You Can’t Keep Track of the Players Without a Scorecard

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1. Urias
   May
   Gonsolin
   Kershaw
   Thor

   Would be pretty sweet

   1. … but you could get Stoned when if it’s Miller Time!

      1. Love it

2. The Athletic has a great piece on Vargas and his desire to be a good defensive player and Miguel Vargas, Plácido Polanco (both of whom are working with Miguel), and the Legend that is JD Martinez.

   The 2023 Dodgers are JD Martinez’s team!

3. I’m tired of the put-downs of Justin. Give it a break already. I’m REALLY tired of it, after all the good years he had here. And it IS disrespect. It’s really a disgrace.

   1. I’m tired of your lack of comprehension of the English language!

      I said: No disrespect intended, but I believe his skills have eroded to the point that he is a “guess hitter” that gets by on his guile.

      I struck a nerve because The Truth Hurts! People get the maddest when you speak the truth.

      JT was a great Dodger, but he should have retired as one. I get that he had to take the $22 Million and run… It’s real money.

      I have never disrespected JT, so read better next time!

      1. I comprehend it perfectly. But you have to keep harping on “he’s not what he used to be” , like that is some kind of news flash that a player in his late thirties isn’t what he used to be . I don’t care what you call it or how defensive you get when you get called out, it IS disrespect.

         1. How does Mark explain the fact that JT had a terrific second half last season? His OPS after the all-star break was .889, with a .319 BA and .386 OBP. Maybe that’s why the Red Sox are paying him $22 million for two seasons.
            Seriously, did the pitchers just take it easy on the old guy who supposedly couldn’t hit fastballs anymore?
            Yeah, that must be it.

            1. Facts!

         2. Justin Turner is washed up traitorous scum and his name should not even be uttered on this blog.

            How’s that for disrespect? I’m being facetious, of course.

            Don’t you think your response is a bit of an overreaction? Mark’s point is that JDM is an upgrade. BTW, I disagree a little with Mark saying JT turned into a guess hitter. I think JT, with his high leg kick, has always been a timing hitter. Guessing is part of that, IMO. He also absolutely raked during the second half. Agree, though, it was time to move on, and I’m liking the JDM signing more the more I read about him.

            Fans often have weird connections to players. In your case, any acknowledgement of JT’s erosion of skills gets some angry emotional response. On the other hand, there were people here who wish ill on former Dodgers who sign with other teams. Seager comes to mind.

            It’s just the nature of things. Players get old. Players move on and play for other teams. Don’t think it’s worth the emotional energy to dwell on it.

            1. It’s Mark who keeps “dwelling on it”, thank you. Don’t put it on me for calling it out that he can’t let it go.

            2. Calm down.

               Mark wants to trade Gavin Lux or put him in center field in every other blog article he writes. I don’t feel I need to “call him out” to defend Lux’s honor. I just roll my eyes and skim down to the comments.

      2. JTs time in LA passed him up. Great leader for the team, but it was definitely time to move on. Looked so different at the plate last year.

   2. I have no idea why you consider this disrespect. I love JT. He was one of my favorite Dodgers of all time. While he did have a great second half, he had a terrible first half. He looked totally outmatched until mid summer. Not the old JT at all. He needed 200 ABs to get his timing back. I would have loved to see him end his career as a Dodger, but it was obvious that it would be in a limited role and for far less money. The choice was his. He wanted to play every day and believed he was worth more than the Dodgers were offering. Which was likely a one year deal under $10m. The Dodgers have cultivated prospects for years with the intent that they will eventually play in the show. You can’t block that progression out of sentimentality.

      I do wish JT had taken a one year $7m (or so) deal and stayed on as a role player/team leader. The type of role that David Freese took on in 2019. Because I do believe that JT is at that point in his career. JT thought differently. So he signed elsewhere. This happens a lot. Even Babe Ruth played a season for the Boston Braves before hanging them up. That didn’t make him any less loved by Yankee fans.

