Houston Mitchell is a writer for The LA Times and covers the Dodgers. Yesterday he stated that he was trying to make sense of the Dodgers’ off-season. Houston is a wonderful writer, but he has papers to sell and he knows that many Dodger fans are not sophisticated enough to understand how a successful team is built. He and The Times understand that the average fan is underwhelmed at what the Dodgers have done this offseason and creating discord helps them peddle their papers.
He knows that fans love to create “dream teams” and then bitch when their team doesn’t sign “almost superstars” to unconscionable, boat anchor contracts.
- Alex Rodriguez signed a $252 Million/10-Year deal with the Rangers, and the media was ga-ga over Tom Hicks who was all in to win many championships.
- When the Tigers broke the bank to sign Miguel Cabrera to a stupid, long-term deal along with several other stars, they were set for a long successful run according to the media.
- Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton joined Mike Trout and Arte Moreno was cited as “Taking LA from the Dodgers.”
- Zack Greinke bolted from the Dodgers to the Diamondbacks and along with some other deals left many anointing the D-Bags as champs. Shock Journalist Bill Shaikin’s headline said: “Being outbid by Arizona for Zack Greinke is disappointing for Dodgers, devastating for fans.”
Shaikin finished his silliness by writing : “The Dodgers are worse off today than they were last season.” Shock journalism playing into the average fans naivete and having little basis in fact… that’s what it is. Mitchell wrote this shortly after Greinke signed with the D-Bags:
If Friedman and Zaidi are reading this, I hope they realize that most fans have lost faith in them. And if you just sign a couple of low-level free agents and don’t improve the offense at all, expect a lot of Dodgers fans to be unhappy.
Yeah, the Dodgers moved on alright, winning the division repeatedly and getting to the World Series the last two years. Most bombshell acquisitions do not translate into winning titles or much less, even winning, so knock off the BS rhetoric that is purely for the purpose of peddling papers. Houston, you have a problem: You are working for a bunch of dinosaurs who want you to write the stuff that sell papers.
Evidently many Dodger fans were expecting the Dodgers to make a big trade or signing after The Farmer Trade. To call it a salary dump is really showing a lack of comprehension. Farmer has no value, but some people think Wood, Puig and Kemp did. Yeah, Friedman could have traded them to another team for a closer and a #1 starter, but he chose to trade them to the Reds because he didn’t care about value. “It was just a salary dump.” That’s what many believe and they can find many writers and bloggers who support that position. It’s easy to prove anything and just about everything.
The fact that the Dodgers cleared enough salary to sign AJ Pollock was not really mentioned by Mitchell, who evidently has a problem. He thinks its strange that they signed Joe Kelly – Houston wrote it – it must be true. Look, Andrew Friedman should have earned some trust by what he has accomplished. He’s not perfect, but I believe he sees something special in Kelly. I am open to what happens. Houston’s problem is that he has to sell newspapers (and that in itself, is a bad problem to have). Yellow Pages, Newspapers, Magazines and Dinosaurs are all in the same group… heading to extinction.
Houston did give away what many of us already knew: “Puig was Toxic in the Clubhouse.” He should know… he is there! Friedman obtained two Top 15 Prospects… maybe Top 10 soon. He got rid of malcontents and spent the savings on Pollock. The people who were naive enough to believe something else was coming, were disappointed. Evidently disappointed that the Dodgers did not include two of Verdugo, Lux, Ruiz and Smith in a deal for JT Realmuto. Mitchell went on to say:
I do hear a lot that Martin is a “good clubhouse guy,” which is certainly nice to have. But I’ll take the bad clubhouse guys who hit .300 with 30 homers and 100 RBIs every year and you take the good clubhouse guys who hit .200 with no power and we’ll see who wins more games.
