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.
Discussion (29)
Disagree, not disagreeable
(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
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?
Former MLB manager, Eric Wedge is the new manager of the Dodgers affiliate in Tulsa.
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
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!
Sasaki officially signed. Not listed on the roster yet. LA is shopping Brasier.
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.
I wonder who the lone MORON is that did not vote for Ichiro?
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.
Roki sitting row 1 at the Lakers game.
Great stuff, Mark. Thanks.
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.