So, the Dodgers currently own the best record in baseball at 61-29, which is a .678 winning percentage. With 72 games left, they could go 30-42 and still likely make the playoffs with 91 wins. If they just play .500 ball the rest of the way, they will end up with 97 wins which would be absurd (playing .500 ball and winning 97 games). If they keep up their current pace, they will win 110 games, which is more than the 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers won. I remember that well… actually, not so much. I was born right after that season was over.
I think it’s a foregone conclusion they will win 100 games – how many more depends upon when they clinch the division. The Dodgers could have easily won 95 or 96 games last year, but they tanked the last week after clinching early.
Right about now, it’s good for the team to get a mental break and Clayton to get a full week off. I think that the week after the All-Star Game will be eventful. It is my opinion that the Dodgers should call up Alex Verdugo right after the Break to see if he can handle MLB pitching right now. If he can, is there a need to trade prospects for a hitter we may already have?
True, he’s not a power hitter, but that would enable him to hit leadoff where, if successful, he could set the table for Seager, Turner, Bellinger and Taylor. Against tough LH pitchers, Taylor goes back to LF and Forsythe to 2B. It’s tough messing with the chemistry of a team doing so well, but I think it’s more dangerous to trade for a hitter. Of course, they are still looking for a LH pitcher in the pen, but so is everyone. FAZ will likely get one… but who?
Let’s look at how the Dodgers rank around MLB:
- Team BA: 14th
- Team OB%: 4th
- Team OPS: 4th
- Runs Scored: 4th (to those of you who like higher BA’s, ponder this one and the two above it)
- Stolen Bases: 16th
- Team ERA: #1
- Team WHIP: #1
- Batting Average Against – #1
- Starter ERA: #1
- Bullpen ERA: #2
- Bullpen Innings Pitched: #16
- Starter Innings Pitched: #8
- Passed Balls: #6 (the team we just swept has only one – it means ZERO)
The Dodgers almost assuredly will be in the playoffs and likely FAZ is planning a long run, so they need to be very wise in what they do. This team is pretty well set. It is solid and they don’t have to make any moves, but they should and will.
Predictions:
- Gutierrez will retire as his AS is flaring up more often.
- A-Gon and Andre won’t be back.
- Romo and Hatch will also be gone.
- That leaves some opportunities for major moves.
- Oaks, Buehler and Verdugo are possibilities, as is Farmer.
Stay tuned – it should be fun! I’m looking forward to six Dodgers being introduced at the All-Star Game and Cody and his dad putting on a show. He doesn’t hit the longest home runs, but he does hit more HR per swing than anyone is baseball. That’s bodes well for the Bellingers.
Rants & Raves
- Neither Yadier Alvarez nor Alex Verdugo showed much in the Futures Game yesterday. With other pitchers topping out at 101, Yadier’s 97 seemed bland.
- Could Scott Kazmir or Hyun-Jin Ryu be that “lefty in the pen?”
- Should they check ID’s in this pic?
Discussion (105)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Can you expand on Mattingly “treated Dre badly” ??? In Dre’s defense (I like him too) I believe he was frustrated… Puig, well it’s an IQ thing!!! But after the spanish players console him and splain the double switch again… It’s “O Si”… But a helluva 8 hole hitter with a cannon and a sweet contract…
Yep that was my first HR contest in years becuz of the Judge and Cody B… I have no idea where the ceiling is on Judge ( AC a lil help) but I’d like some stock…
The game tonite??? That might be a maybe so…
Debating about Puig can be a polarizing thing, he generates a response both pro and con. I think the pros see the flaws and the cons see the talent. My point is not to get upset and trade him over one incident (in some minds a series of incidents) Remember Ethier screaming in the dugout in the playoffs Mattingley’s last year here? Much worse display. I say let Robert’s handle the players on the field and Faz handle the roster, I think they know a little better. And if Puig gets traded (face it, part of the business) some will rejoice and some will be a little sad. Just do it for the right reasons at the right time and get some value in return. Or stay the course, sit him down and talk to him and move on. They might want to trade him to the AL as well as he will probably haunt the Dodgers if they don’t. Packaged with future DH Calhoun they might bring back a nice haul. But there will be a lot of 66 Jerseys in fans closets after the deal is done. That’s why I don’t buy jerseys anymore but I still have Piazza 31 who I thought would never be traded and he goes into the HOF as a Met.