What makes you think that there are only two types of clubhouse guys? Because you wrote it, doesn’t make it so. I said AFTER the Trade that even if the Dodgers did not make another move, it was addition by subtraction. They did not need to make another move to get better. The Dodgers were going to lose all three after this season with NO COMPENSATION, so they got what they could and improved in the process. But they did make another move, signing Pollock. Mitchell called the trade “thievery by the Reds” yet he has no clue who would have paid more for any of the players. Ha, Ha. Don’t you think Friedman knew how other teams valued the players? Do you really think he took less because he is dumb?
I doubt that Mitchell comprehends how good Lux, Ruiz and Verdugo can be. Frankly, I love his style, but his substance is wanting. Move on Folks, there’s nothing to see here. Now, Houston doesn’t always sink to huckstering newspapers. Sometimes he is the voice of reason in the room…. just not yesterday. As an example, on September 13, 2018 when the Dodgers were floundering he wrote this:
It’s what we have talked about all season. I get so many emails from readers filled with anger and rage after losses. They call the team a bunch of losers and choke artists. But here’s the thing. The Dodgers aren’t out of it yet. They are making it difficult for themselves, but they still can make the playoffs. I don’t know if they will. You don’t either. If they do make it, I don’t know if they will win the World Series. You don’t either. There have been teams that have won 84 games and won the World Series. There have been teams that have won 116 games and got knocked out before the World Series. Anything can happen, you just need some guys to get hot.What I would recommend to some of you is that you don’t let each game linger in your mind. If you are still seething over a Dodgers loss more than 10 minutes after the game ends, then you are doing it wrong. Calm down. Relax. If being in a playoff race isn’t an overall enjoyable experience for you, then you may want to find something else to do with your time. It’s not worth the stress. There are fans of other teams that haven’t made the playoffs in years. They’d love if their team had won one division title recently, let alone five in a row. So, if you are angry, spend some time with your friends. Hug your significant other. Play with your kids. Pet your dog. But you can still ignore your cat, because cats are evil and were sent here from an alien planet as spies.
I would like to encourage you to do the same right about now. It’s easy to make sense of what happened this offseason. NEITHER HARPER OR MACHADO HAVE SIGNED! Why? Because they are not worth what they are asking! Pure and simple. Do you want Friedman to just be so in love with one player he signs that player no matter what and hamstrings the team for years like the cases I mentioned above? Who would root for a team like that? A bunch of dunces?
Friedman’s plan is crystal clear to those who will see. He has traded more prospects than most teams, but none have risen to be a big star. He was loathe to trade Seager, Urias and Bellinger and right now he is in the same corner with Ruiz, Verdugo, Lux and May. He simply wasn’t going to trade them – end of story. The Dodgers are still favored by Vegas to win the NL title and Friedman has been adept at swinging a trade or two when needed.
Many experts and Las Vegas have the Dodgers at 94 to 95 wins and we have no clue how the new hitting culture will impact the team. We have no idea when Keibert Ruiz will be ready. Most expected Bellinger to arrive a year later than he did. What does AF know about Alex Verdugo that you don’t? Will Ruiz be ready THIS season? Don’t bet against it. He is insanely talented.
There is a lot to be optimistic about. This team has the best rotation in baseball and the bullpen is loaded with potential. The Dodgers are taking steps to cure the poor situational hitting and like any other team, hope spring eternal as pitchers and catchers report today.
Peace, out! (which is better than peace off)
Discussion (65)
Disagree, not disagreeable
UPDATE:
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You don’t have to believe what I do. You can choose to follow the naysayers who have been prevalent since Friedman took over. I won’t censure you.
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Baseball is my hobby. It’s fun and just when I think the Dodgers are in a position to do some great things, you can say what you want as long as you don’t attack me.
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Frankly, I pity that you are so miserable…
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This team is going to spread a lot of joy. You can choose to enjoy it or revel in your swill. I can’t say I don’t care, but I am sorry for how you feel.
