You know what? So do I! There are rumors that Bobby Miller, Ryan Pepiot, and Andy Pages are being discussed. If the Dodgers want Reynolds, that is what it would likely take.
For the record, I would make that trade. Here’s why:
Miller may be Nolan Ryan, or he could be a bust (he has the talent, but you never know).
Pepiot will not be Top Tier Starter, but he could be a nice #4 or #5. He might be a stud in the pen.
Pages is at least a year (maybe two) away and he could be very good… or not.
To get a player of Reynold’s stature is going to take Miller, Pepiot, and Pages.
Maybe Friedman is more of a believer in the trio the Dodgers would have to trade.
I would rather do Miller, Pepiot, and Busch… and for the record, on the record, I would do that!
Reynolds would play CF (even though he is not an Elite CFer, positioning may make him better – the Pirates don’t spend money on stuff like that).
Take a moment and look at this lineup:
- Betts RF (R)
- Reynolds CF (B)
- Freeman 1B (L)
- Martinez DH (R)
- Muncy 2B (L)
- Smith C (R)
- Lux SS (L) – I threw up in my mouth, writing this – I cannot see Lux at SS
- Vargas 3B (R)
- LF: Heyward, Dugger (he would play CF if he made it), Thompson, Outman, Taylor
That lineup might score more runs than last year’s lineup.
That said, I do not see Friedman making that trade just now. Maybe he doesn’t have to make it, but if he does, I think it will be at the trade deadline. We still don’t have a resolution to the Trevor Bauer situation. Of course, a trade could happen at any time, but I simply do not see it now. The sites writing about it are just attention hounds who like to throw stuff up against the wall and see if it sticks. Most of it is simply “made up.”
Sometimes rumors are right – most times, they are wrong! Remember that! The Dodgers are building a new Eight-Story Building in Chavez Ravine to house all the rumors!
Diego Cartaya
For the third year in a row, he is the Dodgers’ #1 Prospect by Baseball America, and he will likely start the season at Tulsa. Still just 21, BA says this:
“A large physical masher at 6′ 3″ and 219 pounds, Cartaya has grown into plus – plus power and has become one of baseballs most promising young power hitters. He demolishes baseballs…and droves them over the wall, even when he mishits them. He also plays up to the competition, including when he homered off Blake Snell during a rehab start.”
BA is questioning whether he will remain at C. He is very athletic, so he could easily play LF or 1B. The Dodgers will not rush him. Look for him in 2024, but maybe Will Smith stays at C. Here is the rest of the BA Top 10, which just came out:
2. Bobby Miller 3. Miguel Vargas 4. Michael Busch 5. Ryan Pepiot 6. Gavin Stone 7. Andy Pages
8. Dalton Rushing 9. Nick Nastrini 10. James Outman
The most interesting part of what BA wrote is that they project all the Top 10 Prospects (except for #1) to make the Show sometime in 2023.
Houston Mitchell Poll on Trevor Bauer
Since it is a free Newsletter, I will publish it:
Hi, and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell, and spring training is just around the corner. OK, around the corner and down the street a bit, but it’s definitely getting closer.
Last week, I asked you to vote in an unscientific poll as to whether the Dodgers should keep Trevor Bauer, or release him. And, after 19,193 votes, the results are in:
Keep him, 51.2%
Release him, 48.8%Many people emailed with their thoughts on why they voted the way they did. Most of the people who voted “Keep him” fell into two distinct camps:
1. “He was found innocent in a court of law and should be allowed to play.” Well, Bauer wasn’t found innocent in a court of law. The district attorney’s office decided not to prosecute him, determining there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Bauer committed a crime. Plus, you aren’t found innocent in a court of law, you are found not guilty. Not guilty is a legal finding by the jury that the prosecution has not met its burden of proof.
It’s also important to note that the arbitrator found that Bauer did violate the league’s sexual assault and domestic abuse policy, which is a big reason his entire suspension wasn’t overturned, and left in place the longest suspension for this type of violation in MLB history. There also was more than just the San Diego woman making accusations, there were two other women. We don’t know what the arbitrator learned from witnesses who testified, because, as part of MLB’s policy, it can’t be released.
