Fire Dave Roberts? Are You Crazy?

This article has 80 Comments

1. If pulling pitchers too early and overusing your bullpen is good, then Dave Roberts is the best.

   1. But it only costs them games in the playoffs?

      You gotta’ do better than that. That’s weak!

      1. That’s when he does it.

2. Once again I’ll go with AF’s evaluation of Roberts over yours. And my dad is to blame for my sweet disposition

3. Ok. So now we know that Roberts is a good manager and it is monumentally difficult to win a WS, and even if you win 111 games that is no guarantee, bla bla bla. Where I take exception is getting ambushed and humiliated in the first round by a team you dominated all season, and looking clueless and without strategy or inspiration.

   1. Cey had a great point the other day that going 2 months and not playing a meaningful game has an effect. Of course we had a lot of late meaningful games last year and that didn’t work out either. Now that I think about it, fire Roberts! It’s got to be his fault!

   2. … and we can see why that happened… which is why a lot of players are gone… including the beloved JT.

4. I don’t like Roberts and I’m entitled to my opinion.

   1. Of course. Just not your facts!

   2. Its all his fault because the players stopped hitting in October

      1. Right!

      2. And a good manager would have won 112 games last year!

         1. And he would have made those 112 games “meaningful”.

5. This is what the dodgers should do trade with Brewers and the dodgers get Christian Yulich which he can be your left fielder and Wily Adames at shortstop and you give Brewers Ryan Pepiot Outfielder Pages and shortstop the Almanya and dodgers are the stacked and you have Betts every day Freeman everyday Yulich every day and Lux stays at second base. Muncy can play thirs second DH and Vargas you can put him in Center field or Leftfield and you got Outman Heyward Taylor Barnes Thompson Martinez on the bench now that lineup would make sense and are pitching great.
   Betts. RF
   Addames SS
   Freeman 1B
   Smith C
   Yulich LF
   Martinez DH
   Muncy 3B
   Vargas CF
   Lux. 2B

   1. Timmons has more of a chance playing CF than Vargas!

      1. It would be fun to see Yelich in a Dodger uniform.

         1. 4 years ago maybe. His OPS the last couple of years is barely over .730. Sorry. He is not the player he once was. He is also 31 this year, and your trading those kids for this guy? Nope.. Reed DFA’d to make room for Martinez on the 40 man.

            1. You’re right. Not what he used to be. Hopefully he can get it back. He was a heck of a player once.

            2. Slim chance of that. He has been nowhere near that player since 19. Same year as Bellinger. Going to be 31 years old. His best years are behind him. Lack of power and contact makes it no deal for me. Only saving grace is that he does not strikeout much, but the need is not left field or another lefty with little power.

      2. Or put Thompson Taylor or Outman in center and muncy and Vargas play third when Muncy plays at second and lux then sits when that happens. You have Yelich and Heyward in Leftfield those three choices in center field and then Betts plays everyday in RF and when he doesn’t play you put Heyward in RF at 1B you have Freeman every day 2b lux Muncy and Taylor ss Addams and Lux Taylor 3b Muncy Vargas Taylor DH a bunch but usually JD or Muncy C Smith and Barnes. Then your bench is stacked with good bats to pinch hit.

         1. Yelich is not coming to LA. Period.

   2. Yelich is not the player he once was. He was abysmal the last couple of years. I am not trading any of those guys for a has been. Adames and Burnes are not going to be traded according to most reports. Amaya? Are you kidding me?? Milwaukee would laugh in the Dodgers face at that deal. Vargas in center??? He is not even a competent Left fielder. You need someone with speed in center. Smith in the four hole when you have Martinez as a DH? Sorry, Smith is a good hitter, but not anyone’s atypical four-hole hitter. That lineup you have there is very weak defensively.

6. Or you do nothing and the lineup looks like this
   Lux ss
   Betts rf
   Freeman 1B
   Smith C
   Muncy 2B
   Martinez DH
   Vargas 3B
   Heyward LF
   Outman CF

   Which lineup looks better the first one or this one if they do nothing the dodgers

   1. Smith is not going to hit 4th with Martinez there.

      1. Do you think Heyward can do something for the Dodgers?? Dodgers do have a real talent for getting the the last drops of greatness from players. I used to really like him.