The whole prospect thing is maybe the toughest puzzle that a front office has to solve. How do you know who will be good and who will wash out? When the Braintrust traded Montas, Cotton and Holmes last year for 2 months each of Reddick and Hill, they: 1- traded from surplus (lots of RHP in the system); 2 – projected that most or all of them wouldn’t turn out to be as good as once thought; 3 – calculated that Hill and Reddick would give the big league team the push that they needed for the post-season. So far (after only 1 season) the gamble looks like a pretty good one. Reddick didn’t work out, and Hill didn’t pitch too much last year but when he did he was really good.
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Same with DeLeon for Forsythe. 2B was thought to be a position of need and it was going to cost a good prospect to pry a major league 2B loose. The Braintrust was again trading from a position of depth and I suspect that it never thought as much of DeLeon as some did. So far, DeLeon hasn’t done anything and Forsythe has only recently started hitting. I’m not going to second guess that deal. Few expected Taylor to turn out the way that he has and in any event, he has played more OF than INF this season so far.
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As for the Dodgers’ needs down the stretch, I am certain that the Braintrust will make a move or 2 and that some prospects will be involved. Thus far they have been pretty canny with their trades – they haven’t traded prospects that have made an impact elsewhere except for Scott Schebler. (And Schebler is yet another lefty hitting OF so it was a case of trading where you have a surplus.)
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While some have linked the Dodgers with starting pitching at the deadline, I really don’t see anyone out there that I want for the Dodgers who won’t cost a fortune (the exception being Garrit Cole maybe). Lefty reliever and RH power bat for the OF is what I want.
PuigMania marches on… I finally get to review todays posts and well at least no more xlnt framing cause PB’s… This is good though!!! In 14 years of wearing the tools of ignorance I maybe had 2 PB!!!
I know he’s not on the 40 man and we’d have to use the magical 10 day DL, but I’d love to see Willie C. up and see if he could truly hit MLB pitching…Great audition possibly for an AL trade piece…
The HR Derby was Awesome.
Cody acquitted himself very well. He’s just a scrawny kid right now. Give him a year or two and he will be a beast!
On Logan Forsythe:
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When Theo Epstein traded for Kyle Hendricks, he had no idea how good he might be. FAZ traded for Forsythe because they had no idea how good Taylor would become.
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Logan Forsythe is a very valuable piece… either to the Dodgers or someone else. JDL can’t seem to stay on the field.
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Cotton, Montas and Holmes have failed to show the promise they displayed as Dodgers. and then there was Zach Lee for Chris Taylor. My guess is that some GM’s are hesitant to trade for prospects with FAZ right about now.
“Lastly, I am not saying you never trade “young controllable cheap options”, but the return has to be very high.”
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Exactly Boxout7
AlwaysCompete: “Do you mean multiple young controllable cheap options like Jharel Cotton/Frankie Montas/Grant Holmes for rentals Rich Hill/Josh Reddick? Or JDL for Logan Forsythe?
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I still would have to liked to have seen Rich Hill succeed or fail in NLCS Game 7.”
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I don’t see any “young controllable cheap options” who were already playing ML baseball on that list of players traded. To me, “young controllable cheap options” is a lot of the players on our current MLB roster. I would also include in that definition TOP prospects, future possible # 1s and a Verdugo type position players.
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I had no problem with the Hill/Reddick trade. Hill was/is unique, he is viewed as a #2 or even better and relatively cheap. Premium starting pitching always costs a lot, but it looks like FAZ knew which prospects to trade. Reddick was a rental, but cheap, I think most of the prospect cost was for Hill.
