This is AF’s 5th full year, and hopefully he will continue for several more years. He is human so he is prone to making mistakes, but never has he made an error without a very good reason for making a change. Most of us may not have understood the decisions, but they were always made to help the team. And I recognize and appreciate that it was a rhetorical statement, as everyone believes he is doing whatever he can to improve the team. GM/Pres-Baseball Operations are judged by how many mistakes they make in hindsight and not necessarily with the successes.
Keeping that in mind, maybe AF has not pulled the trigger on the right trade or FA…yet, but he has done a masterful job of building a 40-man roster that can compete with any team in MLB for now, and possibly in the next several years. AF catches most of his flak from non-moves. The problem there is we have no idea if any offer was made and not accepted. We will never know until perhaps AF writes his own “The Big Chair” autobiography, but it was widely reported that Corey Seager and Julio Urias and others were required by Ruben Amaro, Jr. Amaro needed a big splash because he was about to be terminated without a HR trade for Cole Hamels. He did not get it from Texas, but he was never going to get Seager or Urias from AF. AF may have offered what could have been a better offer than the Texas deal, but Amaro preferred the Texas deal over the Dodgers Plan B (whatever that was). Was AF wrong? I do not think so, but I write a couple of posts a week for LADT and do not get paid $7MM for making those decisions. I get skewered a bit here, but not nearly as much as AF does in the press and blogosphere.
Where I do think AF was wrong was not getting Gerrit Cole or Christian Yelich. I said so well before each were traded, and I know that the Dodgers could have given better offers for both players. But I do not what (if anything was actually offered), so I can only speculate from afar. He made good deals in 2016, 2017, and 2018. They did not give us the reward we were looking for, but as painful as it was for us fans, I am certain that no-non player/manager/coach felt worse than AF. Is he being stifled by tight-fisted owners? They say no, but I have my doubts and said so all last winter.
All that as a preface, I wanted to look back and see where the Top 30 prospects were in 2015 to today. Today will be part 1, and I will finish my thoughts tomorrow. Okay I needed to find a second post for this weekend. Hey, if Mark can write about the new Tony Gwynn or fickle relievers multiple times, I guess I can write about the Top 30 prospect status more than once (or twice).
For this exercise, I am using MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 prospect list. I highly respect Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo as two of the very best veteran amateur and MiLB talent evaluators. In 2015, the Top 30 were as follows:
| 1 | Corey Seager | Current LAD AS SS | |
| 2 | Julio Urias | Current LAD SP/RP – Should be top of the rotation next year | |
| 3 | Jose De Leon | Tampa Bay – AAA (Logan Forsythe trade – 2016) | |
| 4 | Frankie Montas | A’s (Rich Hill/Josh Reddick trade – 2016) | |
| 5 | Grant Holmes | A’s (Rich Hill/Josh Reddick trade – 2016) | |
| 6 | Walker Buehler | Top 3 LAD rotation | |
| 7 | Alex Verdugo | Current LAD Starting OF | |
| 8 | Micah Johnson | Tampa Bay – AAA | |
| 9 | Chris Anderson | Out of Baseball | |
| 10 | Cody Bellinger | Current LAD Starting OF/1B (and a leading MVP candidate) | |
| 11 | Yadier Alvarez | Who Knows?!?! | |
| 12 | Yusniel Diaz | O’s – AA (Manny Machado trade – 2018) | |
| 13 | Austin Barnes | Back at AAA after 2 years on 25 man | |
| 14 | Mitch Hansen | Sadly out of baseball | |
| 15 | Starling Heredia | RC Quake roster | |
| 16 | Trayce Thompson | Just released by Cleveland | |
| 17 | Jharel Cotton | A’s (Rich Hill/Josh Reddick trade – 2016) | |
| 18 | Brendon Davis | Rangers – AA (Yu Darvish trade – 2017) | |
| 19 | Zach Lee | Mets – AA (To Seattle for CT3) | |
| 20 | Chase De Jong | Just released by Twins – (To Seattle for Drew Jackson/Aneurys Zabala) | |
| 21 | Omar Estevez | Tulsa Drillers roster | |
| 22 | Johan Mieses | Cardinals AA (Traded for Breyvic Valera) | |
| 23 | Jacob Rhame | Mets – AAA (PTBNL in Granderson trade) | |
| 24 | Josh Sborz | OKC Dodgers roster (a couple of trips to 25-man) | |