      None of that is disrespect, it’s the reality of age and building winning baseball teams. No question in my mind JD Martinez is an upgrade and will be a plus in the clubhouse. That’s all that Mark is saying. Don’t under estimate JD’s potential contribution to the team.

      JT will be missed. But it was time for him to take a lesser role and it was his choice to move on.

      1. JT clearly wanted the security of a two-year deal–and AF understandably didn’t want to give him one.
         But the Red Sox did, so it worked out fine. Ortiz succeeded as an ageing DH and the Sox weren’t scared by JT’s age. In a couple years, JT could come back in some new role in the Dodgers organization. Bridges have not been burned.
         It’s great that JDM would take a one-year offer to come to the Dodgers for a chance to win at this point in his long career. He should be an upgrade at the DH spot, though JDM is also past his prime.
         JDM certainly declined after the all-star break last year. While JT surged with an .889 OPS, JDM’s was .701. Well, maybe Von Soyoc and Mookie can help fix that.
         But JT still has a glove and JDM basically doesn’t. The Red Sox have rookie Triston Casas at 1B. He’s basically their Vargas, with high expectations despite an underwhelming debut last season. So don’t surprised if JT gets a fair amount of action at 1B–or even 3B if Devers gets hurt. We’re not expecting JDM to get action in LF, are we?

4. I had a small chuckle with that last line. I’m drinking my great tasting coffee made from great tasting water with thanks to you Mark. I have a grandmother who fills a 5 gallon water bottle here at my apartment for her baby granddaughter who also thanks you. Could be the main reason I’m still alive.
   It seems more players all the time wants to play in Dodger blue and that’s the way I want it. It’s gonna be a fun season. Cheers!

5. Wacha to the Padres

6. We have our tickets for ST and an airB&B reserved in Phoenix. One of the games is with the Padres. This is our first time back since Covid so we are really looking forward to spending a week at ST.

7. Obviously contributor Vengeur doesn’t understand the meaning of opinion blogs and creating dialogue. I also was a great fan of JT and was glad he was in Dodger blue. That being said I think Mark was right on. He should have retired a Dodger and hopefully becomes part of the front office when he stops playing. No disrespect intended. Skill sets deminish and players have to move on to another part of their career.

   1. Again, if JT is so over-the-hill, please explain why he was the Dodgers second best hitter after the all-star break last season.
      He was right behind Freddie and ahead of Mookie. The old fart outhit Trea and Will Smith.
      I’m glad to have JD, but those second-half stats and the $22 million from Boston suggests that the reports of JT’s decline have been exaggerated.

      1. He raked. That’s true. He also disappeared during the playoffs, not only this past year, but in recent years. There might be some data that shows how he performed against the top tier fastballs he faced in the playoffs that were red flags in spite of his good second half.

         It’s not as if he’s a smoldering husk of his former self, but I think it’s reasonable to conclude that he’s on the decline and it was time to move on.

         I saw that stat Mark posted about JDM hitting .393 against LH fastballs in 2022. That stat pops a little to to me.

         1. Playoff stats are always a small sample size. And the Dodgers got bounced pretty quickly. Just four games.
            JT just got a couple of hits, but he actually tied for 5th on the team in OBP in those four games.
            If we compare larger samples, JT outhit JDM after the all-star break by a wide margin.
            But then, the pitchers were too nice to throw fastballs to ol’ Red.

            1. JD was injured for part of the second half. He has more power than Turner and the guy has 89 doubles over the last two years.

      2. Please explain why he disappeared in the playoffs for the second year in a row.

8. It’s Mookie’s and Freddie’s team not JD’s. He hasn’t done Jack for the dodgers yet. I hope all the good that’s being said about him is true in being a good clubhouse guy and leader type and he hits all year like he did in first half last year I’ll be real glad we got him but let him do some great things in a dodger uniform before being anointed his team

   1. What exactly does “his team’ or “their team” mean?

      Seriously.

      1. Pretty common lexicon denoting leadership and influence.
         JD Martinez may have some fine qualities, but Mark’s description seems way premature given the presence of Kershaw, Mookie and Freddie, the most accomplished players on this club.

