Are the Dodgers Doomed?

The dumbest conversations arise when the team plays poorly.

Too late to deal with those inflated contracts so let's Fire Roberts!! satire warning

Mark, you are preaching to the choir! AF deserves credit for developing first class baseball operation. But, whether it's him or the ownership, the past 2-3 years they have become lazy in the respect with the amount of money they carelessly throw at free agents. I felt it started with the signing of Tyler Glasnow after they traded for him. To give him the years and money he got with the injury history he had was questionable. He had elbow surgery while in Tampa and was recovered with his arm feeling healthy for the first time in years. It's all good now! Well, his arm was good, but the rest of his body continually broke down. What a damn surprise. Tyler had injuries with '23 with oblique, cramping and back along with his elbow issues. So, it wasn't just with his arm. The past two seasons it's been back problems. I can see AF trading for Tyler and having him pitch for a season before making the commitment he did. I trusted the Dodgers on their assessment of his health. Then last year it was Snell who was signed out of nowhere to an another crazy contract for a five inning pitcher with a horrible injury history. No surprise that Snell only pitches a couple of months for a mere $31M per. This is when I felt that the Dodgers were willing to throw outrageous amounts money at free agents just because they could. This year they took their free agents signings to the absurd with giving Diaz $60M over three years. Of course, now that he was a Dodger pitcher, so he soon had elbow surgery. Since he has returned he has looked like shit. Adding to the ill advised contracts was the signing of Kyle Tucker. Why? Hell, the Cubs didn't want to sign him at any price. But, not the Dodgers! AF felt that he deserved $60M for four years. That's $60M per year for four years. When this happened I was deciding if I wanted to follow this team anymore after doing so for 65 years. That's Ohtani and Soto territory. Besides his disappointing underperformance there's his semi comatose vibe. Add the resigning of Teoscar this last offseason and the Dodgers have a nice trifecta of WTF signings. We have to watch him swing unconsciously at pitches three feet out of the strike zone for dozens of at bats before we get a HR or a productive hit. Awesome! Many express "well, it's not my money". I tend to disagree. Where does the money come from that each team gets? From the fans. Yes, you and me. From attending a game, parking, buying food, souvenirs, etc. Watching the game on cable or streaming that advertisers pay for in order to reach fans of the Dodgers. Same with the on field advertising. The bottom line is that all the money comes from fans or because of fans of Dodger baseball. And my opinion the Dodger organization has not been a good steward of our money in the last few years. Carry on.

I’m taking your post as tongue in cheek, Mark. Yes, the Dodgers have an outlandish payroll. Yes, they are monumentally underperforming. Yes, it’s early August. Yes, they will win the division by ten games and have the 2nd best record in the league. No, it’s not the end of the world.

Wow. Every year the same old song and dance. I'm talking about y'all not the Dodgers. Do you want a championship or win 162 in the regular season. If rose colored glasses win championships, I'll keep them on. It's August for crying out loud, pun intended. I enjoy a bottle of whine every now and then but..... You're entitled to your opinion as am I. I've got a rope to help you climb back up that cliff you just jumped off. Seriously, enjoy the ride. It's a great time to be a Dodger fan. 20 games over .500...7.5 game lead. Book em

Congrats to the world champion Los Angeles Dodgers to end a 7 game losing streak. Hats off to the bullpen and to Jack Dwyer for his first save for '26. The Dodgers' sixty million dollar man, Kyle Tucker, came through with a HR to tie the game. I love watching Yamamoto pitch. A true professional. I'm interested in how many pitches he averaged in Japan pitching once a week. With the Dodgers three Japanese starters used to pitching once a week and the Dodgers trying to duplicate that with their six man rotation shouldn't the starters pitch count be higher?

08/07/26 Los Angeles Dodgers sent C Chuckie Robinson outright to Oklahoma City Comets.

The Dodgers have the Trump curse! That's what they get for going to the White House to see Trump and give him a WS ring and jersey! Everything that Trump touches goes to Shit!