| 25 | Ross Stripling | LAD 25-man roster | |
| 26 | Jacob Scavuzzo | ChiSox AAA (After being released by Padres) | |
| 27 | Julian Leon | LAA AA (Traded to LAA for Zach Hartman) | |
| 28 | Kyle Farmer | Reds 25-man roster | |
| 29 | Jordan Paroubeck | Released | |
| 30 | Willie Calhoun | Rangers 25-man (Yu Darvish trade) |
Of that list, 13 were FAZ acquisition via:
Trade (5):
Micah Johnson
Frankie Montas
Austin Barnes
Trayce Thompson
Chase De Jong
Draft (4):
Walker Buehler
Mitchell Hansen
Josh Sborz
Willie Calhoun
International Free Agents (4):
Yadier Alvarez
Yusniel Diaz
Starling Heredia
Omar Estevez
That is a very significant turnover from the Ned Colletti regime. Admittedly Ned and his staff drafted or signed as IFL many top prospects who are still with the Dodgers: Corey Seager, Julio Urias, Alex Verdugo, Cody Bellinger, Ross Stripling. While Ned and staff get significant kudos for inking these prospects, FAZ also gets significant kudos for not trading them, and they most assuredly could have, and for some significant return. Even this past winter, it was widely rumored that Miami insisted on Cody Bellinger for JT Realmuto. AF said no, and now LAD has a MVP candidate of their own.
Of that original 2015 prospect list, 6 are playing for LAD, 3 are on other ML team’s 25 man (although Frankie Montas is suspended for PED use), 5 are still in the LAD organization with 2 of them (Barnes and Sborz) with LAD experience, 11 still in MILB with three having ML experience (Jharel Cotton, Jose De Leon, and Jacob Rhame), and 5 currently out of baseball. Trayce Thompson and Chase De Jong were just released by Cleveland and Minnesota respectively, and if Zach Lee and Julian Leon are still playing, I assume some team may still pick them up.
So going back to 2015, 5 of the top 10 prospects are integral components of the ML team, one other of the top 30 is still on the 25-man roster, and one (Austin Barnes) has been an integral part of this team, especially 2017 (my editorial placement). So it sure seems absolutely astute of AF and the complete FAZ predecessor of holding onto the right prospects, and knowing which ones to move. The hope is that all of the players traded will be MLB players, just not as good as players traded for.
In 2016, the top 2 (Seager and Urias) plus Strip graduated to the ML 25-man roster. Three more of the top 30 were traded for Rich Hill and Josh Reddick, Zach Lee was traded for CT3, Julian Leon was traded for Zach Hartman, and 5 were removed from the top 30 list. There were 13 new additions in the top 30. 12 were drafted or added from the International pool (Kaybear and Brito). The drafted by LAD prospects include, Jordan Sheffield, Gavin Lux, Will Smith, Brock Stewart, Imani Abdullah, Edwin Rios, Mitchell White, Trevor Oaks, Dustin May, and DJ Peters. One was added after being released (Andrew Toles). We have all heard where Toles was when he was signed to a minor league contract.
Again, the top prospects are primarily home grown, and the ones that were removed (traded) were the result of bad trades. Of the 13 added, 9 are still in the organization, with two (Will Smith and Dustin May) currently on the 25 man, 5 are on the OKC roster (2 on the 40-man – Kaybear and Rios) and one knocking on the door HARD (Gavin Lux), one is at AA and should get consideration for the bullpen in 2020. Two were removed due to trades, Ronny Brito (for Russell Martin) and Trevor Oaks (for Scott Alexander), one retired (Imani Abdullah), and one is having personal problems (Toles). If Toles can ever get it together, he could be a weapon. I do not know of anyone who is not pulling for him hard.
Tomorrow I will wrap it up with changes in the 2017-2019 Top 30 prospects changes.
AC’s MINOR LEAGUE LOWDOWN
OKC Dodgers 8 – Las Vegas Aviators 10 (A’s)
The OKC Dodgers blew 3 saves last night (Thornburg, Quackenbush, and Nunn). The Dodgers took a 6-3 lead into the 7th and after Tyler Thornburg gave up a 2-run HR in thee 8th to tie the score. The Dodgers jumped back out in front in the 9th with an Austin Barnes HR, only to have Kevin Quackenbush give up 3 hits and the tying run. In the 10th with DJ Peters starting on 2nd, Keibert Ruiz hit a run-scoring single to break the tie again. In the bottom of the 10th, Chris Nunn surrendered a two-out three run HR for the third blown save and loss. Dodger pitchers gave up 16 hits including 5 HR’s.