         1. Injuries slowed him down the last two years. He is working out at Dodger stadium and working hard from all reports. Same with Vargas. If they can get some semblance of the player he was in 2020, they would be more than pleased. He had a OPS of .848 and an OPS plus of 129. He is a quality player when healthy. Power, speed and defense. With no expectations, he is in my mind a real sleeper who could contribute a lot to the offense, and bring solid defense to the team.

   2. Heyward comes with zero risk, but he should not be expected to make the team this year.
      He hit 204 last year with 1 HR in 137 at bats. His OPS the last two years was 627 and 556. These numbers are really poor, and maybe he can regain his hitting stroke, but it is a long shot.
      I would pencil in Taylor, Thompson and Outman to share LF and CF at this point with the possibility that Vargas or Busch may be able to play some in OF. In addition to Heyward, the Dodgers also have Duggar and Zimmer in spring training to possibly provide some CF defense.
      While the LF and CF positions are uncertain, hopefully two of the options can step up and provide stability this year. For perspective, however, last year the primary CF hit 210 and the primary LF hit 221, yet the Dodgers still won 111 games!

      1. He has been injured. He has the very same chance of making this team as anyone else, and he was solid in 2020 and 19. If he had been in decline for any other reason other than injury, you would have a point. Remember, a lot of people wrote Kemp off in 2018 and he was the one player who was consistent at the beginning of the year and a huge reason why they stayed close to the Rockies the first half. Do not count the guy out before he even plays a single game in spring. He has a career WAR of 38.7. Vargas is no outfielder, same as Lux is no outfielder. Why everyone keeps wanting to move the guy off of his best position is beyond me. They have more than enough outfielders to cover the season. Yeah, they won 111 games, and lost 3 of 4 when it counted the most.

         1. I am not counting out Heyward, but just being realistic. The Cubs are paying Heyward $22 million in 2023 and still released him. Heyward had knee inflammation last year, but mostly he just wasn’t good enough to play for the lowly Cubs. They tried to trade him to any team in the MLB and no one wanted to take any of his salary. Even the Dodgers only offered him a minor league contract. I hope Heyward turns it around and has a great year. But I consider that an unlikely scenario.
            I agree that the Dodgers have many LF/CF options on their current roster including Taylor, Outman, Thompson, Avans, Duggar, Zimmer, and Heyward. You are right that they probably don’t need to put Vargas or Busch in the outfield. The LF and CF positions last year only batted about 215 with a 660 OPS.
            This year’s LF/CF options should be able to perform better than last year.

            1. Well injuries do that. As it stands, of the non-roster guys they have signed, Duggar, Zimmer and Heyward, I believe Heyward has the best chance of even getting into a game at the major league level. He must believe it too or he never would have signed with the Dodgers.

7. The Dodgers hope to hit the lottery with one of these players, although all are very much long shots and have very little chance.:

   Jason Heyward
   Yonny Hernandez
   Steven Duggar
   Trayce Thompson (I don’t believe the mediocre stats he put up last year – can he come close to that again? – I have doubts)
   Bradley Zimmer

   If one of those players could find lightning in a bottle, it would be amazing, but the odds are better that all of them are gone than if one makes it.

8. Everyone’s already forgotten about the guy that you wrote about the other day.

9. It’s much harder to win 111 games than it is to win a World Series.

   Dave Roberts is fine.

   Players have to perform to win games, especially in the playoffs. They did not perform when they needed to win.

   Unless the Dodgers find a way of filling some obvious holes they will need to catch lightning in several bottles to win the NL West and win a World Series.

   Miguel Vargas will need to produce at a high level at third, somebody will need to step up in center field. Uncertainty makes people nervous. Gavin Lux will need to up his game.

   A lot of questions. How will they replace Trea Turner’s bat and ability to create run scoring opportunities? That’s a huge loss.

   Will they keep Trevor Bauer and if they do, how will the layoff impact him?

   Which other rookie or rookies will step up? Will Max Muncy’s bat bounce back?

   The strengths would appear to be the starting rotation and bullpen.

   The answers may come slowly. Again, if the Dodgers intend to stay under the tax threshold, can that actually be done? Unless they move Dollars in a trade, which player and contract would be on the move.

   We’ll soon know if the tax threshold is all that important. Probably not. Make more sense to try to reset the tax the following year. Everybody, well a whole lot of baseball writers and analysts seem to think the Dodgers are trying to reset the tax to set up a run for Shohei Ohtani. Are teams really anxious to spend $400 million on one player? Maybe we should view him as two star players. No question someone will step up, but will it be the Dodgers? Juan Soto is likely to be out there. Which player would make the most sense? Probably the one who can pitch and hit.

