried, and Grissom. A lot of great young players, and many have already been locked up in contracts. Maybe one of the biggest Dodger losses was when Alex Anthopolous left the team.

    1. You also need to remember the #1 factor in obtaining those players: Where the Braves drafted!

11. It’s funny, but I’m reading the latest Jack Reacher novel, “No Plan B.”

    I just listened to a breakdown of FA shortstops on the MLB radio network. They had Correa a clear number one, Trea two, Xander three and Dansby well back at a distance 4.

    Obviously, I really like Trea. Just fun to watch play. Talked with others who regularly attend Dodger games who feel the same way. He creates buzz at the stadium and the Dodgers need players who are exciting and have flash.

    Okay, that said, analysts are beginning to convince me that Correa is an impact player. A big game player. So if your goal is to land an impact player who can put the Dodgers into a better position in the playoffs, then sign him. Yes, it’s going to cost. But this is LA, not Kansas City.

    At the same time, I like the idea of adding Andrew Benintendi and letting the kids play. The pitching looks good and I’m anxious to see the young pitchers. There is some risk, but there are no guarantees that signing a Verlander or DeGrom will put the Dodgers over the top.

    I do believe Outman could be a starter, but he needs that chance. I like Vargas, but I also believe Justin Turner comes back.

    While I think the Dodgers go young, I can also see them going in on an impact player. I would settle for Trea or Correa, especially for a five to seven year deal. But will that get it done?

    As to Molly Knight, she wrote what she wrote and it reflects her opinion. Sorry, but I’m okay with reading different opinions whether I agree or not. If it offends you, too bad, move on. Why are we as a society so sensitive about everything?

12. What will take to trade for Tyler Glasnow & Wander Franco?

    1. Busch, Vargas, Miller, Stone, Pepiot, and Cartaya!

       At least…

       1. That’s all with the witness.

13. Bait and switch!
    The headline says, “Let the Kids Play”…. but the gist of argument is to sign two veterans, Bogaerts and Benintendi. (If we sign Jackie Bradley for CF, we can get an older version of Boston’s Killer Bs!)
    Adding Bogaerts and Benitendi could work. This strikes me as a fairly conservative approach. Not sure it’s bold enough to counter what the Padres have created and what SF could be if they indeed land Judge. (Seriously, a Giants OF of Judge, Belli and Joc is a possibility! Yaz could platoon with Joc.)
    A bolder FA move would be Correa + Yoshida.
    Fans hold grudges against Correa, but when do we turn the page? Juan Freaking Marichal came to the Dodgers and was later a pallbearer at Roseboro’s funeral. Perhaps Correa’s competitive fire is what these Dodgers need.
    With Yoshida, the risk is whether his extraordinary on-base game will translate to the US. Many Asian veterans have come over and become all-stars–and some have flopped. These days Dodgers fans get excited about guys who walk a little bit more or less than they strike out. Yoshida in recent years has about a 2:1 BB to K ratio. Career OBP over .400 and BA over .300. If Yoshida flops, this could be fixed at the trade deadline.
    Whatever mix of these players (and others) might become Dodgers, AF & Associates may have to do more to counter the Padres and Giants. So in the end I could imagine AF bringing in a marquee SP like Verlander or deGrom. (Reportedly interested in Rodon too.) Better still could be a blockbuster for Burnes.
    A true “kid’s play” lineup, with zero FAs or trades, might look like this:
    Betts RF
    Lux SS (his “kid” position)
    Freeman 1B
    Smith C
    Muncy DH
    Vargas 3B (I share Mark’s optimism)
    Outman CF
    Busch 2B
    Trayce LF

    I positioned Busch to separate the high K rates of Outman and Trayce. The “kids play” team also features Amaya as a glove-first UT guy who might supplant Lux at SS, and Stone/Miller/Grove/Pepiot on the pitching staff. Max is DH but also fills in at 3B, 2B, 1B as needed. This would be a competitive team, I think, but a lot would ride on the kids…which is the whole point.
    The Correa/Yoshida scheme:

    Betts RF
    Yoshida LF
    Freeman 1B
    Correa SS
    Muncy DH
    Smith C
    Lux 2B
    Vargas 3B
    Outman/Trayce CF

    It’s true that Outman and Trayce both hit righties better than lefties, so it’s not an ideal platoon. They are both feast-or-famine hitters, but with this lineup we might have only the 9th slot open for those kind of guys.

    1. Platooning Yaz with Joc is probably less than optimal since he also bats lefty and has a .227 lifetime average against southpaws.

       Placing Busch between Trayce and Outman gives us the same type of black hole/strike out situation we had at the end of the lineup this past season. Busch struck out 167 times this year, and that was in the minors.

       I like your Correa/Yoshida lineup and, if need be, Bogaerts could probably be inserted into Correa’s spot if he goes elsewhere.

