It seems to many Dodger fans that Walker Buehler won 200 games and three Cy Youngs as a Dodger. The fact is: he won 47 games in his 7 years with the Dodgers, with a 3.27 ERA and a 1.090 WHIP. His best season was 2021, where he went 16-4 with a 2.47 ERA and a .0968 WHIP. He finished 4th in the Cy Young Voting that year. He did shine in the playoffs, putting up a 3.04 ERA in 94 innings, while striking out 114.
He really shined in 2020 with a 1.80 ERA and saved the last game of the World Series for the Dodgers in 2024. He is now etched in Dodger Lore forever. However, in the 2024 season, and coming off his second Tommy John Surgery, he was 1-6 in the Regular Season with a 5.38 ERA and a 1.553 WHIP.
Walker Buehler will forever part of Dodger Lore, just like Kirk Gibson, Orel Hershiser, Steve Sax, Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, Reggie Smith, Davey Lopes, Dusty Baker, Don Sutton, Mike Piazza, Adrian Beltre, Fernando, and many others. They weren’t always there for a long time, but they were there for a good time!
Thinking with your heart will get you bet evcery time!
Don’t be sorry he is gone, just be glad that he was once a Dodger!
Goodbye Walker, I hope we can call you Striker again as you pitch for the Red Sox.
Merry Christmas!
This is a postcard I got when the Dodgers used to send me stuff!
Merry Christman to everyone here. This is the best LADT Christmas EVER!
Merry Christmas Mark, and all you other lovely folk.
Totally agree with you on Walker. AF knows what he is doing.
If the hold up with Teo is only money then cut Barnes and give Teo the money and free up a roster spot. Let Rushing catch once a week.
Barnes wasn’t used at all in the Playoffs, and that tells you all you need to know.
Signing Snell is the best move any club will make this offseason It’ll be a good team that finishes ahead of the Dodgers in 25.
There’s a reason Austin Barnes has played 10 years in a Dodger Uniform. There are only 7 who have done that.
1. Steve Yeager
2. Mike Scioscia
3. Otto Miller
4. John Roseboro
5. Joe Ferguson (he was an outfielder too)
6. Roy Campanella
7. Austin Barnes.
If Barnes plays in 2025, he will tie John Roseboro for the #4 spot.
The reason Barnes has been in LA for 11 years is
1. He has photos of Freidman and Zaidi; or
2. He is the glue that holds that pitching staff and clubhouse together.
Kike is of that same ilk but does it on a much higher key than Austin. He keeps the team loose. Austin keeps them straight. His leadership skills are off the charts..
No one will finish ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West in 2025.
How many ‘leadership guys’ does a team need in the clubhouse? Sure he is a smart guy and is great with the pitchers. But as said, not great enough to catch even ONE game in the playoffs. Also most of those guys did NOT finish their career as a Dodger. At some point they moved on to be replaced by someone who could perform better ON the field.
MLB contracts are guaranteed.
merry christmas! totally agree WD! cut barnes , or as i suggested earlier, make him a coach! they can probably pay him more to coach and teach than they can as a player! ……. Really sad to see Walker leave. but, i’d rather it be in Boston than san diego or frisco or Arizona! …. Always have a special spot in my heart for Belli! He wanted no part of a trade to Houston!! Don’t like the yankees, but i hope he has a great season! …. Ken Rosenthall still believes Teo will be a dodger! hope he’s right! …. Anybody seen Kike? …. God bless everyone! Merry Christmas!!!!!!!
If a guy is great in the clubhouse, great with the pitchers and doesn’t get to play in key games……Yes that sounds like a coach in the making. Of course he may want to play a few more years. Ok let him go somewhere else for a year or 2 and then bring him back to coach. But would another team really sign him??
They just won a World Series with him.
They have two World Series with Austin Barnes on the team.
They have been in the playoffs every year since he started.
They have won the NL West 9 out of his 10 years.
I don’t get the disrespect for Barnsie.
I don’t think people are disrespecting Barnes, just time to move on. ‘Just won the world Series with him’. That’s a joke right? He did not play!!!. So really he WAS just a coach in the playoff run. I guess you could say that about EVERYONE on the team. All those points you made. Do you really think it would have been different without him? I guess The team is so deep that they can afford to carry him on the roster.
