Padre Fans, Giant Fans, Ranger Fans, Braves Fans, Blue Jays Fans, and every other baseball fan on the face of this earth are bitching up a storm about how the Dodgers are “ruining baseball.” They would be fine if their team was doing what the Dodgers are doing, but no one else can do what the Dodgers are doing! Nobody but Nobody!
The fact of the matter is that it’s not just a great time to be a Dodger fan, but it’s the best time EVER to be a Dodger. The great Dodger eras in the past can not compare to this era of Dodger baseball. This is year 10 in the Friedman and Walter Era, and there could be another 10 years to go.
As great as the Dodgers were last season, they learned that you can never have enough pitching. They only had three healthy starters in the playoffs last year, so they hoarded starters. They now have more than a dozen possible starters (if you count Clayton Kershaw, who has not signed). Count ’em:
- Snell
- Glasnow
- Yamamoto
- Sasaki
- Ohtani
- Miller
- May
- Gonsolin
- Wrobleski
- Knack
- Casparius
- Frasso
- Shehan (mid-season)
- Kershaw (mid-season)
Additionally, Jackson Ferris will likely be ready later this year. Where the heck are you going to put him? Then, Byrnes and Friedman set out to max out the bullpen and added Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates to a bullpen that already had Blake Treinen, Alex Vesia, Brusdar Graterol (mid-season), Michael Kopech (mid-season), Michael Grove, Edgardo Henriquez, Ryan Brasier, Antonio Banda, and Jack Dreyer. Whoops… we have to factor in that some of the starters might be in the bullpen. This team is loaded and as I said, there is not a better time to be a Dodger fan.
But, there is also no better time to be a Dodger, and players who want to win want to come to the Dodgers… because if you have been around like Kirby Yates, for ten years and have never won anything, this represents your last, best chance at a World Championship! That deal is not final and still could fall apart, but Yates is jumping at the chance to be a Dodger. Players like Tanner Scott and Teoscar Hernandez are deferring money just to be a Dodger. Everybody wants to win, and I have wondered if the Dodgers might win 120 games this year, but I think that inning management will be paramount. I would not be surprised if NO DODGER PITCHER pitched more than 130 innings.
Don Drysdale wrote the book, “Once a Bum, Always a Dodger!” Players all over want to be Dodgers! It’s the best time ever!
As I write this, it is -2 degrees F. I just brought in all my brass monkeys. Shadrack is a snow dog and at 120 pounds at eight months old, he loves the snow and cold.
X-CITES
US WATER SYSTEMS NEW DIGS
I thought I would give you a quick tour of our new plant.
I sometimes find it hard to believe that I started this 25 years ago in my garage.
All the Dodgers are doing this offseason is replacing their own free agents and retired players. Snell replace Flaherty, Sasaki replaces Buehler, Scott replaces Hudson, Yates replaces Kelly, Conforto replaces Kike’, and Kim replaces Lux. Simple replacement and upgrade over players that left. Smells a little bit like collusion from the owners again. Let the big market clubs sign deals last year and this year while the smaller markets claim they can’t afford to keep up. Cubs and Cards claiming poverty is pretty funny to me.
It really may be poverty (after the owner takes out his $100 Million).
I like it.
Great stuff, Mark. Thanks.
Roki sitting row 1 at the Lakers game.
Roki at the Lakers game–he’s a big basketball fan, apparently– is just one example of how the Dodgers wooed him. Part owner Magic Johnson was involved, of course.
Pretty cool story in Dodgersnation about the courtship. It also included a gathering at part-owner Peter Guber’s home in Bel Aire. Guber hired a sushi chef to prepare dinner, and the guests included Shohei, Mookie, Freddie and Will Smith. There were also videos from some “new” Dodgers (I assume including Snell and Edman) about how the Dodgers organization takes care of its players and their families.
Shohei was described as “driving the bus” on the recruitment. So yeah, all of this is part of the Shohei snowball effect.
Reportedly Shohei sent out a text message before the official announcement: “We got him.”
I doubt that the Dodgers really needed to wine and dine Roki so thoroughly, but why not full out all stops?
It’s good to a Dodgers fan. And very, very good to be a Dodger.
Rack him
Should point out that The Athletic did the Roki recruitment story, and Dodgersnation just recycled some high points. Edman was at Guber’s home too.
Six years from now, I’m hoping that that Roki, Yamamoto and Shohei are joined in the rotation by Joseph Deng, the 17-year-old from South Sudan who stands 6-7 and is already hitting mid-90s. He might have another two or three inches yet to grow.
