Frequently, I read and hear fans complaining that the Dodgers don’t have many homegrown position players. Well, duh… that’s what happens when you win your division every year and go to the playoffs as well. You draft at the bottom of each round. Here are four reasons why it is so difficult to draft at the bottom of each round:
- Top Talent Goes Early:
- The most highly touted prospects (elite high school players, top-performing college athletes) often go in the first half of the first round. Drafting late means missing out on these “can’t-miss” talents.
- Shallower Talent Pool as Rounds Progress:
- While baseball drafts are long (20 rounds now, previously 40), the further down you pick, the harder it is to find high-impact players. By the time late-first-round picks come up, the consensus top talent is often gone.
- Bonus Pool Limitations:
- MLB uses a bonus pool system for signing draft picks. Teams drafting earlier have larger bonus pools, giving them more flexibility to sign top talent, including players who might be tougher to sign due to college commitments or financial demands.
- Development is Crucial:
- Even top prospects need extensive development, and lower picks often need more time and effort to refine their skills. Teams drafting late must be exceptional at scouting and player development to find hidden gems.
In summary, when you are as successful as the Dodgers have been in the past 10 years, you have to find better ways to acquire and develop players. However, not all is lost or dismal. Unlike the NFL or NBA, where top picks often make an immediate impact, MLB players often take years to develop. Teams with strong scouting departments (like the Dodgers, Rays, and Braves) consistently find value late in the draft. Every year, highly skilled players fall due to signability concerns, injuries, or being from smaller programs. Smart front offices can capitalize on this (think of how the Dodgers snagged Walker Buehler at 24th overall in 2015 despite injury concerns). Additionally, teams successful in international markets can build strong farm systems even without high draft picks.
BTW, the Dodgers Competitive Balance Payroll (for the purpose of the Luxury Tax) in 2025 is now $402,335,656, according to Cots Contracts. By comparison, the Marlins and the White Sox payrolls are both $86 Million… and the Dodgers are ruining baseball? Tight-ass owners are the real reason.
Aaron Boone’s a piece of shit. Nepo baby do nothing famous for one hit.
To Aaron Boone:
His mouth has a history of getting kicked out of games.
Anything to detract from his teams atrocious play and his bad decisions.
Probably the easiest path anyone has ever had to a WS berth….
I had that book when I was a kid. I think I got it for about 10 cents. I read the whole thing and tried to follow those basic instructions. Al Campanis was a stickler for fundamentals. Using those fundamentals, the Dodgers still need some improvement defensively. Muncy made three errors in the first series with the Padres last year.
Max is adequate, but not spectacular. He is who he is. The dodgers could have Nolan as i write this, but evidently they don’t want him. (i guess?). Aaron Boone? i like him till he opens his mouth! I’ve never gotten over boone , smiley Jess, and vascersion(spell check) on ESPN! He calls the best organization in baseball “classless”? Well Verdugo didn’t have a lot of class . He didn’t stay in LA did he? But the Yankees snapped him up quickly didn’t they? Joe Kelly didn’t even play in the series! Classless? what about those 2 “yankees “ fans who tried to dismember Mookie? Yankee fans know their yankee baseball. But the majority of yankee fans don’t know squat about the other teams in baseball! i’m a dodger fan! But i’m a baseball fan fan! From 1988 till 2020 i watched games the dodgers didn’t play in. And i still watch other teams today. (except the aaaaassssstros!). And until Altuve is gone i won’t watch them unless they are playing the dodgers. Probably not watching a lot of Red sox games either. in ending, Does Aaron Boone think Clayton, Freddie,Mookie, Teo,Edman, Glasnow, Trienan, Phillips, Yamamoto, Max, most of all Doc Roberts are classless? At least Boone has Judge. Rizzo is a class act too. But he’s gone. So judge your own team Mr. Boone or go back to tv where you weren’t so good either.
Yes, LA could trade for Arenado, and he could even have a resurgent season. Not sure why they haven’t really pursued him, but maybe they do not have what St. Louis wants in return, and maybe the Cardinals do not want to pay part of the 69 million he is owed for the next 3 years by the Cardinals. Colorado owes 5 million to him this year. Maybe they don’t want Taylor or Muncy. Those two would offset the Arenado contract. But St. Louis had a bunch of infielders. More are not needed. I have to believe they would want some starting pitching, and maybe LA does not want to unload any of theirs.
Gonsolin is the guy i keep hearing they want. Outmaan and Gonsolin for Arenado? Would you do it? i think i would.