When Bauer’s attorneys asserted that the denial of the San Diego woman’s attempt to get a restraining order necessarily meant Bauer had not committed assault or battery, a federal court ruled the denial just meant Bauer was not a threat to harm the woman in the future. In November, U.S. District Judge James Selna ruled that “the state court proceedings did not necessarily decide that Bauer did not batter or sexually assault [her].”
So now the ball is in the Dodgers’ court. They have until Friday to activate him or release him. For those of you hoping for a trade, that seems extremely unlikely. Putting all the off the field issues aside and speaking from just a baseball sense, why give up anything for a guy who hasn’t pitched in 22 months? Especially when most reports say the Dodgers are going to release him? And he can’t be sent to the minors because he has enough service time to refuse the assignment.
What do the players think? None have commented publicly, but according to Bill Shaikin, “the front office has been told at least some players want Bauer back, people with knowledge of the situation but not authorized to speak publicly told The Times.”
The Dodgers owe him $22.5 million next season, which puts them right up against the payroll luxury tax threshold of $233 million. Which also means they probably won’t be adding any more players if they wish to remain below the threshold and reset their penalty for the 2024 season.
If you have questions on this you want answered, you should read Shaikin’s excellent Q&A on the subject by clicking here.
So, with all that said, we will go back to focusing on on-field issues with the Dodgers.
Yeah right! Brian Reynolds for Miller, Pepiot and Pages? That’s 2, 5 and 7. That’s a better haul than the Nats got for Soto and the Nats included Josh Bell.
If you want him NOW, that’s what it will take. It might be a lot cheaper by the trade deadline. Bell was just a salary dump. If they hadn’t included him, they would have had to pay more.
Josh Bell was .301/.384/.493/.877 at the time of the trade. Not a salary dump at all. In fact, the Nats had to take Hosmer’s salary in the deal which was higher than Bell’s. If it was a salary dump, they would have kept Bell and not included Hosmer. Nice try!
No, it’s not a nice try. You have no clue what you are saying. The Padres PAID Hosmer’s Contract and also had to take Bell’s Contract, so it was actually a salary dump. Only the Padres munched the $$$$.
BAD TRY! You do better next time! I can play this game too. I give what I get!
Now you see what I told you and it wasn’t made up about Reynolds to the Dodgers. Which I think it would be good. Then look all the options you have in Leftfield to play at that position.
Update above!
Mark and B&P, who’s the better hitter? Busch or Outman? And who would you start in LF if it came down to the two of them?
Vargas is the better pure hitter. Outman has more power. Please remember that Vargas is 3 years younger than Outman. I don’t think LF comes down to the two of them. Outman is going to play CF and Vargas is going to play 3B.
I really don’t want Vargas in the outfield, just like I don’t want Busch there. I think a lot of the ballyhoo about their defensive shortcomings are grossly overstated. A lot like Gavin Lux. So, if I had to pick Vargas or Outman in LF, I pick Outman because he would be a GG candidate at that position and it would also mean, they have a great option for CF.
I think Busch’s Hit Tool will play up more than Outmans’.
Outman would be the better defensive choice and he can play CF too.
Bryan Reynolds is owed something like 6.8 mil this season. The Dodgers are not going to squeak under the cap by a few thousand dollars by shedding or not signing the players they did and taking the chance on rookies just to go over now. If they’re going to reset with with Urias a FA next year and Buehler a FA the year after, this is the time to do it. A reset cap will give them flexibility next year to sign Urias if they choose to deal with Boras.
I don’t see Reynolds happening unless Bauer opts out or they work a trade where their trading partner doesn’t at least eat some of his salary.
The “journalists” writing that the Dodgers are planning on releasing Bauer and eating the entirety of his salary just so he can pitch for a rival for the league minimum are just simply insane, vindictive cultists. They would rather the Dodgers sabotage the team just to signal social justice virtue. Beware toxic, irrational people like that. Unfortunately these people have thoroughly infiltrated many parts of media and the professional class of white collar, upper middle class and affluent culture.
If Dodgers are going to deal for Reynolds, I think those are the prospects I’d be willing to part with that have value. I don’t think anything needs to happen until the deadline.
Well the decision will be Walter’s to make. And I think he’s part of that “affluent” culture that you speak of. He has to weigh the “backlash” from the “insane” cultists and the loss of his invitations to all the A list parties!
Im not including Miller.