The Dodgers offense had 4 batters with 2 hits; Gavin Lux, Austin Barnes, Edwin Rios, and Keibert Ruiz. Barnes (1), Ruiz (2), and Reks (17) each hit HR’s with Rios hitting his 21st double.
Tulsa Drillers 3 – NW Arkansas 1 (Royals)
The Drillers had 6 hits and made them count. Omar Estevez had a 2-run HR (3) while Cristian Santana had a RBI double (22). Cody Thomas (16) and Drew Avans (4) also had doubles. 27-year-old RHP from Germany, Markus Solbach was the star of the game. He pitched 7.0 shutout innings, while Ryan Moseley allowed a run in the 9th but got the save.
RC Quakes 4 – Visalia Rawhide 10 (DBacks)
Three Quakes errors led to 7 unearned runs. Four Quakes pitchers allowed 14 hits and 5 walks to go with the three errors to make for a long day. Offensively, the Quakes had 7 hits led by 2 doubles for Jeter Downs (25) and a Donovan Casey HR (20). Downs (69) and Casey (65) both had two RBIs, both with 2 outs.
Great Lake Loons 1 – Fort Wayne TinCaps 3 (Padres) – 10 innings
The Loons got 3 hits in total. Kody Hoese had 2 of the 3 including his first GL HR. Chris Roller hit is 14th double. Jack Little started, and did not have his A game. 2.0 IP with 3 hits and 3 walks and one run. Jose Chacin had a very good scoreless innings, and Aaron Ochsenbein pitched a perfect 2.0 innings.
Jasiel Alvino allowed 2 runs in the 10th for the loss.
Ogden Raptors 1 – Rocky Mountain Vibes 0 (Brewers)
In Game 1 of a DH sweep, the Raptors scored their run in the 7th (final) inning with a Brandon Lewis double (7), an Andrew Shaps sac bunt, and a Zac Ching sac fly. Alfredo Tavarez started and pitched 5.0 scoreless innings with Jeff Belge wrapping it up with 2.0. Belge ran into a little trouble in the bottom of the 7th but escaped a bases loaded jam to register his win. Brandon Lewis and Ramon Rodriguez each had a pair of hits.
Ogden Raptors 11 – Rocky Mountain Vibes 5 (Brewers)
In the second game, the Raptors broke out early 2-0 lead in the 1st inning, but the Vibes scored three in the 3rd to take a 3-2 lead for their first lead of the day. The Raptors quickly came back with 2 of their own in the 4th on Brandon Wulff’s 2 run HR (3). Brandon Lewis hit a 2-run HR (7) of his own in the fifth to take 6-3 lead. The Raptors used 2 walks and fly ball to CF to move the runner to 3rd and a Jeremy Arocho sac fly plated the 7th run. In the 7th inning, the Raptors led off with a pair of walks who came around to score on the Zac Ching 3-run HR (3). Another walk and a double (2) by Carlos Mendoza finished the scoring for the Raptors. Brandon Lewis had 3 hits, including his HR (7) and a double (8). Andy Pages had 2 hits including his 11th double.
Antonio Hernandez (5.0 IP) and Drew Finley (2.0 IP) scattered 9 hits and 4 walks but pitched well enough out of trouble to get the victory.
AZL Dodgers Lasorda 2 – AZL Brewers (0)
The Lasordas got superb pitching from Alec Gamboa (3.0 IP), Jacob Gilliland (5.0 IP), and Riley Ottesen (1.0 IP). They allowed 4 hits, but issued ZERO walks to go with 9 K’s. Gilliland’s record went to 3-0, while Ottesen registered his 1st save.
Edwin Mateo had 2 hits including his 5th double and Yhostin Chirinos added 2 singles. Wladimir Chalo hit his 1st triple of the season.
AZL Dodgers Mota 9 – AZL Indians Blue 11
The Indians jumped out to a 6-0 lead after 2 innings. The Motas clawed away all night, but could never catch the Indians.
