How Do You Like Me Now?

Report on Yahoo sports says Baez is seeking a 3 year deal. If true, I think he will not be back. Also there was a story on former Dodger Micah Johnson. He is now a contemporary artist.

Just hope we dont have to layoff anyone from LADT!

It looks like the Dodgers will not be spending much money this Winter:

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/30344941/world-series-champion-los-angeles-dodgers-latest-mlb-team-implement-layoffs-amid-pandemic

We will find out details later…

Who, When, Why?

Buzzie took over in 1951, so he won 8 pennants and 4 World Series. He was a tough negotiator and pretty much typical of the era. His biggest challenge was getting both Koufax and Big D under contract in 1966 since they both were threatening to sit out the season. Eventually they both signed and the Dodgers won their last pennant under Buzzie. He left after the 1968 season was over and Al Campanis became the GM. Campanis was always accused of over valuing his players. And he even traded his own son, Jim Campanis Campanis was then part of the package in 1970 that brought Bruce Dal Canton, Freddie Patek, and Jerry May to the Royals. You have to admire Drew Brees fortitude. He had his lung punctured and a couple ribs broke during the game. Unknown to him, he also had a couple ribs broken the game before, yet started the game against the 9ers. I watched a video on MLB.tv of Lasorda’s Hall of Fame speech. It was classic Tommy. As always Tommy is an excellent story teller. He was talking about when the living members of the 55 team were honored at Dodger Stadium. He was talking to Pee Wee and he asked Pee Wee that if he were told back in 1955 that one of the members of the team would end up managing the Dodgers, where would he have placed Tommy, and Tommy said 25th right? Pee Wee said no, 24th. Why 24th asked Lasorda, because Amoros can’t speak English replied Pee Wee. He also told a story about the Dodgers playing the Reds, and he and John McNamara, who was the Reds skipper at the time both went to mass to pray for a win. They walked out together and Mac told Tommy to go ahead he would be right out. So Tommy does not go out but watches to see what Mac is doing and he is lighting a candle. So Tommy waits and as soon as Mac is out of sight he goes over and blows out the candle. Then during the game he keeps yelling at Mac, hey it ain’t gonna work, I blew the candle out! Dodgers crushed the Reds that day 13-3. Later on that year Tommy gets a post card from Mac who is in Rome at the Vatican and on the back it said, lets see you blow this candle out! Classic.

I was pretty excited when we hired Friedman., who had a fine reputation in Tampa. And he has done well, though I think that if the Red Sox had signed Betts or not traded him, we would still be waiting for a championship.. I don’t know how much some of the decisions on whom to sign, how much to spend on a free agent, are ownership’s or Friedman’s. It was pretty obvious that one of the reasons he was hired, was ownership’s effort to play a version of moneyball, though with more resources than the A’s. It is possible that the signing of Betts was largely because ownership realized that fans were getting very tired of never winning a title. It was a smart and bold move, but we must admit that it was not the way they had been usually handling things.

I was quite disappointed in our failure to sign certain free agents, or make certain acquisitions at the trade deadline. We did do some of that, but I did very much want Verlander instead of Darvish, and I wanted Lester earlier, and Zach Britton. And I wanted Stanton, and that may well have been a miscalculation on my part, though he may still do big things. I realize that we can’t get everybody, but somehow we did not get enough top players to win a title, until this year. And yes, the Astros cheated, and we may well have won another one if we had played the Yankees instead, assuming the Astros were not allowed to be in the playoffs.

All in all, one has to be at least substantially pleased with Friedman’s work. I was not happy that we hired Roberts, and still do not think that he is a very good game manager, but we do have the title, and Roberts will be here for another decade if he wants. I certainly give AF credit for keeping the team highly competitive every year, though the division has mostly been weak. Finally, the next few years will show us if the Dodgers and Friedman can handle the fact that three of our four best players will be major free agents, and that we either need to sign them, or replace them with comparable talent. When I had suggested this year that our window was closing, I was thinking of Kershaw ending his career, Turner as well; those three free agents. It will take some very good maneuvering by Friedman, and some more willingness to spend by the owners, to keep us on top. Let’s see how driven the ownership is to do that, or whether they will be satisfied with the one title, as it appeared that Kasten’s Braves were. I cannot think of another GM I would rather have at this point, which is not to say that he has proven himself to be one of the greats just yet, someone like Buzzie Bavasi, who got Moon for Cimoli, Osteen for Howard, Perranoski for Zimmer, and helped us to win four pennants and three championships.