         1. so, how would we know who has influence or leadership?

            This feels fuzzy and weird.

9. That’s fair. Let’s respect the guys who have lead by example already, Mookie and Freddie. Both who respected Kersh and JT as the leaders.
   And be very glad when other leaders step up also,
   guys like Smith and Max.

10. When people come to me and say that I can’t do what I used to, I do not think they are disrespecting me. What they say is true… and I accept and bloom where I am planted.

    In The Athletic article today, it said (in part):

    Vargas’ offseason bouncing between Los Angeles and Miami allowed him ample time to tap into the resources around him. Working at Dodger Stadium allowed him to sharpen his skills with potential double-play partner Gavin Lux while remaining under the watchful eye of some of the organization’s coaches. In Miami, he worked on his infield defense with two-time All-Star infielder and current Dodgers special assistant Plácido Polanco.

    And with some help from mutual friends and now a shared hitting coach, Vargas also connected with five-time All-Star and newly-signed Dodger J.D. Martinez.

    “They were just telling me about this kid Vargy and ‘how much he looks up to you,’” Martinez recalled last week.

    When Dodgers hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc, whom Martinez credits for his career revival in 2014, came to visit Martinez in Ft. Lauderdale, he brought Vargas with him.

    “We just hit it off,” Martinez said. “He’s just a very humble kid, a great kid. … (He’s) got a lot of talent. I’m excited about him. I’ve talked to the Dodgers about him personally and I think he can be something special. He’s got great tools and great ability.”

    Vargas called Martinez “my big brother” after just a couple of months working together in the batting cage this winter. It’s part of a quickly growing relationship with the slugger who has been credited with helping several teammates, including Betts, at the plate. Betts has called Martinez a “genuine friend” dating to their days in Boston and was among those who helped recruit Martinez to Los Angeles.

    That speaks volumes that Martinez and Vargas are so close. JDM is the leader of this 2023 Dodger Team – most fans just have not gotten the memo yet!

11. We all loved JT. He was a credit to the uniform. He is one of the genuinely nice guys. But some have to realize that in this day and age players rarely stick with one team their entire career. Now JT was not a career Dodger, but it flourished in LA. The Dodgers would have loved to bring him back, but not for what he got from the Red Sox. JT played a little over half his games at 3rd last season. His numbers as a DH, .270/.348/.381, do not inspire fear in anyone. He hit 3 homers as a DH and his OPS+ was 107. He fared better when he was starting at 3rd, .295/.381./.486 and his OPS+ jumped to 130. He hit 10 homers while playing 3rd. His range has deteriorated some, he still has quick reaction time, and he made several nice plays at third. His splits against lefties and righties are just about even, but he hits for more power against RHP.
    But the player who was an RBI machine and one of the most clutch post season hitters in Dodger history, has struggled the last two post seasons and driven in exactly one run in his last 14 post season games and has 6 hits in those games. He is more of a guess hitter now. Someone, I cannot remember who, charted how many times he got hits off of elite fastball’s, a pitch he used to crush. It was somewhere around zero. If he hit a fastball, it was in the low 90’s, Anything 94 plus he could not catch up to. That is simply his age showing. Everyone gets old. And when they do, skills go downhill. I am 74, I have sung most all of my life and there was a time when I could do it all night long every night and never lose power in my voice. Now, I cannot do that anymore, not even close.
    I would have loved to see him finish his career in LA. But baseball is a business and the business decision AF made was to move on and get a little younger. Martinez is much better suited to be a DH than any other player the Dodgers have. He will turn out to be the best DH in their history.

    1. Again, did JT not face pitches over 94 mph in the second half of the season? Did the pitchers take it easy on him?
       How do you explain how the was one the best hitters in the league after the break? On the Dodgers, only Freddie was better.
       Again, I’m fine with JD. And Father Time will catch up with JT, as it has with all of us.
       But he fended off time pretty well last year. And it got him a $22 million deal.