Joe Broussard had a rehab start and pitched 1.0 inning. He allowed 3 runs (2 earned) on 3 hits. Hyun-il Choi had an off night allowing 8 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks. Igor Avila pitched a scoreless 2.0 innings and registered 4 Ks, and Cyrillo Watson finished it up with another scoreless inning. Watson now has appeared in 6 games with 4.2 IP. He has allowed a pair of hits and 1 walk but no runs in that time. He has 0.64 WHIP and .118 BAA. Very good start to the career of this 23rd round pick.
Ismael Alcantara had a 3-hit night, including his 1st HR. Juan Zabala and Alfonso had 2 hits each. Kenneth Betancourt hit his 4th double, and Imanol Vargas hit his 2nd triple.
DSL Dodgers Bautista 2 – DSL Astros 1
The Bautistas scored their 2 runs on 2 singles and 10 walks. Five pitchers combined to allow only 1 run on 6 hits and 5 walks.
DSL Dodgers Shoemaker 5 – DSL Indians/Brewers 7
Bladimir De La Rosa had 2 hits including his 9th double. Mayron Cathalina hit his 2nd double. 6 pitchers allowed 7 runs (4 earned), with 12 hits and 2 walks.
Discussion (54)
Disagree, not disagreeable
BTW, Greene blew his first save opportunity for Atlanta tonight.
XLNT pitching this night!!!!!!!!!!!
Gyrko was 1 for 2 for Tulsa tonight. He would be a nice upgrade from Tyler White once he’s ready. I believe Doc said 40 or 50 AB’s
I like tonight’s lineup, its the best 8 guys IMO.
Not sure why there is so much negativity about the team’s playoff chances or lack of deadline moves. AF is not sitting on his hands and at least a couple adds have done well, Sadler and Negron. It’s hard to bring in impact guys if they are merely a placeholder for injured players. Hard to fault how they have not blocked the kids this year and how well Beaty and Smith have done. We have seen Garlick and Rios and Gonsolin and May and lessor bullpen guys get a callup to the show. The swirl of activity had to affect some of the players and with that behind them they have time to put the pieces in place and see how they fit. The Dodgers and Yankees took a lot of flack for standing pat yet they have as good a chance as any to meet in the WS and the Dodgers are set up really well for the next couple years at least. I’m pretty confident this team will gel and go on another tear, plus get injured players back and possibly get some rookie contributions to boot. I still think this is the year they break through and take home the trophy.
I totally agree with your evaluation of AF AC. When you step back and look at the quality and quantity of prospects now on the roster and in the pipeline it’s insane. With six straight division championships and two straight world series appearances the Dodgers still have a top 5 farm system. Think about that. And, look at the players on the current roster that were top prospects recently. The pipeline is flowing full blast and doesn’t look to stop for a while. Lux, May, Gonsolin, Ruiz, Peters waiting in the wings. And, still more in the lower minors waiting to realize their dreams. We evaluate AF on drafts and trades, but look at the team he has put together for player development, analytics, fitness, nutrition, etc. We draft at the bottom every year and still find incredible talent. That’s where player development is so important. And, with AF it’s the trades and players that he didn’t make that are more important than the ones he did. He has been aggressive at the deadline, but the players he obtained failed to meet their past performances. Not AF’s fault.
I was very disappointed after the trade deadline with not getting Vazquez, but sometimes you don’t get what you want. The price was just too high. I think Pittsburgh will regret their decision to keep Vazquez over getting some solid prospects in return. Their GM’s delusional thinking that the Pirates will complete for a playoff spot next year is just beyond belief. But, that’s Pittsburgh’s problem. He still has Vazquez and we have Lux, Ruiz, May, Gonsolin, Peters, etc. I like our decision.
So, bottom line, I’m all in on AF for now and the future.
Other observations:
It looks like JT is really hurting which is sad to see. He’s still a plus hitter, but he is missing in the middle of the strike zone that we are used to seeing him crush. For the playoffs I would like to see him down in the sixth spot.
I think it would give him more RBI chances (only 46 right now) with his power not what it was. And, I don’t know if his arm is hurting, those lollipop throws to first are just awful to watch. There all over the place. He doesn’t have Belli over there to bail him out anymore and it contributes to our poor defense recently. Of course, having Pederson there didn’t help.
Will “the thrill” Smith is so fun to watch. We know his offense is going to slow over the rest of the season, but the display of his catching abilities will probably be a consistent. No hits tonight. OK, I’ll just throw out a couple of runners and handle the pitchers like a veteran. Love it.