Pepiot, Pages, and Rushing I do that.
I like Rushing more than I do Cartaya. They are loaded with catching prospects, but I keep Rushing.
Very slanted piece by Mitchell, not surprising since he works for the LA Times. He failed to include what the Judge actually said. Here’s a couple of tidbits…
“We consider in a sexual encounter that when a woman says no she should be believed,” Gould-Saltman said. “So, what should we do when she says yes?” Gould-Saltman added that the woman’s petition requesting a restraining order was “materially misleading.”
“When she set boundaries, [Bauer] respected them,” the judge told the courtroom following closing arguments.”
Gould-Saltman ruled that Bauer, in his conduct with his accuser, “did not coerce her or threaten her into sexual activity.” She said testimony established that the accuser’s Instagram direct messages and text messages to Bauer indicated to him that she “wanted rough sex in the first encounter and rougher sex in the second.”
I think it’s shameful that Houston Mitchell would write a piece in this manner. While saying that he wasn’t found innocent is technically correct, the fact that the DA did not press charges has even more weight than a court ruling of “Beyond a reasonable doubt”. You don’t even need “Beyond a reasonable doubt” to pursue charges. That is for the court to decide. The reason they didn’t file charges is because there was plenty of doubt within her testimony.
He chose to put a quote from a federal judge saying “the state court proceedings did not necessarily decide that Bauer did not batter or sexually assault [her].” While this is technically true, you can see by the quotes from the judge that presided over the hearing that wasn’t her opinion. “When she set boundaries, [Bauer] respected them,” That sure doesn’t sound like assault or battery to me.
Like everyone else that works at the LA Times, Houston Mitchell is a hack and is letting his politics get in the way of providing valid information to his audience. You suck Houston!
3 more days (or less) and this saga comes to an end.
Not necessarily. They can add him to the roster, and end the saga much later, like during spring training. What will happen in 3 days is that we will at least know what the hell they are thinking.
It’s not just B&P who have written things like this.
I’m interested as to why people put so much import and focus on the DA not pressing charges or the restraining order proceedings and not on the arbitrator’s findings.
I think it was that AZ person who called the arbitration process a kangaroo court? Why do people think it lacks legitimacy?
Other than it is secret?
Destroyed with five words and a question mark. Bravo.
The verdict isn’t a secret and that’s all that matters?
At least to me.
I mean if he got the longest suspension for punching the woman four times or five. Or ten. Does it matter? If he hit her in the stomache, or kicked her instead of punching her? I fail to see how the details really impact things.
Horrible pun, sorry.
Me? I wish the whole Bauer situation was just over one way or the other. I am not going to judge the man since I simply do not have all the facts. Now the arbitrator upheld the largest portion of the suspension. All that matters now is the fact that if they release him, they are eating 23.5 million dollars with no room for error or movement on the roster unless they dump salary ASAP. I do not think just releasing him is in the best interest of the team. A, He is an asset and makes the starting rotation that much tougher. B. He is a huge insurance policy against one or two of the starters on the roster getting injured. They have no wiggle room to sign another starting pitcher to a major league deal. I do believe they will stockpile some at AAA.
I agree with all of this.
Keep him and use him as a bullpen piece….if nothing else. Make him the closer with Phillips the set up man.
This is America land of the 2nd chances…..
100% agree with the logic of what you guys are saying. I would keep him; you would keep him. But the Dodgers Mgt. won’t keep him, because they don’t want even the perception of being associated with a player that brutally beats up women (even though in reality it was just a clumsy shakedown attempt a for a multi-million dollar non-disclosure agreement by a sociopathic female). Whatever else he is, good or bad, the man has GUTS to stand up to and not give into her extortion while being subjected to a gleeful gauntlet of vile accusation and stone-cold presumption of guilt by the so-called “Press”. I sincerely hope he can land somewhere where he can again use his talent for pitching and find that thing called redemption.
Just flat out releasing him makes zero sense. Both financially and otherwise. I do not think ownership is going to just fish and cut bait. They will most likely add him to the roster. If he is gone by opening day, there is no real PR hit.