       1. Read what I am saying Duke. So he was a better hitter in the second half. A season is made up of 162 games. He played 66 games at third. 62 games as a DH and he was pretty pedestrian in those games. By the way, over his career, JT has always hit better in the second half. So does Mookie. He faced pitches over 94, he just was not hitting them. He used to. I do not get all this reverence for a guy who clearly is not the same player. He sucked in the 5 games against the Padres just like he flopped in 21. 1 RBI in his last 14 post season games. And that is when they need you the most.

12. Because there is no memo. First he would have to do something to earn it in dodger blue and it would take more than just hitting good for first half of last year with a different team. Let him do well for a full year and produce in October then the the memo gets written up. Talk doesn’t get it results do

13. 1) How does anyone know who leaders are and who are not. I always found that a bunch of crap.

    2) There are 26 guys on a team and more when injuries happen and it takes all of them to get the job done.

    3) If you insist on talking about so called leaders and “his team or their team” try using homegrown guys like Smith, Lux, Urias, May, Kershaw, Gonsolin, Beuhler. Wow that’s the only ones, the rest are from outside the organization, I might have missed 1 or 2. Not counting rookies like Outman and Vargas.

    No offense.

    1. No offense taken… just watch and learn.

       1. I took offense!

          1. Was it chain-link or pickett?

    2. I agree with the beginning of this post, and then…

       Who cares if a player is home-grown, away-grown or Mars-grown. If he’s smart and liked, he’ll be some variation of a leader.

       There’s probably no qualifiers on age, or team who drafted.

       1. The Gibson Effect. Maybe it’s a thing. I don’t know. I would presume that a particularly strong personality with a bias towards competitive personality traits and Angela Duckworth’s definition of grit could become a de facto clubhouse leader, and those habits could potentially rub off on other players and improve the overall culture of a team.

          Being home-grown has nothing to do with it.

14. I love the take that JT should have retired a Dodger last year. And walk away from $20 mil. Someone a lot smarter than you thinks he can still play!

    1. I don’t blame JT. As I have said, “I get why JT took the deal. There are $22 Million Reasons why.”

       1. Exactly. Just like there are more than 365 million reasons, including no state income tax that Corey Seager left. Loyalty to an organization in baseball today is as rare as having someone who knows what the hell he is doing in the White House. I rest my case.

          1. There’s a lack of loyalty on both sides! It’s a business

             1. Exactly. Kersh will probably end his career as a Dodger, but go back, who was the last position player to play his entire career in LA? Scioscia didn’t, neither did Yeager. Fernando? Nope, Hershiser? Nope. Turner started out as an Oriole, he will end as a Red Sox unless the Dodgers do what they did with Utley and sign him to one of those one-day contracts. Stumped???? Bill Russell, Played his entire career with the Dodgers.

15. Leaders are the ones that contribute big especially in clutch moments and garner enough respect that all the players listen and who has the balls to get up and speak his mind when things aren’t going well. At the same time being able to consult and knows when another player just needs a pat on the back among other qualities that few possess

16. So far, I’ve not seen heard or read anything about Miguel Vargas that’s negative.

    All articles opinions and interviews lead me to believe he’s a good kid, a talented kid, and willing to listen and learn.

    Freddie Freeman was raving about him at the FanFest last weekend. I can’t wait to see how he pans out!

    1. He’s a really good guy. My son got to know him and Jacob Amaya (the two were best friends on the team) when they were with the Quakes. So many top prospects these days just bolt out the back of the stadium with security and drive off. Miguel would come out and say high to Amaya’s family after each game. Take pictures with fans and sign as many autographs as were requested. My son got one of this bats that season. He has confidence and an infectious personality. Add in that the guy can just punish a baseball and I don’t wonder why nobody has anything negative to say. Of course that will change once he’s pencilled in at 2b every night. But nobody is rooting against the guy.

17. The leader of the Dodgers is Dave Roberts, he is the one who holds the team together, the players love him and play hard for him year after year !!!