Matt Beaty is just a hitting machine. It’s a shame that his is a liability on defense. It would be nice if he could zero in on one position during the off season. If we make it to the world series he would be perfect as the DH. Keep raking Matt.
Max Muncy I think may be traded in the off season. He is not athletic at all and it shows on defense. He really has no position that he plays well. First base (OK), second base (meh), third base (awful). Love the homers, but is starting to strike out at a more alarming rate (29%). Maybe a third (move JT to first) or first baseman should be obtained in the off season.
And, last but not least, Joc Pederson. I think it’s time for him to move on which is a sad deal. He’s a one dimensional hitter. Only hits RHP and home runs. He plays a decent outfield. But, he just doesn’t appear to put much effort into improving himself as a baseball player. When things are going good he’s awesome (which isn’t often). But, when he is bad (which is most of the time) it’s frustrating to watch. Doesn’t appear to have any plan or insight with each AB. There’s no conviction. He needs a fresh start.
Dustin May. What a nice beginning for him. Great movement with his fastball. I didn’t see much use of his curve ball. Mostly fastball and cutter. He seemed to be getting more comfortable after the first inning. It was nice that Roberts left him in for the sixth. The Padres began zeroing in on his fastball knowing the curve ball and slider were nothing to look for. Overall, good start to his career. With more starts and some additional weight he could be a 1-2 starter for the Dodgers. And, with good health the Dodger pitching future is bright.
Let’s look at some of the acquisitions the FO has done at the trade deadline for the last 3 years and see how they are doing presently.
2017
Yu Darvish-2019 W-L/ 3-5, ERA 4.46, WHIP 1.22, salary 5 year deal with Cubs, 2019 at $20M. He was already struggling with Texas at 6-9 and 4.01 ERA. He was a rental. FO never intended to sign him for the next season.
Logan Forsythe-2019 slash line .250/.359/.408/.767, but he still can’t hit. He was good at getting walks for us but couldn’t hit. We all know how he turned out. They still paid him $9M in 2018!
Brandon Morrow- 6-0 with us in 2017, 2.06 ERA, 0.916 WHIP. They let him walk! Cubs signed him for $9M. Was he not the bridge to Jansen? What was wrong with him? Better than most of the relievers fans wanted before this year’s trade deadline.
2018
They keep Logan Forsythe, a non-productive hitter but decent defenseman.
Matt Kemp-a bloated salary and an Allstar. It was a complete mystery about why they wouldn’t play him during the 2nd half of the season.
Max Muncy- a fantastic find, finally. He kept us alive and cost us nothing.
Manny Machado- a superstar rental. Underachieved with us. The FO never had any intention of signing him even though they made a gesture. We all know the story.
Brian Dozier-another mediocre 2B who could not deliver the goods.
A slew of relievers auditioned in 2018 with a mediocre group making the BP. In 2019, we are still complaining about our BP and signed Kelly for $8M who has hurt more than helped us. Another questionable signing by the FO.
In my estimation, the best player turned out to be Muncy who is making the league minimum. Machado went on to get a $300M contract. The best reliever, Morrow, they let walk and this year they decided they needed relief help. Go figure. Does anyone see what is going on here? The Dodgers suck at acquiring impact players. Everyone who sticks is either home grown or traded for prospects that are not very meaningful. 2B is still a sore spot and after trying everything from Forshyte to platoons, they still don’t bring up their star Lux. Do you think they are trying their hardest to win a WS? I don’t. Maybe the players are trying their hardest but the FO has not given them the necessary ammo to propel them to victory. We are good and we are deep, but the FO has been atrocious to recognize the weaknesses of this team and would rather wait for farm hands to mature than trust themselves in the FA market or trade arena. Pollock, their star signing is another underachiever and is always pointed to to prove the FO is not cheap and is willing to spend. I guess they just pick the wrong guy to spend money on as well as most of the people I listed above.
Having said all this, we still are in the thick of it only because our home grown players have done well and JT kept us afloat for these years. He was not one of the FO’s successful acquisitions. Credit Ned for that. If we fail to win the WS, will the FO somehow go out and acquire a difference maker? Or will the FO and their fandom continue to say ‘next year’?
Great retrospect AC. It looks like about a 3rd of those players have had varying degrees of success in MLB and a handful at the upper end of the spectrum. Not bad indeed. The thing I gather from this is that only about 5 guys on a top 30 list are going to be definite keepers. So, if your untouchables list is 10-15 deep, you’re dreaming.
