I realize that in your tenure as President of Dodger baseball, the LA Dodgers have the best winning percentage of any MLB team and that the organization is the envy of all other teams. In short, the Dodgers are the model organization. I understand that and am even amazed at the fact that even though the Dodgers draft near the bottom every year, the farm system is one of the best in baseball. You are to be commended for that… BUT…
But, what is Chris Taylor still doing on this team? Has he blackmailed you? Does he have photos you don’t want leaked out? This is insane – just pay him off – he has to either voluntarily go down to the minors like Jose Abreu did (and it didn’t help Jose), or he has to be DFA’ed. CT3 has been a wonderful Dodger, a great teammate, and a high-class person, and he can no longer jump out of a boat and hit the water… yet the organization keeps rolling him out there. ENOUGH ALREADY! This was published a month ago. It’s worse now:
Last night, Miguel Vargas sat on the bench with his .857 OPS while CT3 and his .326 OPS played. On what planet does that make any sense? Kike Hernandez is also struggling with and not showing much sign of life. I know that with Max Muncy’s return a long way off, you are looking at a third baseman, but why not get rid of Chris Taylor RIGHT NOW and call up Andre Lipcuis? Maybe, like me, you don’t believe he is a true prospect (a suspect if you will). But what could it hurt? You called up Miguel Vargas, and he has shown that he is past what happened to him last season. Put him in LF and let him play his way on or off the team.
Playing CT3 is insanity. I feel sorry for him. He is pathetic, but this is a bottom-line business. Munch on the $25+ Million you owe him. It’s dead and gone. Call up Andre – put him at 3B for a few games. Maybe he is a suspect, but let’s find out now… and just let Vargas play. That’s all I will say about it. Just do it… already!
NH Dodger asked yesterday about a comparison to Dalton Rushing. While I’d like to say he compares to Mike Piazza (and maybe he does behind the plate – he’s not a great defensive catcher), however, I would say his bat has the potential to be a Salvador Perez. He has a long way to go defensively.
Holy He!! you would think this team is 23-40 and 12.5 games back in the division.
I get it man it sucks to lose and no one likes losing 1-0.
But cmon this is a 162 marathon and then a 5 week sprint.
Settle down, have a beer and relax.
This team WILL be in the playoffs and the team you see on 6.5.24 will NOT be the team that starts game 1 of the NLDS at Dodger Stadium.
Stick with these guys they are good and they are going to be damn good come October.
Mookie has won 2 WS, Freddie has won 1 WS… let me ask you a question, how many WS titles does Harper have, have many does Judge have, how many does Stanton have, how many does Cole and Nola have???
Ill take Mookie and Freddie over those guys anyday…..
Maybe a letter directly to AF would be a better idea. I agree totally what you wrote and the fix can not come fast enough.
Oh, he will read it. Somebody has probably called him and said, “Did you see what that Damn Timmons wrote today?”
I doubt that it changes his mind – maybe he was going to do something anyway.
But it might give him a chuckle.
For the record, I am not panicking!
It only seems sensible for AF to keep Taylor on the team and playing him because it must be part of his “trade agenda” for the deadline. Weird. But for sure, if a flailing CT3 still remains on the roster after July 30, ..then yes.. it’s panic time.
Panic time is only when your doctor says you have cancer.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@dodgerram: True that, but my scenario coming to pass still means big problems for the Dodgers.
Wednesday schedule
11 a.m. PT: Rancho Cucamonga (Alex Makarewich) vs. Visalia (Caden Grice)
TBD: resumption of Oklahoma City (TBA) vs. Round Rock (Jack Leiter)
4:05 p.m.: Great Lakes (Jackson Ferris) vs. Cedar Rapids (Christian MacLeod)
5:05 p.m.: Oklahoma City (Landon Knack) vs. Round Rock (Adrian Sampson)
5:05 p.m.: Tulsa (Justin Wrobleski) at Amarillo (Dylan File)
Rather than just cut Taylor loose, perhaps the Dodgers could eat about 92% of his salary and include him in the blockbuster offer for Luis Robert…. along with Rushing, Outman, Knack and who else?
Seriously, if I ran the White Sox and was willing to deal Robert, what would be my ask to the Dodgers?