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Robinson Cano tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs for the second time of his career, the team announced Wednesday. He will be suspended for the entirety of the 2021 season, forfeiting his $24 million salary.

I have read the book Good to Great and actually did a presentation on it once. I have to agree with Rick on number 3 a total waste of money along with Guerrero, Alvarez, etc. just a bunch of terrible spending.

But, the most egregious thing AF has done is allow the overuse of Kershaw. While he was blowing dollar after dollar for bums when you add it all up we could have had some good players. Instead we never went after a decent pitcher. Instead when we had kershaw and Greinke we had a great number 3 (sarcasm)in Anderson, McCarthy etc. we may have won more playoff games and a World Series or 2 if we had not wasted kershaws prime with rotation all stars like the aforementioned Anderson and McCarthy. The Dodgers continued to pitch kershaw on short rest ( he was good mostly) and then pitch him too long because of a horrible bullpen. I contend the Dodgers lack of support for kershaw in the starting rotation and bullpen helped to create the stigma that kershaw fell apart in October. The Dodgers have come a long way baby!

I said sometime back that we are the model franchise with the bulk of the credit going to AF. The ownership and kasten certainly made it a team effort. Kasten certainly had a fantastic run in Atlanta. Af has built the farm, strengthened player development, and improved the scouting system. The Dodgers are deep and exceptional in most areas. He has used his financial might to swing most deals. In the trade area he paid to get rid of maeda etc the list is long.

Today the Dodgers are over the hump with a young, talented, and a very deep team. LA is looking forward to the future where they will be dealing from an area of strength. Right now AF is in a position to go down in history as one of the greatest ever to work in his position. He just needs to stay with LA elevate and maintain what he has built. He is in a great spot now due in large part to his work and now he only needs longevity and continued success.Go Dodgers!!

Anyone concerned about Bellinger’s shoulder surgery? Matt Kemp’s career was not the same after his shoulder surgery.

I liked AF from the beginning.

1. He knows for the Dodgers to be good every year it has to happen with the farm system. Every year there must be one, two or three kids come up that help. He has traded some farm kids, but these kids were not going to be difference makers. He has kept all the good prospects. He did trade some good prospects for Mookie. It was worth it. The ones he traded were surplus players at a position.

2. He is faithful to the Dodger players. I think he will sign Seager, Beuhler, and Bellinger. These are good players and good in the clubhouse. He likes players who are good teammates. He got rid of the malcontents.

3. I want to say this about Doc. I was not a fan of his because he did everything by the book. This year he finally managed with his eyes. They ran more. Maybe this was Mookie doing this on his own. Last year Doc would not of allowed Urias to finish the last game. He stayed with a hot hand. They would manufacture runs. Last year is was HR or a strikeout. The only thing I do not like is that Roberts will not stay with a starting pitcher long enough. He has come a long ways. So has AF.

Good article Bear.

I’ve always liked Andrew Friedman, ever since reading about him in the book back in the day.

Bright guy. I wouldn’t have dealt Matt Kemp or Dee Gordon, but I understood the approach. Initially I thought we ended up with pretty good young pitcher, but he was spun to the Angels for Howie Kendrick.

But I think his vision was solid and the approach made sense. There was always the big contract issue, but he settled that with Mookie Betts. Doesn’t get much bigger than that. Never thought he wouldn’t move in that direction, the Dodgers financial resources and all.

He’s certainly put together a program that has built an incredible team and kept the minor league intact. So what’s not to like?

Adding Lindor would be like having two Betts. Entertaining base running, entertaining defense, and entertaining at bats.

This is BIG NEWS:

Ron Fowler Steps Down As Padres’ Chairman; Peter Seidler Named Control Person!

He is the son of Peter O’Mally’s Daughter.

One other thing about Belli’s surgery. My son had a chronic condition where his shoulder would easily dislocate. The Navy did surgery and it is better. But it did not entirely fix the problem. He still suffers severe shoulder stiffness sometimes. In his job it does not affect his performance. But with the right shoulder being Cody’s front when he is hitting, the use it gets could become a bigger problem down the road.