I'm a little slow but I think your article is a little tongue and cheek. Right Mark? Please say right. Book em

Bulls get rich and bears get rich but pigs get slaughtered. Old Wall Street saw.

We will win the next two against the Snakes in the Desert.

Hallelujah. A win even though the offensive strategy in the 10th inning was odd. Why not have Edman bunt Tucker to 3B with one out? Diaz did look good after the back-to-back triples. We need some offense in the worst way.

HA! Diaz gets the 'Win'

Seriously, he put Diaz in again. I would trust Dreyer before Diaz right now. Moronic.

Yikes

Luke Fox is back. AA LHP to keep an eye on. I think Jeff likes him.

Using the mute button again!!

One week in a 6 month season doesn’t mean much. I still like our chances against anyone else.

Don’t panic. It’s just that our Dodgers are a bunch of good guys and they’re all hurt that everyone is blaming them for ruining baseball. So they let the other teams win a few meaningless summer games to quiet the uproar. But come October our bullies will return and squash all the hopes and dreams of those less fortunate. In AF we trust

The "let's-be-pigs" Dodgers are guilty of hubris? Say it ain't so! The Tucker contract is Exhibit A, but first l'll circle back to one of my familiar gripes. A common refrain in LADT posts concerns how Andrew Friedman is savvy guy who doesn't like to overpay when he's doing his deals. AF himself says he'd rather avoid midseason deals because the price is higher than deals made over the winter. And it's true he's made some smooth moves, like trading one marginal ML Dodger for two prospects, or turning a promising-but-block prospect like Michael Busch into Hope and Ferris. As has been noted, Skubal came to the Dodgers for "half of Busch" (meaning Hope) and Matt Beatty (meaning River Ryan) and a third-round pick. Smooth. Not an overpay. But where was the restraint when Tucker was offered that massive, record-breaking contract? It just doesn't compute. And did the Dodgers actually save $$ by signing Edwin Diaz and Tanner Scott to fat contracts in the winter as opposed to trading for top relievers in midseason? I have my doubts. The beauty about the midseason deals is that management should know precisely what the team needs for the home stretch and playoffs--as do the rivals. Why not pay a bit extra for that? The trade for Mookie and the subsequent long-term contract was brilliant. Mookie has been an important contributor to three WS titles. Somebody around here likes to remind us that he predicted that the Mookie contract may not age well. Bold! I'd be more impressed if anybody saw Mookie playing SS in their crystal ball. Before he joined the Dodgers, Shohei singled out Mookie as one the players he most admires in the game. Perhaps we can also agree that the old "Nohtani" camp on LADT has been proven wrong, wrong, wrong... I'll confess to my own misgivings about the Yamamoto deal. Could Yamamoto really be that good? It just seemed too gluttonous, too piggish--and that maybe a smaller deal for Shota Imanaga would be better. But all Yamamoto did was become the ace and WS MVP... were really a couple of deals I wish had never been done. When AF signed Conforto, I shrugged. But in time it became clear that Conforto contract blocked internal options like Outman and Ward. We'll never know how a little more faith in farm talent would have played out. Maybe poorly, maybe not. But a midseason deal could have provided a remedy. But could the Tucker contract be like the Conforto contract on steroids? Top dollar for mediocre performance--on both offense and defense. Are we going to see three more years like this? Will Tucker block the progress of Sirota, de Paula, Tibbs, Davalan and others? Mark has suggested that Tucker be platooned with Teo--and, based on their performances, it could come to that. Of course we are all hoping that Tucker turns it all around and lives up to that contract. But if he doesn't, should we blame Tucker? Or the guy who decided to sign the giant check?