I would hate include Max but would do Taylor,Gonsolin as long as Cards payed down 10-15 mil of his exist K. Don’t think it’s going happen or it already would have. He’ll get moved at deadline
I would only want him and his righty bat if it helped Outman start in CF. Max wouldn’t really have a position with Arenado on the team so if St. Louis really wants to trade him then Max and Taylor would help swap payrolls. However, I think Betts could find a home at third next year when Max is most likely gone.
Alex Freeland can play 3B….
But who knows? Maybe Mookie will ask to play 3b!
Where do you keep hearing that?!?!?!?!
There is no way St. Louis would take Muncy. The whole reason for trading Arenado is to give their kids playing time Muncy would defeat that plan. The only thing they would from LA is pitching
The voices in his head!
You try to have elite defenders up the middle. Put the other guys at the corners. rf…lf…3rd…1st. If your lucky enough to have a defensive stud at 1st or 3rd, more power to you. Nolan is not the player from yore. His skills are diminishing. Gonsolin had an epic year then got hurt. No way do you give up pitching like that for an aging star. We got a ring with Max. So let’s roll with what we have.
Book em
I have absolutely no problem with what Boone said.
He pointed out that the guys who made the comments he didn’t care for didn’t even contribute to the victories (Kelly and CT3).
He then pointed out that the Yankees didn’t play well, the Dodgers won, so they had a right to mouth off even if he would hope his players wouldn’t go that route if they won next year.
Lastly, he pointed out that the Dodgers major stars didn’t make comments like that, that he has great respect for the organization and that there are a lot of guys on the team that he admires and respects.
Not a damn thing wrong with any of those comments as far as I’m concerned.
We paid Kelly 9 million dollars last year to shoot his mouth off after not contributing much of anything all year.
He’s a rib buster.
I have no problem with Boone being a whiney little bitch, either.
Other than it was 100% right, and he should have just shut the fuck up… it’s fine!
The Yankees should try to get Arenado, which would enable them to shift Jazz to 2B.
Arenado would join Belli, Goldschmidt and Fried on the post-Soto Yankees, as well as that rookie (Dominguez?) getting a lot of hype.
The Los Angeles Dodgers have made another minor league signing, per The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya
Veteran infielder Michael Chavis has signed with the Dodgers on a minor league deal, and joined the team at Camelback Ranch for spring training.Chavis, 29, last played at the MLB level in 2023 with the Washington Nationals. Across 48 games, he slashed .242/.281/.341 with two home runs and five runs batted in.Across his five-year career, Chavis is hitting .238 with 42 home runs, 142 RBIs, and an OPS of .685. He has experience playing first base, second base, third base, left field, and right field.
.Max Muncy in 2024 had an OBP of .358 with an OPS of .852. Max is aging like fine wine. Nolan…..not so much.
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Dodgers reversed course on how they’ll configure their rotation to open the season, as president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said Friday that the team will use five starting pitchers until Shohei Ohtani returns to the big league mound.
Throughout the offseason, the Dodgers maintained that they would likely use a six-man rotation to help manage the health of their starters and the schedules of Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki, who are accustomed to pitching on an extra day of rest.
Now, the Dodgers think that they’ll be able to manage a five-man staff until Ohtani is back as a pitcher sometime in May by using their six off-days in March/April and calling upon depth as
“I think we’ll be able to fit whatever schedule makes sense for [Yamamoto and Sasaki],” Friedman said. “With the off-days and just the depth that we have, we’ll be able to get creative.”
By home grown do you mean American, or Californian, or Southern Californian, or Los Angeles County Californian home grown?
In baseball parlance, “Homegrown” means a player drafted and developed by a team.
Clayton Kershaw and Will Smith are Homegrown. So are Tony Gonsolin, James outman, Andy Pages, Dustin May, Landon Knack, Michael Grove, and very few others.
Back in the day, Cey, Russell, Lopes and Garvey were a homegrown infield.
Will Smith was the 32nd pick of the 2016 draft.
If you look up that class, I think most fans would agree that he has outplayed the 31 drafted ahead of him.
One of those guys was Lux, drafted 20th. And he’s outperformed most in the class of ’26 too. (And now the Dodgers added two prospects in dealing Lux, Mike Sirota and a guy to be drafted later.)
1, 2, 3 that year were Moniak, Senzel and Ian Anderson.