He did not play because the Dodgers have Will Smith as a catcher, who is one of the best in baseball, but you have to have a backup catcher because catchers are prone to injury. I would not expet him to play.
Now, maybe in 2026, Dalton Rushing may become his backup and hit against tough RHP, but he’s not ready now.
Dodgers could always sign Buehler in the future.
Is there a reason there has been no chatter about the Dodgers signing Jurickson Profar as a free agent? He has greater positional flexibility than Teoscar Hernandez is very similar offensively, strikes out less and walks more.
From what I have read Jurickson Profar is a good clubhouse guy and signing him would weaken the Padres.
Jurickson Profar age 31
Plays Outfield, second, and short
Switch hitter throws right
For 2024 hit .280 (.300 against left, .273 against right)
OPS .885 against left, .823 against right)
564 at bats, 101 SO/ 76 BB
Anticipated contract 3 years $45 million
Teoscar Hernández age 32
Plays left field
Hits right throws right
For 2024 hit .272 (.290 against left, .265 against right)
OPS .931 against left, .808 against right)
589 at bats, 188 SO/ 53 BB
Anticipated contract 3 years $71 million
If you look at Profar in the vacuum of 2024, he looks really good:
24 HR
.280 BA
.380 OB%
.839 OPS
But look beyond that:
2023: .776 OPS
2022: .723 OPS
2021: .649 OPS
He is very up and down and he really can’t play SS or other positions at a high level. He’s a LF’er.
There’s also some bad blood between him and some Dodgers players and maybe that could be mended, but there are also character issues. He’s not had good back-to-back years.
Dropping in on this Christmas day to say hello.
Profar and Barnes are teammate opposites.
I hope Outman has an awesome 2025. He is a favorite of mine but as a favorite he has often been painful to watch.
I am curious about Betts moving to third base by 2026.
Godspeed to you, Bums.
Good analogy about Profar and Barnes.
Outman has a chance…
3B? Anything is possible, but I have always felt that he would play 2B.
I guess it depends how Muncy does. The Dodgers have an option on him…
Be very careful about signing a player with a long record of mediocrity and one career year.
BANG!
Barnes didn’t play in the playoffs!!! Barnes backs up an all star in Will Smith. Why would you start Barnes over Smith. The Dodgers were confident enough in Barnes to play if Smith would have gone down. Barnes is an all star in professionalism and his insight of the game. We need to not vilify him because management thought Smith was a better option. With the days off in the playoffs Smith didn’t need a day off. So if we are going to pile on Barnes we need to come up with a better reason. Merry Christmas.
I will say one thing:
The Dodgers dumped AJ Ellis because (in part) Kershaw and a couple of other pitchers preferred throwing to him. AF wanted to eliminate that.
So… if the Dodgers have a viable option at C in Spring Training (Rushing, Feduccia, Cartaya), I could see Barnes getting DFA’ed… or maybe moving to the front office.
Amen
I have suspected AJ got too involved in game planning and ruffled Honeycutt’s feathers.
No
But… Barnes is the least of the Dodgers problems.
Teo and Roki are the problems… ‘er “Opportunities in Drag!”
I still believe that Buehler pissed off AF and the Dodgers when he wanted to rehab on his own in Florida with his own people. Also the Dodgers have a shelf life on certain players in terms of value and are not afraid to let them walk. Example, Seager, Bellinger,Jansen ,Turnerand Pederson to name a few, Teo may be the next to move on.
There’s a lot of info here about it:
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5652221/2024/07/23/dodgers-walker-buehler-florida/
Draw your own conclusions.
That sounds right to me, AVF. The brass is selective about its commitments, which I think is a reflection of its wealth.
Smaller market teams like Atlanta and Milwaukee offer young talents (like Acuna and Chourio) big extensions to save money long-term. The Dodgers prefer to negotiate year by year with such people. When Yelich and Belli were the hottest young stars in the league, the Brewers secured Yelich long-term while the Dodgers brass politely showed Belli the door.
Right now it seems that the brass wants Teo on their terms, not his. Who will blink? So Teo could move on–and the Dodgers will be fine.
There may be no Teo, but the Dodgers have added Snell and Conforto, and will have Edman and Kopech for a full season. Plus Shohei will step on the mound. Plus Gonsolin and May will be back from injury. The ’25 Dodgers are in stronger shape than the ’24 Dodgers.