Really enjoyed the article, Bear, and also the question you posed to us. Did anyone read the book, “Good to great,” by James Collins? It’s one of the best books on management ever written. It asks the question, “Why do some companies flare out, while others achieve sustained excellence?” They researched both kinds of companies, the good and the great. They discovered a management style that characterized the great ones. AF fits that style to a T. A sustained commitment to excellence requires management that can put its ego aside. The company isn’t all about them. Think Warren Buffet versus Elon Musk. Which will produce the better record over the long haul? Buffet has been doing it for 50 years! Musk? We’ll see.

AF’s speech on winning the championship, and his comment about 99% relief and 1% joy, says it all. I also resonate with all of the comments about player development. Player development isn’t sexy. Signing FA’s to expensive, long-term contracts is. AF had the self-discipline to pass on lots of FA’s wanting mega-year contracts. Then he pulled the trigger on the one who brought us over the finish line: Mookie.

It’s true that AF has made mistakes. But everyone does. The question is, has he learned from them? I haven’t seen any acquisitions like Kazmir or McCarthy for a while. Even AJ Pollack showed his worth this year.

A dynasty is by definition sustained excellence. AF’s track record so far is impressive. Will we necessarily even make it to the WS next year? We may not. Baseball also requires a lot of luck. However, we know that AF will field a team that is capable of making it there, year after year. The book, “Good to great,” looked at a track record of 20 years to judge if a company was great. I think that AF is well on the way, and we Dodgers fans have a lot to be grateful for.

Breaking news on ESPN, Robinson Cano has tested positive for PED’s and will be suspended for the entire 2021 season and forfeit his 24 million dollar salary per Jeff Passan.

Dodgers appear to be signing 2 of the top 10 international prospects. They’ve snagged a young catcher away from the Yankees. Wilman Diaz (SS) is the #2 prospect.

I could see Ruiz dealt in a Hader deal if they value Cartaya more. As much as more wants to move Will Smith to another position he is the catcher for the next few years.

This is exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for when I thought about and wrote this article. We all had our own opinions of AF from the beginning. And yes, winning is more important than how much you might like a player. I did not know how Kemp was in the clubhouse and I did not really care. Since I was more old school than saber metric geek things like RBI’s and BA meant more to me than WAR. And Kemp drove in runs. And before the mishap in Colorado, he was a decent CF. But things happen and players change. MJ and I used to argue on a different site about Pederson all the time. She was insistent that he should be traded and I disagreed. Her argument always had merit and she always accused me of playing favorites. Joc was not a favorite, I just looked at the game a lot different than she did. Just like all of us look at AF from different points of view. I understand his modus operandi a little better. And I have tried to understand the way they evaluate players now. An example was when Kike hit .307 in 2015, his first year as a Dodger, and then hit .190 in 16. I thought he should have been gone right then and there. AF saw something I did not. And in the long run, he was rewarded for his patience and knowing his player. Kike has not come close to that lofty average since, but his value as a defensive sub, and when he was raking against LHP, made him a valuable piece of the overall puzzle, He is right, the pressure is gone now. Repeating the accomplishment will be a lot tougher. The NL has been gunning for the Dodgers the last several years. Now the entire league has painted a target on their back making AF’s job all that much more difficult. There are a lot of decisions looming for him over the next 3 months before spring training starts. I think he will do his best to replace what he feels needs replacing. On this day in 1949, Jackie Robinson became the first African-American player to win a MVP award beating out Musial, Kiner, and Pee Wee Reese. . Dodgers said to be the front runners now to sign top catching prospect Jesus Galiz. Galiz is 16 and considered the #7 prospect in the international pool.

I have been dubious about Friedman’s process. I am suspicious of decision making which is fundamentally based on computer analysis of statistics and doesn’t consider the human element. While all MLB franchises now include analysis in their decision making, some (like the Astros and A’s) are more statistically oriented than others. I didn’t/don’t want the Dodgers to join them.

Many/most of the home grown talent on the Dodgers’ roster pre-date Friedman’s tenure, although his fingerprints are all over the most recent infusion of talent. And his willingness to pull the trigger on the Mookie Betts deal is the difference between 7 years of post-season torture and this year’s championship.