   If Ohtani could be a difference maker and put the Dodgers into position to win two or three World Series, wouldn’t it make sense to offer a 15 year contract at $30 million plus. Of course that’s crazy, but we live in crazy times.

   1. Those would be an ugly last 5-6 years until age 45! No thanks! He and Trout couldn’t even get the Angels in the playoffs. The key is to keep developing good young pitching.

   2. Although Ohtani is a generational talent, no one player, even one with Ohtani’s skills, is going to make the Dodgers a World Series favorite. Oh he makes the rotation better, and he solidifies the DH spot. But we are talking about 2024 when we should be thinking 2023. In 24, Buehler will be back, Urias will be in his walk year, May, Gonsolin, Stone, Miller, all will be a year older and more experienced. Will they even need him in that role? He can’t play third, short or second, nor is he a CF. Fix the holes first. They need to find both talented prospects at several everyday positions, or trade for those kinds of players. Blowing all that money on Ohtani guarantees them nada. Is Vargas good enough to hold down third every day? Will Lux finally become the talent they saw when they drafted him? Can he be an everyday SS in the majors? They have four positions this year that are solid and we all know will contribute. Freeman at first, Mookie in right, Smith behind the plate with a solid backup in Barnes, and DH with Martinez there most days. They have more than enough prospect capital to pry someone away from another team. But then, how high a price to you want to pay for say Reynolds? Or a Burnes- Adames package? They are filling holes this year with guys who have played at the MLB level, but not necessarily with a lot of success save for Heyward. They did the same thing a couple of years ago when we had McKinney and the likes of him. Raley, Reks, those guys brought basically nothing to the table. I would rather have Beatty back. He at least did some damage when he was at the plate. Lux should be fine with the bat, but everyone worries about his defense at short. Thompson, Outman, and Taylor are all good defensively. The offense one might get from all of them is suspect. Taylor gets a pass because of his many injuries and setbacks last season, but his main value is as a utility player. He is not an everyday outfielder or shortstop. Thompson was decent with the bat and provided some offense occasionally. His defense is very good. Outman is a wild card. Only time will tell if he can handle consistent play in the majors. Muncy is now a year and a half removed from his injury. Is he healthy enough to become the Muncy of 2019 and 21 again? We will see in spring. Busch will get some playing time. We will no doubt see Cartaya, Pages, and a few other non-roster kids come spring. But Ohtani? I think that he is an oversized pipe dream. Oh yeah one other thing, you used the word if. Yep if, and the chances he would make a difference are slim.

      1. Sometimes one player is all it takes to make even a poor roster perform above the expectations. Fernando, Manny and even Betts sparked Dodgers a mark or two to make a major impact of how other players on the team stepped up. I think the youth joining from our farm is gonna spark some vitality within the club and tasting the blood of success is bigger than the the wish lists of expensive FA talent Dodgers passed on. I’m really glad Dodgers avoided the likely poison of several FAs would of brought. Do you really think Correa would be a better fit than Bauer? It may be hard to like Bauer but its easy to despise Carlos Correa. I can’t imagine any Dodger feeling any different.

10. You can call me Robert but I have been known by plenty of nicknames. Brooklyn to The Catskills to Cincinnati and home in Denver
    Mark what you created here is a dodger blue lifeline of true DODGER FANS. So I wish us all a healthy year and watch the Dodger’s bring up the farm and let the kids play too! I think AF is smarter than me. High integrity signings Betts and Freeman and the rest of the gang! Next up!
    I am a therapist and the issue with Bauer is that we could easily keep him under one condition that HE OWNS THAT HE PUT HIS SEX LIFE IN FRONT OF 500 MILLION PEOPLE. OOPS! iF THE GUY HAD ENOUGH PERSONAL STRENGTH TO TAKE HIS OWNERSHIP AND CONTRIBUTION IN THE ROLE IN HIS MESS THAT WE HAD TO WITNESS.
    iF HE WAS WILLING TO DO THAT THEN I CAN EASILY TAKE HIM BACK AND RALLY AROUND THE FLAG!
    i THINK THIS WILL BE A GREAT YEAR
    SEE YOU IN SPRING TRAIING

    1. Welcome Robert. I agree with what you say about Bauer. I hope you have a great new year too. I live in Canon City, but am a native of Los Angeles.