Dodgerrick, I tend to agree with you. Houston Mitchell, whom I don’t read is correct when he says the Dodgers are no better off now. They have backed off of the Big Name FA’s and seem to target low rent, older types for short term contracts. They are afraid of injuries is my guess. But I keep saying everyone seems to think the Dodgers will automatically get to the World Series for the 3rd straight year with this team. I don’t see it. Maybe with a Superstar Bat like Harper they may have, but not with Pollock and Kelly and losing Grandal? No way.
I think they will make their moves at the trade deadline, if something is needed.
from MLB Trade Rumors
“The Marlins are in agreement on a one-year contract with veteran reliever Sergio Romo, pending a physical, reports Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com (via Twitter). Romo will be guaranteed $2.5MM and can earn additional money on top of that via incentives. ”
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I can’t believe AF couldn’t find $2.5 MM lying around for this. 😉
I am hopeful the Dodgers can get off to a fast start this year.if healthy the Dodgers starting rotation should be a strength. I am optimistic that the bullpen will be very good. How, with Jansen in better shape and better preparation in spring training that is a plus. With the addition of Kelly who should throw a lot of innings. The recovery of cingrani, growth from Alexander, baez, Ferguson, floro and maybe other arms like Santana, Therrien etc. in 2017 the Dodgers should have won the World Series but didn’t because kershaw and Jansen didn’t do their jobs. Even last year Jansen melted down or we would have had a shot. That’s why if he is back 100% we have that shut down guy. It had nothing to do with the ownership or front office the players just didn’t get it done. My biggest concerns going into the season is that seager will not be ready. Will he be the same seager that was well on his way to being an MVP type player? What will pollock produce? He is one of the most unreliable players in the league and not a great player either. If he can get 500 at bats he can be an above average player for sure. But he is a huge risk. If Barnes doesn’t bounce back our catchers could bat below the Mendoza line. I think Barnes will be better. I am confident that turner, bellinger,, and seager will eventually carry the team. It appears we could use another quality hitter. We really need Taylor to bounce back and verdugo to get out of the gate strongly. But as they say that is why you play the games to find out strengths and weaknesses.
Kinda cool that Kershaw threw his BP session to Martin today. Must have been fun for both of them.
Today, Doc said that Bellinger would be the “almost” everyday right fielder. Which means Pollock in CF. Which means the combination of Verdugo Joc Toles CT3 Kike Pedro Guerrero will be in LF.
It also means Muncy plays majority at 1b, and CT3/Kike get a shot at 2b, unless Gavin Lux makes us all very happy in March.
I pretty sure it’s just time for some Mental Floss and a Makers 46 on the Rocks.
Usually we look at life either through the lens of the glass is half full or the glass is half empty. That can lead to a lot of negativity when it is half empty.
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Maybe we should use scotch instead of water–it doesn’t matter if it is half full or half empty, we’ve got half a glass of scotch. Life is good.
Dodgerrick. What would you do to make the Dodges better?
I arrived to my office this morning in my Clayton Kershaw official game jersey (with the red number 22 on the front) ready for pitchers and catchers. Baseball New Year!
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Then, I read Mark’s diatribe against Houston Mitchell. I guess if you don’t agree with our host you’re an idiot? “The fact that the Dodgers cleared enough salary to sign AJ Pollock was not really mentioned by Mitchell, who evidently has a problem. He thinks its strange that they signed Joe Kelly – Houston wrote it – it must be true. Look, Andrew Friedman should have earned some trust by what he has accomplished. He’s not perfect, but I believe he sees something special in Kelly.”
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Yeah, Mitchell is an idiot. He works for a dinosaur (newspaper). He’s just writing stuff because Dodger fans are stupid – in that sense, our host and Stan Kasten agree. (“he knows that many Dodger fans are not sophisticated enough to understand how a successful team is built.” – ” Shock journalism playing into the average fans naivete and having little basis in fact… that’s what it is.”) He’s writing because he has to sell newspapers. All this makes him an idiot or at least unable to comprehend what Mark knows.