–First, a prospect with power potential that could conceivably replace Robert’s, sooner or later. So that would be Rushing, De Paula, maybe Liranzo. (Probably Rushing because he’s closer to the majors and might be able to stick at catcher.)
–Second, A centerfielder like Outman or Pages to take Roberts’s spot on defense. (Probably Outman because of his ’23 performance.)
–A quality pitcher I could plug into the rotation, like Knack.
That’s a minimum.; I’d probably ask for an extra arm or two.
Remember, Robert is under contract through 2027–a contract that LA can easily handle. He’s a quality defender and could lead the OF for 3.5 years. He won’t be cheap.
Give me Rushing, Outman and Knack and I’d probably we willing to take on Taylor at the ML minimum to be a UT guy and provide some of that veteran presence stuff. Who knows? The change of scenery may help.
But I am not running the White Sox and I don’t really expect anything like this will happen.
But it would be exciting.
I like exciting dreams, yours is a good one. But regardless, I’d bet the house AF is gearing up for a big trade(s) at the deadline.
Robert jun. is injury prone. that has to be taken into consideration when talking about compensation in a potential trade.
Outman, Knack and Rushing would be more than a fair return for the WS.
If the Dodgers really want Robert jun. they should act now. WS know that he could go back to the IL any day again and then his trade value would collapse. So better to trade him now then to wait 2 months until the trade deadline.
So the WS should not get too greedy.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
I am not trading Rushing. No way.
Anyone notice the run support Glasnow is receiving??? So they play Taylor to try and “fix” him? He is not fixable!! Kiki is who he is!! A .200 hitter!! Lux is hitting .208!!! We don’t know how much better he will get!! They won’t play Vargas enough to find out if he’s capable of playing every day. Pages sitting on the bench last night after starting to heat up again!! The season is a third of the way through…. Panic isn’t the issue. The lineup is!!
Ok it’s a long season we will get in the playoffs. Fine, no panic about that. But, we been making the playoffs and that is where it ends in recent years. So, we have the same people in the same positions doing the same things. I don’t need to tell you doing the same things over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity but u heard it here first(sarcasm)
First, I believe you have to look at the hitting coach and c what impact he is having on the team. Is it the philosophy to swing as hard as u can on every pitch(simplified version) because u May hit a homer. Don’t worry about the strikeout because we will overcome with a homer. Are u “trying to move the ball forward” as in situational hitting? How is that being recorded? How are hitters being held accountable? Is the hitting coach evaluating situational hitting or prioritizing other areas? So what would the hitting coach say he is doing to improve performance? This offense will not hold up in the playoffs but why? That is the question that AF must get the answer from the hitting coaches.
Is Doc holding the coaches and players accountable? I know they all love him but is that enough? Is that important? He showed compassion with Ramírez and now he is performing. Just hug everyone and that will do it? All the players are comfortable so is that the answer?is Doc trying to win every game everyday or is he playing the long game? This team is not anything special but why not? Is it ok to just “keep running them out there” win or lose? R we on autopilot?
Has AF given Doc the players he needs? Has AF decided nobody can keep the pedal down for 162 so let’s option, dfa, and Il as often as we can play the long game. Has that worked? The playoffs are “a crapshoot” so we just randomly got beat last year even though we had the worst pitching staff of arguably any playoff team. Was that a surprise? Does the ownership think we win the division, we are making lots of money, we should be happy. Why can San Diego make game changing trades before the deadline but we have to wait? For good or bad Preller makes moves all throughout the year. Why do some expect Taylor, Kiké,etc. to hit when there track record is there?
Good points. Especially about trades being made before the deadline by other teams like the Padres.
Arraez and his high OBP would look good in Dodger blue.
And I also agree that AF and the Dodgers always taking the same approach. Playing for the big HR and slugging percentage has not worked too well in past seasons in the playoffs. Regular season is a different animal, you can be successful over 162 games with that approach by sheer talent and good pitching.
But playoff pitching will neutralize the big slugging numbers. Especailly when half of your hitters is at or below the Mendoza line.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!
This post is amazing it hits EVERY silly Dodger trope in fewer than five paragraphs! That’s amazing.
It’s the hitting coach✅
Ownership only cares about money✅
The players are too comfortable ✅
Not enough small ball✅
Afraid to make big trades✅
I wonder if Darvish, Machado or Rich Hill are available.
Scratch Hill off that list, he’s at a Yoga retreat.