    1. Of course!

18. This was written by Dustin Nosler back in 10/23/20, but I am sure that JT has improved his reflexes and has a much faster bat than 3 years ago:
    https://dodgersdigest.com/2020/10/23/a-brief-look-at-justin-turner-real-and-perceived-struggles-against-fastballs/

    1. I will grudgingly acknowledge that this is a good article with some good data and research.

       I still think Nosler is a morbidly obese bigot, cringe inducing, dishonest and vindictive gaslighter, virtue-signaling histrionic jerk with no impulse control, crybully and overall terrible human … but credit where it’s due, I guess.

       The theme I like to keep repeating is that the playoffs are a different game of baseball than the regular season. The caliber of pitching a batter will face in the playoffs is just a notch a better than that of the fringy middle reliever from the Rockies that the batter will face in the regular season. Playoffs fastballs are generally going to be harder, with more/better movement and command. Because JT was able to beat up on mediocre pitching for a few months after the ASB doesn’t mean he’s going to deliver when the quality of pitching he has to face is better.

       JT just couldn’t deliver anymore when facing the very best pitching. Sure, he hit well for three months, but his numbers for the entire season where well below his career averages.

       1. Gee Patch, how do you really feel?????

          1. If I can’t say anything good about a person, I won’t say anything!

             Dustin Nosler:

             1. It was a good analysis. You can say that.

19. Just because I do not want to disseminate bad info, I went and checked JT and Mookie’s career splits. JT is amazingly consistent. He hit’s .286 in the first half, and .289 in the second. Where the big difference is in his power numbers. He typically turns it on after June. He is over 30 homers in each month after June. Mookie hits exactly the same as JT in the first half, .286. In the second half he is .302, May and August are Mookie’s best power months.

20. I do believe that JT will come back in 2025 and sign a 1-day contract with LA and retire as a Dodger and immediately go to the front office.

    1. I do too.

21. The funny thing is , everybody here knows Mark goes bat-sh*t crazy when anybody bad mouths Doc. I finally just got peeved about him doing it to JT, this has been going on for a while . Time to watch some new faces mature into stars and an exciting new era begin. Tick tick tick spring training just hours away

    1. I go bat-shit crazy when anyone gets bad-mouthed based upon just an opinion they pulled out of their a$$, which is entirely a subjective emotionally-driven argument that has no basis in reality!

       In case, you don’t understand, here’s the short version:

       Don’t say stupid shit!

       I have said that JT was aging and not the player he once was. I have said he can’t catch up to the high 90s fastball. I have said his fielding has slipped. I have never said he is a bad person or that he mugs little old ladies, or that he is kills kittens. However, the stuff that is said about Doc is totally personal and irrational.

       It was never personal… I just said he wasn’t the player he used to be. How can you even compare the two?

       1. Uhhh …. But no one who criticized Doc said he kills kittens or mugs little old ladies.

       2. “Turner will have the opportunity to opt out after the 2023 campaign.

          The Vayner Sports client will make an $8.3MM salary this year. At season’s end, he’ll have to decide on either a $13.4MM player option or a $6.7MM buyout to head back to free agency. That lofty buyout means Turner would collect $15MM for one season if he opts out, and he’d only have to top $6.7MM on the open market to come out ahead financially.”

          Does this mean he could finish his career here next year and Boston would pay most of his salary?

          1. You may be on to something. If the Dodgers offer him $7 mil, he would take it.

             The thing is: how will he do this year? I think he is in a steep decline.

             1. I think his decline is less steep than you do. He projects fairly well and should earn his $8.3 million salary. That’s only 1 WAR. Fangraphs projects 2.3 WAR for him. Other sites have between 1.1 and 3.2. I think he should put up 2 WAR. In 2024? Hard to know. Maybe he could still hit. It will be interesting to see how well he does back there. And, if he does produce, it might be fun to see him back here to finish his career.

             2. It would be fun to see him finish as a Dodger. Sometimes when you lose it – it goes quickly… He will have a hard time putting up that kind or WAR as a DH (IMHO).

                I look at all the Projections and have a bunch of Baseball Prospectus, which are almost always wrong, and I am a dumbass for buying them when I am bored in the offseason.