I did see an interesting trade proposal for Bauer on ThinkBlueLA, The Dodgers could send Bauer to the Cubs, taking back the salary of Kyle Hendricks. The deal could be expanded to include a mid-level pitcher to the Cubs and Nick Madrigal coming back to LA. With the Cardinals, they could get Paul DeJong back. Expand the trade and send Pepiot with CF Dylan Carlson coming to LA. Kill two birds with one stone.
lol – Wow, people really think Bauer is worth nothing? Here, take my old, shitty pitcher and his salary and give me a Cy Young winner on a heavy discount. Here, take my Mendoza line shortstop that lost his job and give me a Cy Young winner on a heavy discount.
About the only thing that makes any kind of sense is Dylan Carlson for Pepiot. But, I think Pepiot is a huge overpay for Carlson.
The highest ranked prospects the Dodgers ever traded away are K-Bear and Gray. They were both overrated and the system wasn’t as strong as today. In that trade, we got half a year of Scherzer, an Ace, and 1.5 years of a $300M shortstop. There’s no freaking way he’s trading 3 top prospects for Brian Reynolds, or accepting someone else’s trash for Bauer.
I guess if they really wanted Bauer gone, it might be worthwhile to take Carlson for him, but I would think the Dodgers would try to parlay that into some Nick Frasso type that the Cards might be inclined to deal. After all, we got Frasso for Mitch White.
Will be very interesting to see what if any value Bauer has.
I still think he’s bereft of value, but I’m not as dogmatic as I was.
It’s a derivation of the great Woody Allen line, comedy is tragedy plus time. In this case it’s just that time has made the act feel less horrible than it did.
But I still can’t imagine any team risking him pitching for them.
As per the idea of trading him, I’ve been trying to figure out how the Dodgers stay under the threshold with Bauer’s new status. I can only see a path by trading Bauer or trading Taylor. Since i don’t think Bauer has value, yikes.
As far as public opinion goes. What we’ve seen so far is…
Houston Mitchell survey indicates that most (ever so slightly) want Bauer back.
A Dodger’s Nation survey indicates that most 66% to 33% want Bauer back.
4 players came to support bringing him back, zero players responded in the negative.
So, I think this tells us the PR nightmare is more like one of those dreams where you fall and wake up suddenly, only to go right back to bed.
I’m more liberal than most when it comes to Crime and Punishment. I think that once you do your time, you should be able to go about your business as usual. You shouldn’t have employers keeping you from having a job for a mistake you made in your personal life. Of course, there are some exceptions. An accountant who embezzles money. A Lawyer that knowingly introduces false evidence, etc.
I been doing that a lot lately. Last night I was doin that and driving a bulldozer on thinning mountain ridges. What would Freud say about that? Hmmm.
I said they were interesting, not probable.
Why havent the Red Sawks announce the Turner signing yet? Is he having 2nd thoughts????
Not that I’ve heard.
What does it matter?
Why waste time on that?
“Wasting time” ….. I was simply asking a question.
Settle down man…
“Old Man Can’t hit a Fastball Turner”. That hit me as HUGE disrespect yesterday when Marky-Mark said that about Turner. Such INGRATITUDE for all the great times Turner gave the Dodger Fans. 38 yrs old and you get called Old Man. Well if he ever comes back to D Stadium, he gets a standing O from the fans.
I loved Justin Turner, but the Old Man Can’t Turn on a Fastball, and that is the truth!
I will give him a standing O if I am there, and I wish him well, but his best years are way in the rearview mirror.
JDM may have another year or two, and he will be there too.
That’s me Marky Mark:
I know you would be the first guy on his feet if Turner made an return appearance at Dodger Stadium.
Fair and apologies!
They had to get Devers taken care of first, and that happened today. He probably has not taken his physical yet due to the holidays. Expect the announcement soon.
If the majority of the clubhouse is okay with Trevor Bauer returning, he’s back and the media circus rolls into spring training and summer.
Bauer may have value. Getting a return would be a different story.
I’m okay with your trade proposal, Mark, but I’m not tossing in Bobby Miller. The Dodgers have plenty of highly rated young talent. Obviously, Pittsburgh believes they’re in the driver’s seat and the Dodgers definitely have a need. But Reynolds wants out and he’s made it public. They’ll move him somewhere before spring training. Better return, remove negative elements come spring.
Unless the Dodgers move a player like Chris Taylor or Max Muncy, there is no way LA stays under the first tax threshold.