       1. Yep, Bogaerts could be the answer.
          Not sure of Giants DH situation; maybe Joc fits there.
          It will interesting to follow Yoshida. Not a huge talent like Ichiro, but a similar game. Seemed to me a perfect fit for the Angels–until the Renfro trade.
          Angels’ starting OF/DH now locked up with Trout, Renfro, Ward, Ohtani. Pretty darn good for a team that should also have Rendon at 3B and Urshela and Jerrod Walsh too. Jo Adell becomes trade bait.
          Yeah, we Dodger fans don’t have Belli to complain about now… and so we need another outfielder.

14. Turner is #1 because he is by far the best athlete currently. Age is close on all of them with Turner as the second oldest behind Xander. Yet he is by far the better athlete and the others will never meet or exceed. Dansby is the best defender currently but no history on offense., Xander has no more than a year or two left at SS then to third that’s what the Boston people say. Correa has a history of injury and size of SS is the greatest risk to longevity. If the go for a big 4 SS Trea is it. His speed is aging well, he is the fastest SS and still at the top of the league. The new base running and pick off rules will allow him to steal 40-50 bases if the analytics guys run him. He will be a greater value going forward. He unlike others is priced at a value since his offense and defense were slightly off this year, changing position for the second year in a row. If they sign any of them it will be Swanson because he will be cheaper and will be at SS for longer than the others looking at talent, size, and age.

15. I’ve been comparing Yoshida to Ichiro–but former MLB outfielders Adam Jones and Stefan Romero (recently a Dodger) liken to another star.
    From The Athletic:

    In no time, Yoshida reminded Jones of another MVP-caliber player.

    “I say he’s like the Japanese Juan Soto,” Jones said.

    Jones — who was teammates with Yoshida in 2020 and 2021 — didn’t mean Yoshida is going to become Soto in the United States. It was just that, in Japan, Yoshida’s style and method for mashing resembled Soto’s approach.

    “He can hit the ball to all fields, all speeds,” Jones said. “Like Juan Soto, he hits everything — and walks; he doesn’t swing out of the zone.”

    The high praise is warranted, according to others who have seen Yoshida play, such as former Orix outfielder Stefen Romero.

    “That’s very spot on,” said Romero, a current MLB free agent who had a .828 OPS over five seasons in NPB. “Especially with strike zone awareness, plate discipline, knowing the strike zone, knowing what pitches he personally can do damage with. I can see the comparison of that being very true.

    “From a left-handed perspective, his swing is probably by far the prettiest swing I’ve ever seen.”

    Yoshida made his NPB debut with the Buffaloes in 2016 and immediately produced. Over the last five years, he has never finished a season with an OPS below .950. In 2022, he played in 119 games, hit 21 home runs and slashed .335/.447/.561.

    “His consistency was just unreal,” Romero said. “He’s a contact hitter first and foremost. He puts the ball in play. He’s very, very clutch. When you need a hit or you need to drive somebody in, he comes up in those situations. He doesn’t apply pressure to himself. Pitchers felt that presence and made mistakes. And he rarely misses a mistake. In a very crucial situation in front of 30,000 and 40,000 fans in Japan, he would always come through and I feel like that will transition very well here in the United States.”

    Works for me….

16. As for SS, Juan Toribio in MLB.com suggests a deal for the Brewers’ Willy Adames “makes too much sense. ”
    We all remember Adames as the guy Urias struck out to win the Series. The Rays traded him to make room for Wander Franco and he has thrived in Milwaukee. Not a star like the four FAs, but he hit 31 HRs and drove in 98 from a .756 OPS. A lot of Ks–166 to 49 walks–but productive. If AF decides against spending huge money on an SS and that Lux really isn’t the answer, the Brewers might deal.
    How much for Burnes + Adames?
    Miller, Rushing, Busch, Amaya, Grove…???

17. I like this plan alot! And an fyi, the Dodgers picked up 4 or 5 shortstops in the last draft. They only need one of them to pan out in the next 3-5 yrs, maybe others get moved to other positions.

18. I think by Mid-Next Week a few shoes will drop and then it will be GAME ON!

19. Mark, I don’t comment often but I have to say I like your proposed line-up the best of any of the hundreds I have seen so far. It makes sense at every position. I also agree with your points about starting pitching. Pepiot would have been a solid start and most of the other teams last year. You hope that a year of experience at the MLB level will may it easier for him to adjust and fine tune. We do have a whole bunch of arms to fill the bullpen.

20. Pirates signed Carlos Santana. Now they have a lead guitarist….whoops, wrong Santana. Pirates have acquired 3 players in the last couple of weeks whose primary position is first base. All quiet on the Dodger front, but I expected that. AF is very closed mouth about his plans.

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