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Or maybe Mitchell knows something? He’s on the Dodgers’ beat – he probably sees more games than any of us here. He probably has pretty good contacts, both around the Dodgers and in MLB. Almost everything that I have read in the baseball press disliked the Farmer trade unless it was the 1st step to much bigger things, but Harper, Realmuto, Kluber et al were never coming here. Pollock is a good player but not a star – he has had 1 great season in 7.
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Who here can say that he has knowledge and contacts as good as Mitchell’s? Certainly, MItchell has a right to an opinion even if some here disagrees.
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My takes
1 – in 2017 the Dodgers won 104. Last year, 91. They were supposed to be better in ’18 too, weren’t they?
2 – how are the Dodgers better this year? I buy it if Seager, Turner, Kershaw are healthy all year.
3 – the offense was the issue last year – that and the bullpen. The ‘pen has 1 new arm and suddenly, it isn’t a problem?
4 – the offense – lost 3 key contributors (Puig, Kemp and Grandal). They’ve replaced Grandal with a 36 year old who hit .190 last year. They’ve replaced Puig with Verdugo (I assume) and Kemp with Pollock. They should have better bat to ball skills assuming that Pollock can stay on the field (which he hasn’t 6 out of 7 seasons). I know – the new hitting coach is more magician than coach and will fix everything by waving a magic wand (or bat).
5 – the Farmer trade was a salary dump/player dump. It cost the Dodgers 5 or 6 WAR and they took back negative WAR in Bailey. They signed Pollock (about 2.5 WAR), but lost Grandal (about a 4 WAR player last year). But they’re better!
6 – yeah, the NL West will be crappy this year – probably the 2nd weakest division in MLB (after AL Central). So that’s a good reason to take your foot off of the accelerator? Yet, the Rockies weren’t supposed to be too good last year and ended the season in a tie.
7 – most Dodger fans expected that the Dodgers would make a bigger splash this offseason, especially after the Farmer trade. If some of us are disappointed, that doesn’t make us stupid, uninformed, non-fans, etc.
8 – just because the Dodgers’ Braintrust does or doesn’t do something doesn’t mean it’s right. Fans are permitted to question his moves/non-moves. So are journalists.
Looking forward to the proverbial spring training comments such as “I’m in the best shape of my life, ball is coming out of his hand great, his velocity has ticked up a point or two, he’s moving well, just trying to work on my mechanics, I’ve got to stay healthy this year and I’ve completely changed my training program, I’m eating right and started working out after taking a two week break, this is our year”
Did I leave any out? But seriously let’s bring on the season. 7th NL West Division in a row and perhaps. WS title this year
Right now this team isn’t perfect but we all know what we’re built for.
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I’d say we’re about a 95 win team, clear favorites in the NL West [although watch out for COL], and part of a scrum for the best team in the NL.
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As always, we have no way of knowing what could be facing us in the World Series should we make it that far but at some point our experience has to count, right?!?!
Houston was right about one thing….cats. Otherwise that was a grand slam Mark.
To be fair, Houston Mitchell was talking more about the owners, not Friedman.
He said Friedman deserved credit for taking the Dodgers to the World Series twice.
And he also said, that Friedman can only spend the money the owners allow him to spend too.
We should just be thankful that the Dodgers are currently a well run organization unlike The Los Angeles Times which has been irrelevant for the last 25 years. When I was a kid we bought it for the Calendar section which listed the movie times and we threw the rest of the paper in the garbage.
Read, write, and FEEL THE BLUE.
I don’t write so swell but I believe I read pretty good. Especially reading things unwritten. I read 2019 Dodgers as it’s all about TEAM and these guys really are where they want to be. That this is where they have history to write, that they believe in each other. The core of this team could of gotten more $ elsewhere but chose the importance of playing for LA and for it’s fans. If your doubts favor over your hopes then you aren’t even close to how this team feels about themselves and each other. 100+ games and rings. I believe I read pretty good! CHEERS!