MT had a take and did not suck on todays blog post. I am a bit surprised he was so direct in the need for CT3 to be DFA’d; I kind of thought he might defend CT3. Refreshing indeed to see the “warts” he points out in CT3’s game and equalling refreshing to see his comments devoid of “rose colored” comments.
CT3 should have never been given a four-year $60 million contract, but it’s a sunk cost now and it’s time to pull the band-aid off and let him go. Sad to see his offensive skills diminish so quickly but he offers nothing to the team right now now and it’s time to see what a full-time Vargas can do.
Dude it’s sooooo easy to say that now. At the time he took a hometown discount and could have easily gotten more if he didn’t want to stay a Dodger.
https://dodgersway.com/2021/12/02/dodgers-chris-taylor-contract-details/
38-24 first place and 7 game lead
Present standings has little or nothing to do with determining how well they’ll do in the playoffs–the most important consideration of all.
I could say the same about how a team is Playing in June.
And yes, Present standings does matter as you need to get into the dance.
Some of you all are insufferable as fans….
And it’s also insufferable to read those who constantly complain about insufferable fans.
It’s a given the Dodgers are making the playoffs.
And yes, almost everyone has determined by now in June that the ship has sailed on CT3,
and it no longer makes sense for him to be a Dodger by playoff time.
Anyway Matt, I still have hope the warts on this team can be fixed by the playoffs.
I’m a happy-camper like you too. 🙂
I could see if we were 23-38 or something and middling in 3rd place.
This is a good team and we will get better.
Cheers.
Mark on point in this article. If someone has a contrarian view, let’s see it.
CT3 actually hit the ball pretty well last night. First AB was a bullet.
I don’t think he’s far off. Plus he is starting once a week….
Play the long game here….guy has deserved it.
Assuming the Dodgers haven’t already come to conclusions about Taylor and his future with the team, ..then they need to play him regularly (as in a whole lot more often than once a week) if they really want to know if he can improve enough to help them in the playoffs. Let’s see if the Dodgers do that between now and the trade deadline.
Deserve, maybe, but he still is a long way from being the Chris Taylor the Dodgers signed to that four-year deal. He should be gone, one way or another. Team has him and Kike who are basically the same guy. Both are awful this year.
And once again the Dodgers refuse to play a little situational small ball when they should have.
They are having huge problems with RISP for weeks now, were blanked by a rookie P for 6 innings.
Then Lux hits a leadoff double in the 7th. And once again Roberts has Rojas swing away, CT3 and finally Betts leave him on 2nd.Why not have Rojas bunt him over, bring in Vargas to pinch hit ? I really hated that “strategy” by Doc in a 1 run game .
Good blog today , Mark.
Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!
That was exactly what I told my wife I thought we should do,but of course we did not.For most of my life I have always been use to Ms.State playing small and it worked.But grown men would have to bunt.But we should have won yesterday.,
Right-hander Dinelson Lamet, who’d been pitching with the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate in Oklahoma City, has elected free agency, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. Presumably, the minor league deal he inked with the Dodgers back in February contained an early June opt-out date that he chose to exercise.
A. The Dodgers have exactly 100 games left in the season. They have a seven-game lead, the same as the Phillies. B. If anyone believes that the 26-man roster they have right now is the roster they will have on September 1st, they are sadly mistaken. C. There will be changes. Maybe some major ones. They cannot continue the season with the same results from positions 6-9 for an entire season. They miss Muncy’s bat, but he will not return in the near future. The complimentary players have to change or step up a bunch. Although I love Robert Jr. as a player, he would need to be a lot less injury prone for me to give up a ton of talent for his services. I have the same reservations about him as I do Byran Buxton. Another extremely talented injury prone outfielder. I would rather see them acquire a outfielder with good bat to ball skills on the cheap. There will be a lot of outfielders on the market. They do not need to drop a lot of talent on a star that could get injured a week after they get him. I think they will definitely be in the market for an infielder who actually can hit. What they have now is not getting the job done. Mookie and Ohtani need to be better and more consistent. Hernandez, Teo not Kike, needs to up his game, and quit chasing pitches he has no chance of hitting.
Totally agree Bear!!!!!
Yup to everything you wrote Bear. And since the team’s offensive malaise is not just a bottom-of-the-order issue, but a team-wide one, then maybe RVS and his staff need to adjust their thinking too.