If Teo moves on, I expect the Dodgers will pivot. From what I’ve been reading, the cost for 27-year-old Luis Robert Jr. may be going down. He would be a high-risk, high-reward investment. But the Dodgers could absorb the risk.
I could see and wouldn’t jump off a tall building if Barnes didn’t make the team. Also it wouldn’t be unwise to trade one of the three catchers that Mark mentioned. I just hope the Dodgers get fair value in the trade. If one would look at the free agent catchers this season or next season the pickings are thin. The Dodgers are in a position of strength. If I were a GM for a day (thank goodness that won’t happen), I’d insist on Smith getting reps at another position. He would remain the regular catcher. Where I live the Royals are the team everyone follows. Salvador Perez is a superstar. Against left hand pitching he plays first base. This keeps him fresh and his bat stays in the lineup. I think it old do the Dodgers well to keep Smith’s bat in the lineup but give him a break from the rigors of catching every game. I think Smith would stay more consistent as the season wears on.
Will Smith has faded in the second half the last couple of seasons. It’s a long year and it couldn’t hurt giving Smith more time off. A solid backup would serve the team (and Smith)well.
With Barnes’ leadership skills, the front office has believed that value has been important. How much longer remains to be seen but I’ll trust those within the organization in the know.
I think Barnes’ tenure is probably nearing the end. He probably has a minor league managerial position or coaching position within the org lined up. But 2024 was one of his finer offensive years, which might have bought him another year as a backup. That’s how I see it.
Merry Christmas everyone!
Merry Christmas Mark and all LADT Posters.
What a GREAT year for us Dodger fans and the best is yet to come.
hope everyone had a great christmas! …. almost the end of 2024 and still no Teo!! it’s not my money, nor my decision, but as some of us have said before, they were willing to pay soto 600 million dollars, but can’t spend 66 on teo. guess that’s beyond my pay grade! An outfield of conforto, edman, and pages, with outman and taylor on the bench? no thanks. i like the conforto signing. i also like James O., but i see him as a .220 guy striking out 40% of his at bats. Still think Edman is better served as a super utility guy. Pages? could be a better than average player. We don’t know. Correct me if i’m wrong, but there are no big time prospects for center field in the minors, right? With Teo back , It allows Doc to use Edman in the infield when there’s a lefty on the mound. Pages can slide into center, or Taylor can play center. Is Kike in the conversation? …. As i said before, with Mookie playing SS, and Max at 3rd., the left side of the infield could be an adventure at times. Kike did a really good job at 3rd spelling Max! zKike has never been an everyday player in my opinion. But, he’s as valuable as any starter for what he can do! The whole infield and outfield? Kike can play anywhere, although SS seems to be his weakest position these days, still pretty solid though. …. This pitching staff has the potential to be outstanding! HEALTH. the word of the 2025 season for Glasnow! Just close your eyes and imagine this 5. Glasnow, Yamamoto, Snell, Ohtani, Gonsolin! Not to mention Clayton,Knack,May, oh yeah, possibly Saski! … Speaking of special pitching, why would the pirates ever consider trading J. Jones?? With Skeenes, Jones, and Keller, they have a chance to compete! I guess it’s just another case of greedy -ss owners refusing to spend their money to compete! Then they can just sit in their plush offices and act offended the dodgers, yankees, Mets , Red Sox, Cubs,Rangers and a couple of other teams want to win! At least 25 teams can sign Sasaki! But are their owners committed to winning on the field, or just at the ticket booths?
The Dodgers’ top OF prospects are all 19 years old playing on the A or A+ levels. So probably a couple years away.
Perhaps the teams’ best CF prospect right now is Zyhir Hope, obtained with SP Jackson Ferris from the Cubs in the Busch trade. He was a two-way talent in high school. Speed, power, a great arm. I hope we see him at Spring training. (Pretty sure Pages was 19 when he was invited.)
Eduardo Quintero, signed out of Venezuela a couple years ago, is being trained for CF. Recent first-round pick Kendall George has the speed to run down everything, but his arm may be best suited for LF.
Top prospect Josue De Paula is a bat-first guy who could play a corner but seems best suited for DH. That job is taken on the Dodgers. I rather trade De Paula than Rushing or Hope.
Teo re-signed. 3 for 66. Fourth year option for 15 million