May was awesome last night. The movement on his fastball reminds of Darren Dreifort, aka “A-Rod Consolation Prize.” I can see him having a chance at working out in the bullpen for the stretch run. Maybe even 4th starter if that’s the direction they want to go. (I still prefer Urias in the rotation for many reasons.)
Cleaner defense and a couple of inches on a couple of balls in CF and he would have had a great outing. It also reminds me of Gonsolin’s first outing in that manner.
I completely lost my mind at the Trade Deadline. It’s come and gone. No use crying over spilled milk now. We have a great team with a lot of options to be sorted over the next couple of months. We all get to watch all those prospects we’ve been hugging so tightly and there’s no use worrying about the Astros until October. A lot can happen between now and then.
I read this morning that we can play 500 ball the rest of the way and finish with 97 wins. This team is truly impressive. And unlike the American League, we don’t have a bunch of punching bags to beat up on all year.
Friedman has done a fine job under the obvious constraints put upon him in terms of payroll and not signing major long-term deals. However he seems to feel that he is forced to look at the used car department when searching for free agents, because the owners won’t let him look at the top models. He signed Scott Kazmir, who it was obvious was rapidly declining, and had arm issues. We got about three wins out of him for about $40 million or more. He got Brett Anderson, who had talent but was always injured,; we actually got one year out of him, picked up his option, for $15 million, and he got hurt again and missed the whole season. AJ Pollock is another constantly injured player, and we gave him four years at $50 million or so, and once again he is on the disabled list. And Rich Hill, whom I do like, and who has certainly helped when healthy, is often out for long periods, which of course was his history when we signed him. With all this money, we could have gotten at least one big-time free agent such as Scherzer, and/or paid for Verlander a couple of years ago, and we would have two or three titles by now. And homegrown Yelich was an obvious must-get, but there was something about the salary or prospect price which essentially kept us from even trying very hard to get him.
Friedman is probably the only person we could have running our front office who could somehow find the various odds and ends which mostly fill our roster, and who often surpass expectations. But it reminds me of Cinderella’s equipage, one waits for them to turn back into pumpkins in the World Series, if we get that far. The only stars we have on this roster are Bellinger, Buehler (almost) Kershaw, (whose best days are behind him). Seager maybe, if he were healthy, but he rarely is now. Turner is a good hitter if he is healthy, which is not so often now, but not an overall great player.. Maybe we can count Ryu, if only for this year.The rest are various reclamation prospects and young players with varying degrees of potential. It is rather amazing that we have done so well with this, but continually passing on the few top free agents or trade possibilities, does limit the ceiling for the franchise, even if attendance is great.
Per SI – Post Deadline Analysis:
“Still, the problem with Los Angeles is that, with Kenley Jansen struggling, the team doesn’t have a singular, established high-leverage option. Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez would have been that arm, but his price was prohibitive. Instead, the Dodgers will have to hope that someone in that aforementioned group of starters can play up in relief—a big maybe for a team trying to end a 31-year championship drought.”
They recognized that the Vazquez price tag was prohibitive, but notes the team has to now hope that one of the starters (or rookies) can be that high leverage late inning reliever. If that is what we have, I am going to buckle up and enjoy the ride.
Minor League Report has been updated above
Excellent column. Yah, I wish the Dodgers had picked up Yelich. Read a couple of reports they were interested, but I’m sure the Marlins wanted a big haul of prospects, which they got, but they weren’t all that good. Funny how things work, but a straight up trade of Verdugo for Yelich would have worked out better for Miami. Verdugo has been really good this year and is going to get better. Part of the problem is other GMs want the top rated prospects, not the ones in the sixth through 10 range. But the Dodger system is simply better than most other systems and that should be obvious with the players making an impact with the big league club. Most of the star quality prospects the Brewers traded to Miami have faded away. The only real problem the Dodgers have had is wasting a lot of money internationally on Cuban players, who they should have avoided. Fifteen million for Yadier Alvarez? They’ve admitted that they blew it and changed that operation. But what puzzles me is they didn’t pursue Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The Dodgers are now all in as a develop your own players franchise so Friedman will not consider trading away top prospects any time soon. Even bullpen issues are likely to be solved internally in the future. I just wish the Dodgers would have kept Greinke by negotiating an extension earlier and so do they. Other than that, I have few complaints. Well, maybe the fact that Frank McCourt still gets a cut of the parking lot revenue.