I would rather see them acquire a outfielder with good bat to ball skills on the cheap.
They already have one and they won’t play him.
The only reason I can think of why they brought Vargas up from OKC to just mostly sit him with the parent club is because they want to limit his chances of getting injured which would conceivably spoil their agenda to trade him by the deadline. I know my speculation is thin and I’m grasping at straws, but I too am as baffled as you are as to what they’ve done to Vargas. I guess in time all our “wonderments” will get answered. I just hope the answer is a good one.
Yes Mark, he has great bat to ball skills that he has showcased at AAA. They do need to play him to see what they have or include him in a trade for proven MLB talent. The time has come to fish or cut bait with Vargas. But until he shows that he can hit consistently in the majors, he is just another AAAA player.
I guess Mark Walter is an insufferable Dodger fan to when he said “ if we don’t win a World Series we consider it a failure”. That supposedly influenced Ohtani to sign here.
If people are satisfied with this team as is then what u will get is probably a division championship. I’m all for that but this is not a playoff offense. Will Vargas, Pages, outman etc grow through the season? Mb
At the end of the year Kiki , Taylor, Rojas, etc are who they are. Will it b good enough? I doubt it too much kkkkk in the lineup.
I would trade lux, Kiké, Taylor, outman if it improves the team. Teo would be next in line. He hasn’t driven a run in since May 14 if I have it right.
You dont win a WS in June!!!!!
Or September either. And it just isn’t that easy. All the pieces have to fall exactly into place. One late season injury, ala Max Muncy in 21 along with Kersh, Scherzer, and Kelly, can derail the whole train. Running into a hot team can do it too.
The last 30 days Lux has hit .239 which is tied for fifth on the team. The dude just sat out a year, he’s young, and his average is getting better. Heyward coming back is going to help the lower end of the batting order as well as Pages will only get better with experience. Yes Wayne, I have a rosy outlook. It makes me and the people around me easier to be around. I do agree on Taylor. I wish they would tell him to go to Arizona and try and get better or you can just hang out and collect your millions. Those are your choices.
6:40 PM ET
Dodgers (38-24)
Pirates (28-32)
SP James Paxton L
5-0 3.29 ERA
SP Paul Skenes R
2-0 2.45 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
SS Mookie Betts R
DH S. Ohtani L
1B F. Freeman L
C Will Smith R
LF T. Hernandez R
RF J. Heyward L
2B Gavin Lux L
CF Andy Pages R
3B Chris Taylor R
77° Wind 9 mph R
NO Vargas
David Vassegh
@THEREAL_DV
Shocking to realize there are only 4 teams in the National League with winning records.
#Phillies #Dodgers #Braves #Brewers
Michael Busch when traded I cringed but was happy he was going to get an opportunity. Last 30 days .200. Saw an article that was critical of his defense. Young players are difficult to judge.
Two or three years ago, more or less at this point in the season, I expressed my concern about the low velocity that Buehler was having on his fastball, then we saw what it ended up with, in surgery. By the way, “someone” came out to tell me that Buehler was throwing less hard because he wanted it that way, Lol!!!
That said, today I am just as concerned but for other reasons, I have read in recent weeks between 4 or 5 articles where they say that the team is having problems reaching the 95+MPH fastball but they do not say what the causes are. I have a hypothesis and I hope I am wrong and I hope that this problem is resolved and disappears during the course of the season. My hypothesis is that the team has too many players over 30 years old, too many players at the wrong age, some of them are already starting to show a decline in their abilities.
I repeat: I hope I am wrong.
I was one who said that because I had information that the Dodgers were concerned with Striker’s maximum efforts and that Clayton had encouraged him to do so. It turns out the Dodgers’ concerns were valid.
On over 30-year-old players, you may be right. I too, worry about that.
Okay time to wake up Dodgers !!!
I state this with the utmost respect.
Love the west coast, love the weather, and love the people.
But this Hollywood, lazy-fair culture that the Dodgers seem to live by needs to end.
It looks like Betts is more interested in soliciting his next podcast interview as opposed to slapping down a hard tag on a potential base stealer.
Freeman seems like he is discussing diner plans with the oppositions
1st base runner.
Othani, worries more about a pulled foul ball going into the competitors dugout or his hair being in place after his helmet falls off after a swing and miss.