             3. I think Boston plans to use him in the field some. He’s listed as backup at first and third on the depth chart. Yes, it can go quickly, but he looked fine for most of last year. He put up over 2 WAR and none of it was defensive.

                I hear you on the projections. They are guesses by people who I believe must know more than I do as I too am a dumb ass. And, yes, what else do we have to do in the off season?

22. I’m imagining all of us wearing electric dog collars that can be activated by replying buzz to each other’s comments.

    Ouch! Stop it. Not one of my better imaginings.

    1. I would get you a nice silver one… with a 12 Volt car battery! 😉

23. There are not enough nice things that can be said about Justin Turner the man. I’m truly happy he got to become a Dodger, finally excel in his career as a Dodger, and become an All Star and World Champion as a Dodger – his hometown team.

    He was a fearsome defender and offensive producer and as much as I have loved watching him, he – like EVERY OTHER PLAYER EVER – is beginning to find Father Time is undefeated.

    I’m glad he is getting a big payday. Who among us wouldn’t take that one more offer to make millions….because after they stop offering that they never offer it again.
    ( Well…unless you’re one of a handful like Dave Roberts!)

24. Is it too early to criticize Roberts for his spring training pitching decisions?

    1. No, he’s an idiot.

    2. It’s never too early for the haters to hate. The reason being is that there is nothing rational about it, so yes, they will start now.

25. Players who spent their entire career with the Dodgers at the major league level. Campanella, Drysdale, Erskine, Ethier, Furillo, Gilliam, Koufax, Otto Miller, Reese, Robinson, Russell, Nap Rucker. So, I was wrong about Russell being the last position player to play his entire career as a Dodger. I overlooked Either, because he came to LA in a trade for Milton Bradley. But he spent his entire MLB career in LA. 12 players in the entire history of the team. The Yankees, naturally have the most, 25. Kersh could become # 13. There are currently 10 players who have been with one team their entire career and one just retired, Yadier Molina.

26. So now I’m hoping for a Peralta/Taylor platoon in LF, with Outman getting that runway out in CF. If he has a great spring, it could happen.
    To me, that’s the best-case scenario.
    But Juan Toribio and various people who write for Dodger fan sites now seem to think Outman won’t be treated like Vargas and will instead start in OKC to be guaranteed full-time experience. He’d be the first man up in case of injury.
    So instead of a youth movement, we could have the opposite. Even though old JT has moved on, the 2023 Dodgers will be older than the 2022 version.
    The incumbent stalwarts–Betts, Freeman, Smith, Lux, Muncy, Taylor, Barnes–have all taken another lap around the sun. Peralta and JDM are both 35–younger than JT, of course, but older than everybody else in the starting lineup.
    In addition to Barnes, the bench will certainly feature Rojas, 33, and perhaps Heyward, also 33. Trayce, a CF option if Outman is out in OKC, is 31.
    Funny, but even the Dodgers’ MLB-ready prospects aren’t that young. Outman and Busch are 25, not 22.
    We’ll see how this all shakes out in the Spring. Maybe Outman and Busch will make a big splash and force their way to Chavez Ravine.
    But Vargas may be a one-man youth movement.
    I’m not too worried that there is a serious geriatric problem here… though the performance of both JDM and Peralta slipped a bit 2022.

    1. Well spoken Duke.

       As I have said before, it’s not like the Dodgers to have more than one rookie starter at a time. The multiple veteran signings suggest something, though I’m not quite sure exactly what. Trading Busch and Outman seems to be the best thing for them, but is it the best thing for the Dodgers?

       A few sites that project such things have the Dodgers and Padres about even, edge going to the Padres. Admittedly, that’s how I see it. So much feels uncertain. A lot could go right for the Dodgers, but a few important elements could go wrong.

       But, one thing is for sure, it’s going to be entertaining. We will all be on the edge of of our seats. In fact, we already are.

27. Only ten players been with same team entire career got me thinking wow. Than I thought must be a minimum amount of years with same team required because I can think of at least six with dodgers alone off top of my head although they only have a few years under their belt

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