My overview:

1 – While Farhan Zaidi was GM, the Dodgers played more platoons, struck out more and put the ball in play less and focused on the HR more, and had more “player churn”. Since then, Friedman has acted as his own GM and I like the baseball that the Dodgers are playing now better than when Zaidi was GM.

2 – Friedman has improved the clubhouse culture markedly since he arrived. He has moved to eliminate prima donnas, malcontents and uncoachable players and created a more cohesive squad, proving that he is not just about the numbers, but that the human element is part of his calculations.

3 – Anderson, McCarthy and Kazmir were a mistake period. Mark commented that that they won 32 games for $150MM as if that’s a good deal. Kazmir was signed to 3 years, $48MM and pitched 1 season. He was a .5 WAR pitcher (10 – 6, 4.54). Anderson signed a 1 year $10MM deal and then accepted a qualifying offer of $15.8MM. In 2 seasons he was 11 – 11 and was a net .8 WAR pitcher. McCarthy was signed for 4 years $48MM and 11 – 7 and was a net .4 WAR pitcher. So, for 9 pitcher seasons, the 3 of them were 32 – 24 (average 3.55 pitcher wins/season) with a net total of 1.7 WAR. I guess a $1MM doesn’t buy as much WAR as it used to.

4 – The Dodgers under Friedman have almost always kept their best prospects and traded away players who were never going to make a difference.

5 – The most important thing that Friedman has done is to bring the Dodgers’ player development process into the 21st Century. You can argue that the Dodgers do a better job with player development than any team in baseball. They consistently mine the minors for talent even though they draft late. The depth that the Dodgers have is the result. Look at last year – as many have commented, the Dodgers let Ryu and Maeda go and lost Price to a COVID opt-out and still had starting pitching that was as good as anyone’s and was 100% home grown.

So Kudos to Andrew Friedman. And may the Dodgers keep winning.

Along the lines of what Badger was asking, for those who are saying we need an impact RH bat, please explain is that only if the DH returns?

If it’s back to pitchers hitting, do we not sign JT and try to get someone like Bryant?

If no DH and JT returns, where do we play this RH bat? Would the only spot be second base and DJLM? Somehow I doubt that AF will be high bidder for him.

If the DH returns, would it make sense to sign Nelson Cruz or do we need to leave lots of DH at bats for JT?

Or do the players lose that drive that’s been there? More celebrating this off season than working out? There’s a reason teams rarely repeat. It will be interesting which dynamic plays out next year

“winning the WS was 99% relief and 1% joy. ”

That’s honestly how I’ve felt since Oct 27 as well.

There’s a lot to like and some things to dislike about Friedman. Overall, and mostly because he finally won the ‘ship, I like him and think he’s doing a good job. I think we could have had another WS or 2 if he was a bit more aggressive. The easiest point to make is that the ’19 team needed bullpen help all year, and he came up empty at the trade deadline in that area even though a lot of relievers were available. I also hated all the platoons and all the different lineups and complained about them relentlessly over the years. Sure, you can blame Roberts on that, but I also think the front office helps fill out the lineup card daily. You can also make a case that an experienced manager could have maneuvered past post-seasons better and perhaps changing the outcome.

But all is well now with AF and with Doc (aka Mr. Magoo). At least until the new year begins. Let’s see what he does this offseason. My biggest fear as that he fills holes instead of improving the team…

We need a couple of arms for the pen. Are we gonna get guys like McGee trying to reestablish value, or are we gonna get a bona fide closer? Or an iffy starter and try to convert him into a reliever?

We need a right handed bat. Are we gonna get a platoon guy, or are we gonna get a Kris Bryant via trade, sign a George Springer or a DJLM? JT for another year or two? Or, some patchwork.

I think AF has an opportunity to cement a real legacy by getting an impact RH bat and two lockdown late inning relievers. Let’s see how he does. But, right now I think he’s a very good GM. Great or best ever? Let’s get a few more rings first.

Speaking of rings. Theo Epstein ended the two longest World Series droughts in the history of the game. He dispelled 2 curses (The Cubs’ goat curse, and the curse of the Bambino) and has three rings to show for it. Self-admittingly, he likes to build the championship team but looses interest in the maintenance part of it. Andrew Friedman is apparently doing well with the maintenance part of it and maybe somewhere in between would be the best of both worlds.