11. Cassidy, you can’t compare the Dodgers with the Angels. Maybe Ohtani would put the Dodgers over the top. Maybe he’s the difference maker. Of course, the key is to keep developing young pitchers and hitters. That’s always been the key. It allows the Dodgers to take risks.

    But why does it matter if the Dodgers do something long term that doesn’t make sense in the final four or five years as long as they win big in between? Maybe it’s a big win for the team in other ways like merchandising and sponsorship. The focus here is always on players, payroll and the farm system. But the Dodgers are brilliant in terms of marketing and revenue generation.

    Look at it another way, we’re not going to live forever. Do we really care about the last years of a long term contract? We’re also talking about the team with the highest revenues in baseball and the organization continues to push those revenues higher.

    1. Serious doubt as to, with the collapse of the RSN market, those revenues will have as much upward pressure as your final sentence implies, sbuffalo.

       1. Pet peeve if mine: the liberal use of abbreviations or acronyms under the assumption that they are common knowledge.

          I don’t know what RSN means …regional sports network? (I had to look it up)

12. IF Ohtani wants to leave the Angels & would consider signing an extension with the Dodgers, make a trade & get him now.

    1. Angel fans would go bat shit ballistic. No way the Angels would trade him to the Dodgers.

13. The expanded playoffs and free agency destroyed baseball. That’s not a joke I’m serious.

    1. I disagree. Free agency allowed players to get out from under a system that basically did not allow them to change jobs if they were unhappy. That is close to slavery. As for the expanded playoff system, with the number of teams now in the majors, there was no way the old system was fair or a viable option. The more teams who have a chance to make the playoffs, the higher the interest level. With the money being paid to players today, you can forget about many stars staying with their original teams. They used to be paid low wages. Now they are paid for their entertainment value, just like movie stars.

       1. Slavery? They got paid plenty of money before free agency. You seriously think people who play sports should get paid the outragious amount of money they get now.

          I couldn’t care less about the higher interest in baseball if there is higher interest or any other sport and they shouldn’t have made more teams.

          Everything you said destroyed baseball.

          ” With the money being paid to players today, you can forget about many stars staying with their original teams.”

          That was my point and that destroyed baseball along with the expanded playoffs.

          1. Better slow your roll there kid. How old are you? Ballplayers did not make any serious money before free agency. They were tied to a team no matter what. Their pay could be cut and there was always someone there who would play for less. There was a time when those guys had to have off season jobs. Duke Snider, a hall of famer, never made more than 44,000 in a season. Not peanuts for sure, but not living like a king either. He had to have outside income. The slavery part is simply because they could not go somewhere else for higher pay. You can quit your job if you do not like it, they deserve the same consideration. Baseball is ruined is your opinion. Attendance is very high. There were 16 teams back in the day and 30 now. Time rolls on. Progress made the game grow. Cities who never would have had baseball except minor league teams now have major league teams. Why should the game simply be restricted to 16 cities. And even then one city, New York, had three teams. St Louis had two. As for their salaries, considering how the owners used to screw them regularly, good for them. Should they make those huge amounts of money? That is what the industry dictates. Especially if you are the elite. Koufax would be making 45 mil a year plus if he was pitching today and he never made more than 125 thousand, And he only made that once. Your entitled to your opinion no matter what, but your facts are skewed. They live in big houses now, but back in the day, they lived in the neighborhood just like regular folks. The Sherry brothers lived on my block in the early sixties in nice but modest homes.

             1. $44,000 in Duke Snider’s days was good money. If they worked a 2nd job then they were stupid with there money.

                Why are you talking about the 40’s and 50’s. There were 24 teams when free agency started.

                Your reference about New York having 3 teams and St Louis 2 teams was fixed and again you’re talking about way before free agency.

                And when I say expanded playoffs I mean the wild cards. It used to be the best teams in there divisions only got to the playoffs. Now some shitty team can win the world series.

             2. Go look at the average income in Duke Snider’s days 1955 for example, he made 13 times the average income.

             3. I remember when I was in elementary school in Garden Grove. We had some sort of school fair and had the gym all opened up for booths with games and food and whatnot. Somehow we managed to have Bobby Grich come as a guest. He came, chatted, signed autographs. I remember he kissed Shelli Jacobson on the cheek, which made me jealous. I remember he said when asked what made him decide to become a professional baseball player, “I saw how much money they made.”