Totally disagree. Reynolds will not be moved before spring. If he is moved at all it will be at the deadline when the Pirates can maximize their return. Bank on it. And LA can stay under the CBT as long as they are smart about Bauer. If they just eat his contract, that is wasting 23.5 million dollars.
If the Dodgers let the players vote on keeping Bauer, you need to realize a number of the pitchers could vote no just to increase their chance of taking his spot!
Bryan Reynolds had a WAR of 2.9 last year with a batting average of 262 and OPS of 807. He was also rated as the worst defensive CF in baseball in 2022 based on both DRS of -14 and OAA of -7. Reynolds would definitely improve the lineup for the Dodgers and would bring a quality switch hitting bat. But he would not solve the defensive problem in CF now that Bellinger is gone. Even though Reynolds comes with a modest salary of $6.5 million, that would still put Dodgers over the luxury tax, and Reynolds also wants a new contract. I would not make this trade at the asking price of Miller, Pepiot, and Pages now, but at the trade deadline the Dodgers may be forced to pay up if their outfield is still uncertain.
However, both the Braves and Astros are examples of winning organizations who rely on their young minor leaguers much earlier than the Dodgers. The Braves are planning on starting Vaughn Grissom at SS this year. He is only 21 and turning 22 this week. He was drafted in the 11th round in 2019 and paid a modest bonus of $350,000. He has only played 22 games in AA and no games in AAA. He was the #21 prospect for the Braves in 2021 and not close to top 100 in MLB. Braves called up Michael Harris at 21 last year after only 43 AA games and 0 AAA games. He was only rated #11 in Braves prospect list in 2021. He proceeded to post 5.3 WAR in MLB and win ROY.
Jeremy Pena took over for Carlos Correa in 2022 as a 24 year old SS from Maine Univ. who had played 30 games in AAA and 0 games in AA with a career BA of 291 in the minors. Both Pena and Grissom were rated well below Jeter Downs and many other SS prospects. Pena posted 4.8 WAR in MLB last year and won World Series MVP.
Both the Braves and Astros seem to push their best prospects to MLB much earlier than Dodgers. And despite the consistently high rankings that Dodgers farm system receives, both the Astros and Braves have produced higher quality MLB talent recently. Maybe it is time to let Dodger top prospects sink or swim.
Yes! This is all correct.
Bulldogs
What does scouting reports have to do with OPS?
Are you saying I have no clue that Cartaya is the number 1 prospect in the Dodgers organization?
Are you saying I don’t know about this scouting report on him from dodgers.com (I can check others, there is the internet that’s full of information): Hit: 55 | Power: 60 | Run: 35 | Arm: 60 | Field: 55 | Overall: 60 ?
And as far as OPS goes, OPS is the end result of a slash line and if you want to know the details of the end result you can look at OBP and SLG. I look at the whole slash line including batting average.
As far as injury results are concerned it’s a moot point because you don’t know whether or not someone is playing with an injury and most of the time they are not. It’s what’s called the IL. Do you know Diego Cartaya personally? Did he tell you he was playing with an injury and how long that was the case?
Scouting Reports don’t have anything to do with OPS. They have everything to do with how people view a player, unlike just OPS.
No, I never said that and you know that I never said that. So, why did you ask that question?
Now I am, listing out scouting grades is not the same as a scouting report. Notice, no future grades with what you listed.
Great, but you failed to correlate OPS with Injury. So, obviously the slash line is not enough to go by when choosing to trade the best catching prospect in baseball for a 3 WAR outfielder. Use your head. We traded Gray and K-Bear, a much worse catcher that never showed any power for a Cy Young Winner and a $300M shortstop. You aren’t good at trade proposals.
Do you think I would make up his injuries? Do you think I would be that specific with dates, if they were fictitious? Do you even try to see if he was injured? This last sentence is pure stupidity. He didn’t have to tell me, because it was really easy to look it up. Anyone with half a brain could.
What point are you trying to make?
(Addressing Eric’s post above)
This is concerning what Bulldogs said to me last night after I went to bed or this morning before I woke up and before yesterday’s thread got closed.
Ok … but what point are you trying to make?
What does anyone’s sleeping habits have to do with this?