I’m sure its been mentioned, but looking at/analyzing the 25 man roster, one might forget how potent are 40 man ends up being by the time regular season rolls around.. I would say as good as anyone in the NL!??!
Once again, it’s good to be a Dodger fan…
Just looking at my ST tix hanging in front of me and as the Isley Brothers would say “Here we go again”…
Latest Bryce Harper rumor per Jon Heyman (FWIW) – The Giants offered Harper a five year deal (no terms disclosed), but Harper is making it very clear that he is not accepting a short term deal. Thus, apparently the Giants offer has been rejected and Harper is still not close to signing with anyone…if you believe rumors. That would also seem to indicate that the Dodgers are not in the picture. Phillies, ChiSox, Nats, and Padres are the rumored teams still considering Harper on a long term deal.
2019 has officially begun!!!! Pitchers and catchers report to Camelback Ranch today. Cheers to another frustrating crazy ride!
Jon Heyman is reporting that the Marlins asked for 3 of the Dodgers top 5 prospects in discussions for J.T. Realmuto before sending him to Philadelphia.
After their demand for Cody Bellinger was not met, the Marlins reportedly asked for Gavin Lux, Dustin May, and one of the two top catchers, Keibert Ruiz or Will Smith. The Dodgers rightfully declined to meet the Marlins insane asking price. Realmuto has 2 years of team control left on his deal, and while he is a very good player, he isn’t a superstar that warrants that kind of prospect return.
The Marlins settled for a lesser package from the Phillies, mainly because Jorge Alfaro has major league experience. Why a rebuilding team cared about a player having major league experience instead of just taking the better players is a question for Derek Jeter and the Marlins’ front office. In reality, he’s just going to reach free agency sooner and it’s never a good idea to pass on acquiring the more talented player.
ANALYSIS
While Realmuto would have been a fantastic addition to the Dodgers’ offense, the cost to acquire him was far too great to make a deal worth it. There were also always questions if Friedman would even acquire a catcher with poor framing abilities.
With Smith close to making his debut and Ruiz right behind him, the Dodgers will be fine with a platoon of Austin Barnes and Russell Martin for a few months. There is hope that Barnes can get closer to his 2017 numbers when he was a top 10 catcher in baseball after reworking his swing this offseason.
Worst case scenario, the Dodgers can always circle back to Francisco Cervelli to acquire an offense-first catcher, with numbers comparable to Realmuto, at a much cheaper cost.
With an off-season filled with Realmuto rumors, hopefully this is the last we hear about them for a while.
In how many games could Realmuto have been this season, 100, 120? The same as Pollock could play,
And who could have better offensive numbers?
For those who still regret not having acquired Realmuto !!
Good article Mark. I have faith in Freidman to do what is right for the Dodgers. In the last two years he made trade deadlines to try and win the WS. That is all he can do. The players have to do their job and they did not do it. The farm system is in very good shape. He will not trade a prospect if he thinks the kid is going to be a major player. His scouting reports must be very good. None of the kids he traded yet have become major players.
I’ll be surprised if he winds up with the Giants. Passing up 300 Mil to sign with a crappy team is a bad look. At least the Nats have a chance to win.
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Houston Mitchell is horrible. I can barely read his articles. He lacks substance almost as much as he lacks style. The LA Times is becoming the National Enquirer. Barely worth cleaning the windows with.
Nice piece, Mark. Really well done.
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If anyone ever wants a strange trip, read the Halos Heaven comments on the day the Angels sign Pujols. Euphoric is an understatement. Everyone was so in love with the feeling of hope that they never even allowed it could be a bad long-term move.
I heard that the Giants were now the favorites to sign Harper.
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That’s like putting a Hellcat engine in a go cart. If he will sign with the Giants, he’d rather sign with LA.
Thanks for this great article, I’m totally in agreement with you, Mark. Excellent!!
Mark, I hope you haven’t caused the Dodgers to sign Harper by writing this.