Parlance of our times!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRjzfsrvWZg&ab_channel=ScottMcElroy
The Big Lebowski is epic!
I WISH none of us would almost prove Boone’s accusations accurate by name calling.
The Yankees were truly awful defensively in game #5 and THEY KNOW IT. Any team can make an error, even more than one in a tense, high leverage game. They made many. What they are so upset about is the Dodger’s players that razzed them for it.
The only way to respond? Beat them again!
I will say it again:
I have no problem with Boone being a whiney little bitch, either.
Other than it was 100% right, and he should have just shut the fuck up… it’s fine!
None of the Dodgers said anything inflammatory. They just spoke the truth. Boone should have just shut up.
He’s lucky to still have a job.
FYI: Nolan Arenado is not coming to LA unless it’s a huge overpay!
Mark I actually think the opposite. I think he comes to LA if Andrew can get Nolan on a huge under pay.
You can see that SL desperately wants to move on from him, partly because they are having a reset, partly because he’s blocking some younger players, partly because of the money they owe him, and partly because he doesn’t want to be there anymore. He used the same tactics to engineer a move from the Rockies.
Yes they could trade him to someone else, but he holds the cards. because if his full No Trade clause and he is only interested in a move to one team, namely, The Dodgers.
As time drags on for SL they will get more creative and I imagine more desperate for a deal to be made. This is where AF thrives. I can see a larger deal with a number of players and Prospects involved.
If, and it’s a big if, we land him, it will be because AF believes he is getting value.
Of course AF may have already lined up the Japanese 3B Murakami as Max’s successor.
I meant that St. Louis would have to overpay.
Ah ok – I see now
And I totally agree
I’m puzzled the Arenado-to-Dodgers chatter persists.
It only happens, I think, if the Dodgers can unload Taylor’s contract in the deal. The Cards would want a pitcher back, probably a potential star like Bobby Miller. I’d prefer that the Dodgers keep Miller and offer Landon Knack and maybe an iffy prospect like Bruns.
A platoon of Max and Arenado could work, with Arenado getting extra innings as a defensive replacement. When the Dodgers give Freddie days off–and they should–Max could play 1B.
If Arenado actually comes, it would cut into Kike’s ABs. Right now, I think Kike will be in a quasi-platoon with Max.
They don’t persist, Duke.
It’s unclear if they ever existed at all.
Arenado certainly wanted a deal.
I suspect the Dodgers explored the matter and concluded that Arenado might be washed, what with the diminishing bat speed. I suspect the Cardinals called to gauge interest and moved on.
Max might be the most underpaid veteran on the Dodgers. (To me it seems that Taylor got the contract that Max deserved. )
Max missed about half the ’24 season due to injury, but while he was playing, he outslugged Teo–a guy who just signed a 3-year deal for $66m. Max’s recent AAV is about $10 million lower than Teo’s. (And both are mediocre fielders.)
There is a club option for Max at $10 million. I keep reading how his salary will come off the books after ’25, but if Max continues to produce like he has been, $10m would be a bargain.
From MLBTR:
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/los-angeles-dodgers
Dodgers To Begin Season With Five-Man Rotation
Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak spoke to members of the media today, including Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat, saying that trade candidate Nolan Arenado is likely staying put. “I think the mindset right now is he’s likely going to be a part of our club at this point,” Mozeliak said. “I definitely feel like it’s a better chance than not” that he is the club’s Opening Day third baseman.
Baseball truism:
You can never have to much pitching!
AF will never trade young pitching for an aging veteran. Not even Maddux Bruns. I can see another Busch or Lux trade, but our young controllable pitchers ain’t going nowhere. BTW how is Cody Hoese looking? Alex Freeland anyone? Diminishing talent doesn’t even move the needle for Friedman. That’s Arte Moreno territory.
Book em
This is a pivotal year for Kody Hoese. He will be 28 in July and hit .196 in 2021, .234 in 2022, and .244 in 2023. He broke out last season and hit .287 with a .835 OPS. Up until last season, his career OPS was sub .700. This year, he needs to improve even more. He has to show that 2024 was not a fluke. I have no opinion, but I am watching intently. Well, actually, I do have an opinion. I think he is a career AAAA player. It would be nice if I were wrong.
Oh, and as far as the Dodgers reversing course on the rotation. Only the dipshit talking heads said 6 man rotation. AF never said that. 3d chess again. He loves to play the sportswriters. When Ohtani joins the rotation he will slot into the rotation for an injured starter. Allowing the team more flexibility with an extra arm in the bully. Bet it.