The Dodgers are bringing back Roger Owens, one of their all time best pitchers, for 2023 and were able to get him for peanuts so he won’t cause the Dodgers to exceed the CBT penalty threshold.
You are welcome.
But he has nothing on the Peanut man from Vero Beach.
All these million and millions of $ at stake and no level heads to be seen. Damn, who woulda thought there’s no such thing as resolution ever other than time. Why should I care how it all turns out? If the answer is I shouldn’t then maybe i should go into the ‘murder for hire’ business these kind of situations show there’d be many clients who would choose murder the less expensive tidy method to bring it to end. And seems a person like me is going to Hell anyways and also being not so proud in the 1st place………. well money don’t that much to me either so i’ll just let the wind blow and cheer for my team and be entertained with whatever I get.
I do not agree with the concept of Hell, and I certainly disagree with the temperature!
I don’t believed in Hell either. And it’s not fear that keeps me from murder. I simply feel that’s outside of my rights and I hold a higher standard of behavior than that, My point is just all that $ and people get killed for far less. Maybe Bauer’s accuser should of asked him for a couple million or else. And it’s sad that it’d been wise for all parties for him to be extorted and pay her off. There’s no winners inside this mess. It should of been avoided. Instead it snowballed beyond imaginable sums to an innocent franchise. And it’s still not history. No I’m not a killer but there are many killers around us all.
I have never wanted Bryan Reynolds, All I wanted, and did not get, was Bellinger playing like he did in 2019.
I’ll take that too.. but that ship sailed. Dang!
I’d take Reynolds, but not for Miller. Neither will AF.
Does anybody remember that Little League Coach who was throwing BP and got hit in the chest (heart) by a line drive and died suddenly ? Sounds like the current tragedy. Like Freud said: sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Blaming every tragic death on the vax is dumb.
No non-mouth breather / non-attention hound is thinking mRNA vaccines had anything to do with what happened in the NFL game Monday.
1. Charlie Kirk and some other idiots picked a poor time to bring it up.
2. Only a moron would dismiss that there could be a connection.
3. More study is needed.
4. Challenging science is how science is done.
Not dismissing a possible connection.. The point being to reflexively conclude EVERY sporting-event cardiac related death as vax related is Dumb.
Totally agree!
Agree on all four points. That doesn’t mean I hate the vaccine (I took the Pfizer) am “anti-science” or am spreading “disinformation.”
Point #4 is the most important one, and the one that’s the most underappreciated. Science, and a free an open society for that matter, thrive when individuals ask questions and are not satisfied with bad answers.
Whenever you see someone claim “the science is settled,” that’s not science. That is dogma. Science is never settled.
What are you talking about? This is prima facie evidence of the lethality of these so-called, myocarditis inducing “vaccines” that are being promulgated on a compliant public by that evil Bill Gates and that creepy German guy from the WEF (World Economic Forum) who want to have one world government where everyone eats crickets!
Damn that Bill Gates! I’m won’t be forced to eat crickets!
This on Twitter from Sean McAdam, Red Sox beat writer:
J.T. Watkins, suspended by MLB in 2020 for his involvement in video sign-stealing scandal, has left Red Sox to take position w/ the Dodgers. Watkins will help LA with its hitting game planning. His hiring came with strong recommendations from both J.D. Martinez and Mookie Betts.
Does this hire give us a hint as to how the front office might feel about people serving their penalties and being allowed to continue their careers?
It just might!
This is very interesting on several levels… especially on the level of situational hitting improvement.
I would not trade Miller nor Pages in a deal for Reynolds. I understand the Pirates asking for them and I doubt AF decides that is reasonable. The minor league deals for Zimmer, Dugger, and Heyward suggest that Dodgers are going to look at low cost solutions and their farm system to fill outfield holes – at least until they show they can’t. They also kept Jonny DeLuca on the 40 man roster for a reason. He may also be in line for a shot in center at some point. If Toronto got Daulton Varsho for a prized catching prospect Gabriel Moreno and Lourdes Gurriel then paying that much for Reynolds seems an overpay. Varsho had similar power and is a much better defender than Reynolds and is younger. This thinking may all change at trade deadline if these other options don’t pan out. We don’t need an all star or above average major leaguer at every position. The core of Freeman, Betts, Smith, Muncy, Martinez, and Lux is solid. By the end of last year our line up was essentially six deep with the struggles of Taylor Bellinger Gallo and Thompson among others. The Astros had a rookie shortstop and Chaz McCormick and Jake Meyers in center and Martin Maldonado catching. Just for comparison and speculation, I think Vargas will hit as well or better than Jeremy Pena (maybe not for same power numbers) and the Dodgers will find a center field platoon that can match what Houston got from their center fielders. If we get a rebound from Muncy and the Lux we saw before the neck injury then we can win with that offense. Like many of you I am excited for this season because we are more of an unknown this year and will be “chasing” San Diego in many people’s estimation (though I don’t think the gap is very significant. ) Going to be fun to watch.