It’s fun to root for the Dodgers.
I wonder who the lone MORON is that did not vote for Ichiro?
I totally agree. That idiot should have his right to vote revoked. Had a little set back in my recovery. Flareup in the ankle did not allow me to do any PT yesterday. Still a little sore, so they want me to take it easy. Now I know how ballplayers feel when they are injured and want to get back on the field. In my case, I am chomping at the bit waiting to get out of the rehab facility and then be able to drive back to Colorado. Here is another thing to chew on, LA rotation for at least the next five seasons is Ohtani, Yoshi, Sasaki, Snell and Glasnow. It is going to be really hard for any prospect to break into that rotation.
Ichiro only had two or three good years.
No way should that two-bit dink hitter have even sniffed the HOF.
Travesty!
Patch, are you delusional or being sarcastic? He had 200 hits or more his first 10 seasons in the majors and led the league in hits 7 of those 10 years. How many players have 2000 or more hits in their first 10 years? ANSWER, only Suzuki, 2244, and Paul Waner, 2036. .300 plus BA over his first 10 years, 2 batting titles, .311 career BA. No, he wasn’t a slugger, but he was the best hitter in his era. He also was an outstanding fielder.
LOL! You’re finally getting the hang of my sarcasm.
Yeah, he deserves it, but to be fair, if you’re measuring his performance with modern metrics like WAR, he really did have only three years above 5.
Fantastic hitter, but the modern game and modern offensive stats like wRC+ penalize a lack of power.
It’s the difference between batting average and hits and how a batter actually contributes to overall run creation.
He’s a class person, too. He was good for the game.
Patch, sarcastic?
Never!
Ram is still calling for LA to trade for Robert Jr. IMHO, I do not think there is a chance of that happening. Robert Jr. cannot stay on the field. Oh yeah, he played exactly 100 games last year, but LA needs some on who can play at least 140 out there. He has done that once in his entire career. And most of his offensive stats are based on that one season. Sorry, not someone I want to be paying for not playing.
Did anyone see what Pages did in NY in the NLCS?!?!?!
This kid is going to be good. Damn good….
His splits say different. .213/.277/.371. OPS .647. He did hit 10 HR’s off of them, but he stuck out almost 33 % of the time. Versus LHP .357/.520/.917 OPS .917. K rate around 25%. At this point, he is a platoon player period. Also, he is no CF.
He was a rookie last year, you dont think he will progress???
Pages was also coming off a major shoulder injury and has a full year to recover.Give the guy a chance.
He is no CF, and I see progress, but not that much. Hell, Outman hits lefties better than Pages hits RHP. Unless he totally flips the switch, and that isn’t easy in the majors, he is who he is, and with Conforto getting the bulk of the work against RHP, Pages will be nothing more than a platoon player this year. He might have less AB’s than he had last year.
Yeah leave him a spot for the future. We are tying all our positions up long term. We need some flexibility for our young prospects.
Sasaki officially signed. Not listed on the roster yet. LA is shopping Brasier.
I believe Sasaki as an International signing is not reqired to be placed on 40 man roster immediately. He probably will
be on February 11th when Spring Training starts and injured players like Graterol,Sheehan,Stone, Kopech and Ryan can be placed on the 60 Day IL.
You are right Andrew. I just checked. Sasaki is on the OKC roster.
I think Pages will be used as a RH hitter against tough LHP when Conforto sits. He could be lethal against LHP, but he is no CF’er!
The 4 bench players are…….
Barnes
Rojas
Taylor
Pages
Pages makes the roster unless…………..
Stay tuned. I’m not sure Andrew is done.
Book em
Former MLB manager, Eric Wedge is the new manager of the Dodgers affiliate in Tulsa.
5 questions for dodger pitching. (1). will Clayton pitch for the dodgers this season? )(2). will tyler glasnow stay. healthy? (3). will Tanner Scott be the “ninth “ inning dude? (4). will Blake Snell get enough starts to win a 3rd cy young? (5). will ohtani pitch before the all star game? or at all? the answers to these questions may or may not hold the key or keys to the dodgers quest for another world series championship. sure is fun contemplating the answers. i look for Snell to be a total stud! Maybe he no-hits the giants! wouldn’t that be something?
(1) Absolutely!
(2) I hope so, but we shall find out.
(3) He will be one of 2, 3 or 4. The Dodgers will not have just one closer.
(4) I will give you a definite “maybe.”
(5) Yes