                When Grich was coming up this was before Curt Flood and free agency. Overall, I think free agency and the ability of a player to negotiate his own contract is a good thing, but let’s not say that baseball players were destitute and had to work second jobs in the coal mines to survive, or that they were “slaves.” That’s ridiculously hyperbolic – and incorrect.

                Players were signed by a particular team that owned to the rights to their services for their entire career, but the players still initially signed a contract. They had a choice. All that arrangement really did was limit a player’s choices on where to play and who to play for. Mookie Betts signed a contract with the Dodgers for 10 years. Can he just decide tomorrow that, “meh! I don’t really feel like playing for the Dodgers for 2023. I think I’ll sign and play for the Yankees?” Can he do that? Of course not. Does that mean he’s a slave?

                All Curt Flood really did was shift ultimate power a bit away from ownership and towards the players – and the player’s union. Players have more options. They get paid more in line with what their actual value is. It’s obscene, but baseball brings in a lot of money from people who pay to watch these players play, so it’s fair.

                And just because you have literally half of the entire league eligible to win a World Series does not necessarily make it more fair. I think this nullifies the excellence put on display over the course of a long and often grueling season.

             4. Yeah 44,000 was good money. But that was 10 years into his career. Prior to that he was not making that much. Players were treated like serfs for years. It took them a long time before they were even able to make 5 figures and then only the stars were making that much money. Get real kid. The reserve clause tied players to their teams until the TEAM decided to cut them loose. They had no other options. The players who jumped to the Federal league in the teens and the players who jumped to the Mexican League in the late forties, all were banned and waited a couple years before MLB let them back. It was a monopoly that finally was broken by free agency. That it has ruined the game is pure bullshit and your opinion only. A shitty team? You still have to win to get there. The Padres were not a shitty team. Neither were the Phillies or the Astros. Were they the best team in the league? No, but they beat the best to get where they got. Everyone centers on the Dodgers because they had OWNED the Padres all year. But the Mets flamed out against the Padres too. So they beat two 100 win teams to get to the NLCS. At that point in time, they were better than the Dodgers. It is more about how hot you are at that point than about how good you are. I have seen teams in the series when that was the only playoff, where the best team did not win. Get over it. You are dead wrong. And you Patch, totally missed the point of the slave reference. It was referring to when the reserve clause tied them to one team until the team decided they were through with them.

             5. “And you Patch, totally missed the point of the slave reference. It was referring to when the reserve clause tied them to one team until the team decided they were through with them.”

                No, I didn’t. I know exactly what the reserve clause was and I understood the point you were making. I just thought your point in referring to the practice as “slavery” was “ridiculously hyperbolic.” I took great pains to give context, explain why I thought it was incorrect, and provided a modern example.

                Is Mookie Betts a slave because he is obligated to play for the Dodgers in 2023? Yes or no?

                Ok fine! We’ll compromise. How ’bout we just call it indentured servitude?

          2. “It is more about how hot you are at that point than about how good you are.”

             That’s a point I made. A shitty team during the regular season could get hot in the playoffs and win it all.

             Again go look at the average income for whatever time you’re talking about and you’ll see baseball players always made a lot more.

             By the way the Padres bought their way into the playoffs. The point I made about too many teams making it to the playoffs.

    2. It’s destroyed!?!?

       Why didn’t anyone tell Mark! He could have shut down this blog.

       Real shame that players can make what they are worth.

       1. They’re worth multi millions per year and guaranteed through the contract’s length? Wow don’t know how you can say that. Do you like paying outragious prices for tickets and food/drinks at the games? because you’re paying for those outrageous salaries.

          1. And as long as the fans keep coming, the salaries and ticket prices will continue to climb. The is the simple economic truth of the state of the game today. You want the prices to come down and the salaries to go lower? Boycott. If you can get 80 million fans to go along with it, you might just be successful. Fat chance of that.

          2. Trust the market, don’t trust your intuition.

          3. “They’re worth multi millions per year and guaranteed through the contract’s length?”

             YES!!!!

             It’s called supply and demand.

             A very good baseball player has a very special skill that is in very high demand. The skill they put on display generates billions, and there are very very few people on the planet that have their skill, so there’s not really an easy replacement. They are paid for their value.

             What are you, a commie?