Not sure what Dodgers will do with Trevor Bauer but like many of you I am ready for it to be over. I can’t blame the Dodgers if they cut him loose and pay his salary. Without getting bogged down in the politics of this, this is a baseball decision, a business decision, and a public relations decision. I don’t know what the Dodgers and MLB investigators know but I would be fine if they decide to cut him loose and avoid the inevitable distractions. He has not pitched in a major league game in 22 months so we are not likely not getting the pitcher who we signed two years ago. Lastly, if they keep Bauer they will effectively block Pepiot, Grove, Stone, and Miller which seems to be contrary to what the Dodgers want to do this year. Let the kids play. Put the Bauer situation behind us.
Good post!
I’m annoyed by the politics that surrounds the Bauer saga, and feel that cutting him is capitulating to a politically obsessed and bullying mob, but I understand the sound business sense of distancing an organization from a continuing PR headache. I can’t imagine the Dodgers just cut him, though. There has to be a trading partner somewhere they can work with. The unthinkable is him pitching virtually for peanuts for a direct competitor while the Dodgers pick up the tab.
I had a little argument with B&P recently and made a similar point about blocking the kids with Bauer. He made a decent point about having six viable starters in anticipation of the eventual IL stints that are bound to happen with Kershaw, Gonsolin, etc. It’d be a luxury for sure. Pretty expensive one, though.
For any of you who like your Darts, the World Championship Final last night, did not disappoint.
https://twitter.com/OfficialPDC/status/1610378769520377858/mediaViewer?currentTweet=1610378769520377858¤tTweetUser=OfficialPDC
World Darts Championship Final last night……
https://twitter.com/OfficialPDC/status/1610378769520377858?t=rVE8g71yNHKeonujHR6BnQ&s=19
Sorry – first one disappeared so I posted again
On my youngest son’s 23rd birthday, he threw 3 straight bull’s eyes. I have never seen that…
Trevor Bauer decision today?
Today…
or tomorrow….
or Friday….
????
They have until the 6th. Are they going to run down the clock, or make a decision ahead of time?
Friday afternoon. Best day and time to deliver bad news.Plus, weekends this time of year, everybody’s thinking FOOTBALL.
Think a minute. Just eating 23.5 million is stupid. They will add the man to the roster and make the final decision later.
I thought a minute or two about this. Once they add him to the roster, the “Damage” is done. They will ultimately keep him once added.
Rotation:
1. Urias
2. Gonsolin
3. Kershaw
4. May
5. Syndergaard
6. Bauer
Pepiot and Stone in the Bullpen…. don’t forget about Shelby Miller
I like Grove this year. And might as well use up Jackson’s bullets while we have them.
The Athletic’s Trade Suggestion:
Reynolds to Dodgers for RHP Bobby Miller, OF Jose Ramos and LHP Maddux Bruns
Replace Miller with Pepiot and Busch
Way too early to give up on Maddux Bruns. His stuff is electric … and he’s still just a kid. If the organization can teach him how to throw strikes, then he’s a future top-of-the-rotation starter.
I keep seeing Ramos in the top 10 Dodger prospect listings (Fangraphs was one) but I don’t read much about him.
I guess the Dodgers can use Miller as a trade chip if they have an idea what their starting staff is going to be in a couple of years –
Gonsolin
May
Buehler
Stone
???
Kershaw will likely be gone, but you never know. Urias might be gone unless the Dodgers dole out 300+ million for 10 years. Who are possible FAs the Dodgers could target (especially a good left hander)?
I’d be inclined to keep Miller around just because a future rotation has some holes.
If Reynolds is traded at all, it won’t be before the deadline.