Book em
Dano: I don’t mean to be argumentative but as I said a couple of days ago, this is only a strategy to allow Ohtani to be part of a 6 man rotation. When that happens, he will be classified as a 2 way player, thereby not counting as a pitcher. Obviously that allows for 13 other pitchers which means 8 relievers with a 6 man rotation as long as Ohtani is one of the 6. The amount of off days in April sort of allow enough rest for the equivalent of a 6 man rotation with only 5 pitchers.
Shohei Ohtani is already considered a two-way player for the 2025 season despite not pitching in 2024. This is due to a change in the eligibility rules for two-way players by MLB.
Actually, I think Gomes was on-the-record regarding the six-man rotation.
Nolan is staying in St. Louis. He is a shell of his former self and comes with a boat anchor contract. As much as I would like to see Chris Taylor off the roster, I would rather have him than Arenado.
Prediction: Mookie will be great at shortstop.
Bringing Kershaw back amounts to a farewell tour and is richly deserved at 8-17 million. Getting rid of Muncy would be hard. Poor defense, can’t hit lefty pitching, clogs the bases. Platoon him with Keki and let him go FA next year along with Barnes and Taylor. By in then we should have plenty of ready talent in the family farm.
Muncy’s D was greatly improved last year. Granted, maybe to average, but not a liability either. It is not realistic to expect all star quality at every position. You can desire it, but won’t happen.
WORD!
Exactly!
Why do fans have such a hard time spelling KIKE? Muncy is a Dodger because of his OPS. Not his defense or his lack of hitting against left-handed pitching. His defense has improved a ton since he first moved there. His defense is at least adequate. He is a 30 homer a year guy when healthy. Muncy’s OPS against lefties is .802, very respectable. His career BA against lefties is only 8 points lower than his BA against RHP. His option next year is a team option. If hehas a rebound of a season, he is a real bargain at 10 mil next year.
2 words explain why Aaron Boone is not a great manager. Nestor Cortez. I don’t hate “ Boonie”, he’s just not that good! Now id the new guys the yankees signed have one mmore career year and the pitching is solid, they could possibly get back to the world series. Boston could have something to say about that though. Tampa bay will pitch their way into contention in the east. Toronto can’t seem to sign anyone that pushes them over the top. Max? not sure he makes it through the all star break. Baltimore? possibly the
most disappointing off season of any playoff contender. Now i despise Bregman, but his addition to the Sox makes them dangerous. I can see them neck and neck with the yankees till the end. I don’t like Cora either, but if you compare him to Boone, Cora is better, no question.
Max Muncy’s valve is much more than his glove and bat. Losing Max would be like losing a piece of your heart!
That was part of the value of Joe Kelly and also of Kike.
Agreed. Kelly may have sucked to many fans, but he brought attitude to the mound. Hitters did not like facing Mariachi Joe.
The Dodgers are not reversing course on a 6 man rotation. If you look at the amount of days off at the beginning of the season, it doesn’t make sense to have a six man rotation to start the season. They will go into a six man rotation in May is what I am thinking. I believe they have every Thursday off in April. I am hoping that Gonsolin, May or Miller will step up and fill out the rotation of Snell, Yamamoto, Glasnow and Sasaki to begin the year. That’s assuming everyone stays healthy.
+
This is interesting:
Dodgers Sign Eddie Rosario To Minors Contract
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2025/02/dodgers-sign-eddie-rosario-to-minors-contract.html
Dodgers just signed OF Eddie Rosario to a minor league deal. Yes, that Rosario, the one who single handedly demolished LA pitching in the 21 NLCS.
Maybe a trade in the works.
I would look for one in the next 2-3 weeks, but it could happen in April.
I think Mark Timmons would appreciate it if you posted this every 2 to 3 weeks.
Having differing opinions is healthy for a dodger fan. The fact is they’re going to start the season with a 5 man rotation. That was never in doubt. After that anything is possible. Nobody even knows what the roster will look like in May. But we all know Ohtani will be a 14th pitcher. How they utilize that spot is up for debate. Heck, they might be down to a 4 man rotation by the time Ohtani takes the mound. Pitching injuries will happen. And the team will squeeze every drop they can out of that extra spot. There is a high possibility that they carry 6 starters but not employ a 6 man rotation. Think Yarbrough….Dustin May…Honeywell’s. This is fun JayB. We don’t know what we don’t know. Ha Ha.
Book em