14. As for Roberts, who this particular post is all about, I have never felt he was a very good in game tactician and manager. And although he has made some very questionable moves in post season and sometimes during the season, you cannot ignore the fact that his teams consistently win. That in and of itself takes leadership. He has done something no other Dodger manager has ever done, his teams have won 100 or more four times. They won 217 games in the last two seasons and lost 107. Alston’s teams won 100 once, same with Lasorda. Dave has a different managerial style than either of them. Alston led by sheer will, Lasorda with praise when needed and a firm cussword when that was needed. All of them have made post-season decisions that cost them crucial games. Alston bringing in Williams in the 9th inning against the Giants in 62. Lasorda pitching to Jack Clark. He just signed an extension, I doubt very seriously, no matter how many fans bitch about him, that he is going anywhere anytime soon.

15. Happy 83rd birthday to Sandy Koufax. The best pitcher I have ever seen in my lifetime.

    1. He is 87 today….Happy birthday Sandy!!!

       1. My bad, misread the date.

          1. Maybe you’re one of those 5 out of 4 people who are bad at math. :-0

             1. Nope, just reading comprehension,

16. You are the Clown when you deliberately misquote me!

    I said: I think it is about time people realized that being a good manager and having a good record in no way is connected with winning a World Series.

    Get the quote right, you stupid Moron! THAT IS NOT WHAT I SAID!

    Your argument is so pathetic that you have to resort to mis-quoting what I say.

17. Dave Roberts, the Rodney Dangerfield of mlb managers. At least with some fans. Evidently management feels differently. But of course AF

    1. Dave Roberts is the Don Mattingly of MLB managers.

18. I think Eric summed it all up:

    And when I say expanded playoffs I mean the wild cards. It used to be the best teams in there divisions only got to the playoffs. Now some shitty team can win the world series.

    Back in the day, there was a 50/50 chance the best team would win the World Series.

    Eric summed it up and his statement says “shut up. There is no argument!”

    1. Thank you Mark.

    2. You know better Mark. Two teams making the series out of 30? Not happening. When there were 8 teams in each league, that was an option. Two 15 team leagues? That won’t ever happen either.

19. Unless the Dodgers find a way of filling some obvious holes they will need to catch lightning in several bottles to win the NL West and win a World Series.

    What holes? Didn’t they already fill them? It’s almost like the entire baseball world is okay when a team makes room for a top prospect, but somehow that changes with the Dodgers?

    We let go of three bats from last year’s team. A SS that had an 809 OPS. A 38 year old Third Baseman that OPS’d 788 and a Center Fielder that OPS’d 654. Those are not overwhelming numbers especially when the best was a shortstop that’s not an excellent defender.

    They replaced the offense lost from Trea Turner with JD Martinez counting on a bounce-back year. Doesn’t that seem reasonable enough?

    They’re replacing an old, slow JT with the best third base prospect they’ve had in years. Doesn’t that also seems pretty reasonable?

    Belli set an incredibly low bar on offense from CF the last couple of seasons. They’re replacing him with a Center Field prospect that hit as good in AAA last year as Belli did when he broke into the league. This all looks very reasonable to me. What am I missing?

    On top of that, they have other rookies that could make it to the bigs in Amaya, Busch and Pages. It seems all very reasonable to go with a youth movement at this place and time since they have one of the top two minor league systems in baseball that seems very heavy on position players that are close to the big leagues.

    I don’t believe the anti-hype. This is a very good team and it’s pretty easy to see why they did what they did this offseason.

    1. I’m ok with this, but also don’t expect this team to win 111 games, either. The Padres are spending stupid money to buy success about as desperately as the Mets are, and, ya know, it might work.

       I think a prediction that the Dodgers win 90-95 games is a reasonable one. They might not even win the division. That also won’t be the end of the world.

       Even if the Dodgers start slow, Vargas is mired in a slump, our weak-on-paper outfield manifests as a weak-on-the-field squad and Lux has that deer-in-headlight look that Mark has some supernatural ability to detect, AF will still probably swing a trade deadline deal to shore up whatever is ailing the team.

       1. I wouldn’t expect 111 wins from the same exact team. It was fun, a championship is funner.

    2. Excellent analysis BP.
       Dodgers have reasonable replacements for TT, JT, and Belli.
       And two players who underperformed last year, Muncy and Taylor, are expected to bounce back from disappointing seasons. If they do not bounce back, then Dodgers have options like Thompson, Busch, Pages, and Amaya to replace them.
       And Friedman will have ability to make mid-season moves to strengthen the team as well.
       At this time, the Dodgers have the fourth best odds to win WS per MGM, behind Astros, Yankees, and Mets. The Padres and Braves are just behind the Dodgers. For the first time in 5 years, it looks like the Dodgers will not start the season as the NL favorite. But they are a slight favorite to win the division. It will be a challenge win the division and make the playoffs this year, but that may make it more entertaining as well.
       Happy New Year to All!