Always a fan of AF. He’s had some misses. Everyone does. But he hasn’t saddled us with any failed expensive long term deals that are franchise killers. See Arte Moreno! He’s created an incredible environment around the club. You can see players love playing here. And he’s had lots of winning moves. I saw him interviewed on MLB network last night and he said winning the WS was 99% relief and 1% joy. So you know he was feeling the pressure! But d patch hit it on the head. The backbone of this franchise is our player development which is the best in baseball and credit to AF here! Back to back baby! Can’t wait for 21!

There’s an expression out there – “facts don’t care about your feelings.” I would offer a corollary: “stats don’t care about your feelings.”

We become emotionally attached to our favorite players. We like their charisma or the fact that they are home grown Dodgers, It doesn’t matter why, we as fans just view them as part of the Dodger fandom’s family. But you have to make a choice at some point: do you want your favorite players or do you want to win? Do you want to continue to poo poo the use of analytics as a tool, or do you want to use it to win?

We’ve discussed this ad nauseum, but all of those trades made sense when you accept what the end objective was.

Yes, we all grew up with the expectation of the leadoff hitter as the guy who didn’t have a lot of power, but stole bases and got in scoring position. It’s accepted as an article of faith. The reality is you can’t have a leadoff hitter who’s a slap hitter and never walks. Yes, Dee was a likable guy, and we all enjoyed that thing where what’s-his-name (was it Rojas?) held him like a baby in the dugout. Stolen bases are exciting. Light tower power is exciting. Puig’s bat licking antics were fun. If getting rid of them makes the team better, DUMP ‘EM!!

The ONLY thing that matters is how a player’s actions at the plate and on the basepaths contribute to the creation of runs. We now just have more and better ways to measure how that happens. Stolen bases or 450 foot home runs don’t win the games, it’s the actual runs scored that does, and a smart team will get them any way it can.

A person can believe pitch framing is bogus. It’s silly. It just goes to show that we need an electronic strike zone … but it can be verified. Every…single…pitch is recorded for speed, type, vertical and horizontal movement, spin rate, where it exactly it was in or out of the zone, and if it was called a ball or a strike. There’s no question anybody – us even – can see how many more pitches get called strikes that should have been balls, and we know who’s good at doing this.

Do you want to win or not?

I’m very happy with what AF has done in his tenure with the Dodgers …and I think he’s grown and evolved to. Remember, the Dodgers player development system is maybe the best in baseball. This takes more than just being a pocket protector wearing stat nerd. It wasn’t always this way, either. The Dodgers had to clean house after the Cuban obsession debacle gave us Hector Olivera and a bunch of other expensive disasters. AF has come to realize character and work ethic and coachability matter, too. btw, what actually happened to Yadier Alvarez?

A Jerry Jeff Walker song comes to mind: Always trust your cape.

Liked him before and I like him now. Not all trades/signings will work out but I think his performance is on the plus side. The Dodgers have been to the World Series 3 out of the past 4 years. That says a lot right there. One can also argue that the Dodgers without the 2017 cheating scandal would be winners of 2 of those 3 appearances.

Well, I have always been a fan of AF… back to his TB days when I felt like he was having to operate with one hand behind his back.

I was never a big fan of Gordon and was lukewarm on Kemp. Yasmani Grandal filled a need and I loved him… until I didn’t (and AF understood when it was time for him to move on). Still, between 2015 and 2020, Yasmani leads all Catchers in MLB in WAR at 26.6, Posey is 2nd at 22.4 and Realmuto is at 19.1. He also leads all catchers in HR, RBI, and dWAR (by a mile) in that same time period. His meltdowns in the playoffs were epic, however!

No one understood why AF signed Anderson, McCarthy, and Kazmir but together they won 32 games as Dodgers for less than $150 million… the same as Johnny Cueto, but they are not under contract while Cueto still is.

These guys were “bridges” to what they have today. Bear summarized it very well. AF is not just into statistics, he is a people person whom the players and other personnel love. The Dodgers are now the model all other teams aspire to.

AF is not perfect – he signed Joe Kelly (maybe he will pay off in 2021, but I am not holding my breath. Kike and Barnes were nice role players as is CT3. All-in-all, I have always been a fan of AF and am glad he is on our team!