8:10 PM ET Dodgers (69-47) Diamondbacks (62-55) SP Y. Yamamoto R 11-7 2.76 ERA SP Brandon Pfaadt 6-1 3.66 ERA Confirmed Lineup DH S. Ohtani L CF Andy Pages R 1B F. Freeman L 3B Max Muncy L SS Mookie Betts R RF Kyle Tucker L 2B Tommy Edman S LF T.Hernandez R C Hunter Feduccia L In Domed Stadium LINE LAD -201 Tough matchup tonight

David Vassegh @THEREAL_DV Tarik Skubal goes on Monday. #Dodgers Blake Snell will start on Tuesday vs #Royals

Will Klien has bone chips in his elbow. No decision as to what the plans are. Even with the nanoneedle, the earliest he could return would be the playoffs. The last double was by Alex Call August 2 against Boston. The last triple was by Tommy Edman July 22 against Philadelphia.

I think it is healthy to vent and rant. Does it mean that anyone who doesvent, does not believe the team can win, or that they are just frustrated. Right now the team looks old, slow, and tired? They just do. Many assume that they will break out of it and go to the whip when it matters. Maybe, maybe not. Does that mean that we can expect Mookie, Teo, and Tucker to become consistent producers? Can we expect Will Smith to come back playing at his elite level? Are Díaz, Scott, Vesia, and Phillips all just going through a phase, but will turn it around at the right time? Is Kiké just going to go through the motions until the playoffs? Will his playoffs more mirror 2025 or 2021 (with Boston)? Many here just expect the Dodgers to turn it on for the playoffs. I do expect the pitching to get better when Snell and Glasnow make it back, but I am not nearly as optimistic with the bats. While many do not think Snell and Glasnow will make it back, they are sure that Teo, Tucker, and Mookie will become worthy of their paychecks. I would expect more from Shohei, but not from Pages. When it mattered most, he disappeared. Max had a terrific start to the season. But in his last 15 games, Max is slashing .176/.250/.431/.681 with 22 K in 56 PA, a 39.3% K rate. It looks like his once fantastic plate discipline has been taken over by a Teoscar clone. Does he turn it back around, or is father time catching him in that race now? Everyone points to the full season batting metrics. In the beginning of the season when legs were fresh and body strong, they were hitting a ton. But as the season grinds, the trends show a different picture. Since July 1, the team has played 30 games and are 13-17. • BA .251 (12th in MLB), OBP .314 (18th in MLB), SLG .395 (19th in MLB), OPS .709 (20th in MLB) • Runs – 126 (21st in MLB) • HR – 32 (23rd in MLB) • wRC+ - 94 (20th in MLB) Pitching since July 1: • Runs Against – 150 (8th most in MLB) • ERA – 4.66 (24th in MLB) • FIP – 4.87 (28th in MLB) • SIERA – 3.92 (19th in MLB) • Run differential – (-24) Their defense is good, but it too is regressing. They now look like a WC team, and if the playoffs were today, they would face the Snakes or Cubs. If they got through them, I doubt they can go 7-1 against the Phillies and Brewers as they did last season. I know they did it the last 2 years. But they did not the three previous years. They lost to the Braves in the NLCS 4-2, the Padres in the NLDS 3-1, and Arizona 3-0. What this team needs to do is look in the mirror and not look for anyone else to step up and take over. They need to do it individually and collectively. If that means hitting behind a runner to get the runner to third with less than 2 outs, that is what they must do. Then not hit a pop up or K. Quit hitting into DP where they lead all of MLB. They do not like to bunt because it is giving up an out. Better one out with runners moved up than 2 outs. BTW I do believe the Dodgers are more than capable of turning it around, and I like their pitching for the playoffs, but it is far from a sure thing. And I have no problem questioning the current results.

The lower payroll owners can build an interesting team using early draft picks. They could edge towards competitive if they didn't lose those picks to free agency. But that's how big payroll owners are able to also have access to those elite picks, eventually. The process starts with owners who want to amuse themselves with ownership and pinch pennies and ends with ego driven multi-buillionaire against multi-buillionaire. I'm being overly harsh. Maybe.