20. My theory on the dodgers if they stay with what they got it won’t be good enough and they will need to make a trade for a consistent player then rely on three rookies to be in the lineup. They either need Reynolds from the Pirates or Addames from the Brewers or O’Neil from the Cardinals to make this team a legit world series contender and have a solid lineup. We all know lux gets back problems Betts gets back problems Taylor gets hurt to. They need another everyday outfielder and then Outman starts some days and maybe he does shine. But if he doesn’t and Vargas doesn’t and everyone says Heyward is done that’s to many ifs I think so they need another player that people go wow they got him.

21. I believe this year will especially showcase Dave Robert’s talents. Navigating Trevor Bauer, the new rules, all the young kids getting their chance and trying to meet the high expectations of all the loyal Dodger fans.
    If he is able to lead that mix of players in the club house well it should be another exciting Dodger season. The potential is real. A train wreck possible. Doubtful but possible. Injuries can derail even the best of teams. Just look what happened to Max a couple of years ago.
    Thank you all for making LA Dodger Talk so much fun to read every day. Totally enjoy the give and take. The perspective of the older guys is truly priceless.
    Thanks Mark, Bear, BP and all the poster’s for your great writing.
    Go Blue!

22. Interesting thread, touches on many issues. I grew up with Sandy, Big D, and Vin, and a culture that I really miss. Of course, the owners controlled the players and took advantage of them, as often as possible. Fortunately that was fixed, but like almost everything in today’s society, it’s gone too far, completely over the top. It’s pretty telling, when the top players are setting up foundations for tax purposes. We all love baseball, that’s why we’re on this forum, so I’ll stay with that, and resist the urge to go off topic. Because if I did, you would quickly know how disappointed this almost 77 year old is, with our nation’s culture and lack of moral and truthful values. Hopefully “honor” won’t be redefined as so much of our language already has been. I should probably stop now, but would like to weigh in on Coach Roberts. I’ve never met the man, but he seems to be a nice guy. His coaching ability, in my opinion, is weak. It is easily visible to anyone knowledgeable with the game. As I have observed many times over the years, his important game time decisions are not only often wrong, and hurt the team … the most problematic is his indecisiveness. He often waits too long, and then it’s too late. I realize that he’s not going anywhere soon, just wish he’d get back to the basics, excellence in the fundamentals, on which the momentum and outcome almost always rest.

    1. I also miss the days when the Dodgers were more like a member of the family than just LA’s baseball team. Although some players, Kersh, JT, Taylor and others, are heavy into community work, there are those who take the other route. I have little problem with a player getting what he can for salary. For so many years it was not that way. But as you stated, they system has gotten out of control. Many ask why a player needs that much money. But few would turn down the chance to make that kind of money themselves. One thing is for sure, the buck does not go as far as it used to. Especially for those who are on set incomes. My main connection with baseball used to be through newspapers and going to as many games as I could during the season. I can no longer afford the latter. That is why I have a subscription to MLB.TV. I can now watch all Dodger games in the comfort of my own living room. Back in the day, we got 11 a year. I wish for the good old USA also. But I doubt we get anywhere close to that old gal in my lifetime I have left.

23. Dave Roberts is a very very good manager.

    Take the fate JGiradi went thru. Fired after a 12-29 start but the Phiilies with bench coach RTompson promoted to interim manager went to the World Series. Does JGirardi is a bad manager? Not exactly. Girardi had a closer who blew a lot of games. JGirardi had a problems with starting rotation. Had a young 3B who begun the season wit yipps. Had power hitters under performing badly. Sounds familiar??

    Happy New Year!

24. I just read on ESPN that 10 MLB umpires are retiring at the end of the month. Seven of them are crew chiefs including, Ted Barrett, Greg Gibson, Tom Hallion, Sam Holbrook, Jerry Meals, Jim Reynolds, and Bill Welke. Also retiring are Marty Foster, Bill Nauert and Tim Timmons. That is a lot of experience. Too bad Angel Hernandez is not one of them. He is by far the worst umpire in the majors. I always felt that Barrett and Reynolds were two of the best. MLB plans on hiring replacements, but the first female ump will have to wait.

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