Let’s not forget that the Dodgers will make a blockbuster roster move late this month, or early September. No, not a trade, that ship has sailed, but Rich Hill, Chris Taylor, Kiké Hernandez, Jedd Gyorko, David Freese, Caleb Ferguson, and possibly the team’s top position prospects Gavin Lux and Keibert Ruiz will be available. If some combination of those players were acquired by trade this month it would be considered a blockbuster and make the Dodgers the favorites to win the World Series. I am 100% on board with the Dodgers strategy, led by Andrew Friedman. Would I like to have Felipe Vazquez in the bullpen? Absolutely! But at the cost of Lux, May, and Ruiz? Absolutely not! For me, the end-all is not the World Series. As we all know, the best team does not always win in any post season tournament, whether it be the NCAA, NBA, NHL, or NFL. To sell out on the future, for the possibility of a championship now does not make sense for the long run.
The Dodgers need 49,383 fans per game to reach 4,000,000. Today they average 48,608, that’s close.
The Fab Four: Lux, May, Ruiz and Smith, are not traded.
What do you think about May last night ? I would have just left him 5 innings and i would use him for long relief better for the last 2 months and maybe he can get in big leverage situations if ready for October. Any Comments MT or anyone else??
Watching May pitch last night gave me lots of hope that he can be a big part of the team moving forward. Lots of movement on his pitches and was hitting 96-97 with the fastball. I feel disappointment that more wasn’t done at the trade deadline but know that AF has done a great job constructing the 40 man roster and putting together a winning team in LA. It’s easy for me to sit back and criticize, not knowing how things actually went down behind the scenes. All we can do now is watch how it all plays out and hope that we can get another Championship back at Chavez Ravine.
If the Marlins wanted Bellinger for Realmuto, then what did they want for Yelich?
The Brewers gave up their #1, #5, and #20 prospects for him as well as Jordon Yamamoto, who was not ranked at the time, but this year was #17 and is pitching very well in the majors.
I know that we have no way of knowing what value the Marlins put on the Dodgers’ prospects, but the same package from the Dodgers would have been Bellinger, Calhoun, Ruiz and another pitcher. Brinson’s star is waning but in 2017, he was the #13 Top MLB Prospect. The Marlins may have asked for the moon. Probably did…
I’ve offered tons of trade ideas mostly to humor myself during the off-season. Sometimes I have included players Mark has liked because he has offered players I have liked. That said, I wanted Yelech and understood it probably would have cost Pederson and more of course. I also wanted to offer a front end loaded contract to Scherzer when he was a free agent. The Nats got him with a back end loaded contract but had the advantage of him wanting to stay on the east coast.
I’m not disappointed about the lack of a big trade. I look forward to watching Smith, Lux, Seager, Bellinger, Buehler plus the new players that jump up more unexpectedly. Ruiz, Hoese, Gray, Downs will soon be joining the core. Maybe I will warm up to Verdugo.
Pederson, Turner, Jansen, Freese, Martin, will soon be history and hopefully they will get to win a WS before they go.
Very glad we held onto our top prospects, not only in recent years, but thru this week’s deadline. Homegrown players are more fun to root for anyway.
We’re into August now, and a lot of things have gone right this year. Belli can hit left handed pitching – and then some. Ryu is a bona fide ace. Kershaw has successfully adjusted. Muncy has largely duplicated his 2018 effort. And the rookies are playing above expectations. Not to be greedy, but I’d like to see some veterans step up to better our chances of winning the WS, and it’s not the bullpen. Specifically, Turner and Seager.
These guys should be as locked in at the 2nd/3rd spots in the order as Bellinger is in clean up, and they both need to be hitting north of .300. I’m trying to practice patience, but it’s starting to get late in the year. Am I being unrealistic? Does Seager get a pass for the full season? Is this who Turner is at this point in his career? They’ve both had individual games (or about 3 weeks in Seagers case), where they produced like we have come to expect from them, but the consistency isn’t there. I think we can live with the typical ups and downs from the rest of the order, but those 2-4 spots have to be as dependable as gold for us if we’re to match runs with the AL representative or even Atlanta. Hopefully, I’ll look stupid a month from now and they’ll make me eat my words.