I can’t recall in over 60yrs of watching this wonderful franchise, for the good and the bad, such a lack of motivation or intensity.
No doubt when its all said and done, the players must perform.
But I look at Doc with only 2 real job responsibilities
MOTIVATE this team.
FIRE UP this team up.
Shoot.
Down a 6pack of Red Bull (Wake up)
So far he has failed in that job
Go Dodgers!!
I am not worried about their attitude. Mookie and Freddie are total professionals and want to win all the time. Just because they are nice, it does not mean they do not care. One asshole on a team is enough. You want a jerk, trade for Pham. I was born in LA, and lived there for a large portion of my life, but I would never move back. The city is a toilet.
Just saw a stat that Teo Hernandez leads all of MLB with Men Left in Scoring Position with 38.
Add two more from tonight’s game for a total of 40.
I have a feeling that AF is keeping CT3 in case he can turn it around or so that he can include his contract as a bigger salary dump by another team.
Jason Heyward can hit a fastball and he’s old!
Yasmani Grandal – Bear’s Favorite Player!
😉
Grrrrrrrrrr. Not even close@! LOL> And what did he do? Passed ball, led the league in those when he was with LA> Killed more rallies with DP’s than any Dodger in memory.
0 – 3 …. GAME OVER!
Turn out the lights
They’ve been off for a while! But we can turn them on anytime we want to in October.
Well, the Dodgers only have three problems:
1. They can’t hit;
2. They can’t pitch; and
3. They can’t field.
Otherwise, all is well!
But somehow it’s all Robert’s fault!
4. They can’t manage.
But, of course!
Watching this Wednesday night game, it’s painful watching CT3 take weak swings. If AF is going to pick up any warm arm with an ERA over 6 and try him out for 3 games then dump him ?? Why wouldn’t they take a chance on Lipcuis, who is having a fine season at OKC ? SMDH at all these pitchers he keeps marching out there.
Look at the list, Ricky Vanasco, 2 innings pitched. Gus Varland, 7 IP. Eduardo Salazar, 2 IP. Yohan Ramirez, 8 IP, Nick Ramirez, 9 IP. Dinelson Lament, 4 IP. Elieser Hernandez 9 IP. Nabil Crismatt, 7 IP. Anthony Banda, 8 IP. Not to mention several more on the DL. Why wasn’t Landon Knack left on the roster all the time he was bringing in these use and lose guys ? He pitched fine when he was up. And they only pitch him 5 innings or less in AAA anyways. He would have been much better than almost any of these other guys.
This is easy to answer:
1. Banda has looked pretty good so far, who could be complaining about him.
2. All those pitchers you cite were easy to move off the 40 without downside.
3. The Dodgers view Knack as a starter.
Salazar, Lamet, Hernandez and Crismatt are gone. Knack has pitched in 8 games and started 7 of them. He is not a bullpen piece. Most likely being groomed to be in the rotation next season. Kershaw, Paxton and Buehler are all free agents.
Do you think Buehler and Clayton will be back. I think Clayton will,well I hope so.BUT IF we have most of our starting pitchers healthy.We have 8 or 9 legit guys who can really pitch.
These fucking assholes, today they did remember to score runs, just today when there was no pitching!
You tell ‘em, carnal….
Lmfao
Jorge, post more! I like reading your stuff…
I won’t ask you about SDP, but if you want to further add to your comments about that team, feel free…
Salud…
Pads lost to the Angels again. The Dodgers are the only team in the west over .500. Giants beat AZ again, and they are still under .500.
Well said.
Passan’s Early Thoughts about the Dodgers at the deadline:
($$$)
It’s easy to look past deficiencies when a team’s first four hitters are as good as Mookie Betts, Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman and Will Smith, but L.A. needs to figure out what it’s going to do in the outfield. It’s conceivable James Outman returns from Triple-A and plays like he did last season, or that Chris Taylor remembers how to hit
…
With the scarcity of outfield bats, incremental upgrades might be the best bet, but with MLB so wide open, the Dodgers owe it to themselves to do more.
Is Passan’s evaluation just another example of a stupid post?
The opposite!
He has sources, a proven track record, and years of experience in clubhouses and intimately around the professional game.
His last statement is everything people have been saying here
Indeed. If only that was all they were saying….