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The Forsythe trade, I wouldn’t do it again. The Forsythe trade is a good example of why I wouldn’t trade Puig for Martinez. FAZ had already stockpiled options at second base, Taylor, Utley, Culberson, Barnes, Calhoun. Turns out we really didn’t need Forsythe, although JDL at this point doesn’t look like any big loss. Trading two and half years of Puig for a few months of Martinez just isn’t worth the POTENTIAL upgrade to me. As pointed out Puig is much better in the field and do we know if Martinez can even stay healthy.
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Let me ask you this, would you trade two years of Alex Wood for a few months of a healthy Dallas Keuchel? It’s even more equal, Dodgers have two more years of control for Wood, Houston one more year of control on Keuchel. Would you do it? I view a Puig for Martinez trade as similar to this.
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Lastly, I am not saying you never trade “young controllable cheap options”, but the return has to be very high.
As Dodger fans, we have been blessed with young stars, Pederson, Seager, and Bellinger the last three years. But with Gary Sanchez and Aaron Judge, the Yankees are serving notice that they also have superstar youngsters. Aaron Judge was an absolute beast in the HR Derby. I do not generally watch the HR Derbies, but I wanted to see this one, and I am glad I did. Next year the ASG is in Washington DC, and Harper says if asked he will be in the HR Derby. I would pay to see Judge/Harper/Stanton go at it. I can count the number of Yankees that I have liked on one finger. I think Judge just might double that. He is fun to watch.
Harlan – Heck I even like Coach Kennedy…
Idaho – Great bit on our Destruction Derby OF… I mentioned the pouting by Puig and got the possible cold shoulder… His contract is sweet for now…After???
Here’s a thought. If the Dodgers added a Ozuna and Stanton the team would have enough strength against lefties to eliminate platoons.
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2B Taylor
SS Seager
3B Turner
1B Bellinger
RF Stanton
CF Pederson
LF Ozuna
C Barnes/Farmer
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Grandal, Gonzales, McCarthy, Kazmir, Toles, Puig, Dias, Stripling to Miami
With me optimism dies hard. Maybe that’s why I like Joe’s and Orel’s positive spin (without being total “homers”). My optimism says that this is the first year that Yasiel has taken coaching and instruction seriously . In that sense, he is something of a rookie, and he might actually get better as the season goes on.
And I like Joe and Orel. Joe does his homework like Vince did, and I am amazed at how much thought Orel has given to every aspect of the game. I have MLB TV and get all the games since I am out of everybody’s market area, and I usually once or twice in every series listen to the opposition’s broadcasters for and inning or two, and I feel we are very lucky to have the team we have. And to quote somebody else here, Heck, I even like Charlie Steiner.
Funny thing is, sometimes I can’t tell who is talking…Joe or Oral. I take the crush thing back, you’re to big to irritate.
I don’t think they will trade for a position player, so I truly think this is for not.
I recognize Puig’s value to the Dodgers and I enjoy watching him nonchalantly catch a ball but I would be fine if he were traded. If it were for a LRP then Bellinger, Hernandez, Thompson, Verdugo could take care of RF and Utley, Gonzales, Hernandez, and Bellinger could take care of 1st base.
I agree with you AC on Puig? We all saw the exchange in the dugout. Puig made the last out and was the one who should of been replaced in the double move. I would trade Puig in a heartbeat. Besides, he will run over anyone if he thinks he can get to the ball. I had to laugh the other day. Utley had a pop fly to short right field. Utley was waving both arms and yelling that it was his ball. He was not going to let Puig run him over. I am not much of a fan of Joc either. Both look like they have figured it out. Then a day or two later, they look awful. I do believe Joc is a better team player.
I agree with all here who have posted the HUGE gains that the Dodgers have made as a TEAM. Notwithstanding their reputation as a bunch of SABRphiles, the Braintrust has made huge efforts to weed the malcontents from the roster and build a team. As much as I love seeing Matt Kemp in Blue, as guys like Kemp, Hanley Ramirez, et al have been sent packing and guys like Puig have been held accountable (remember his demotion last year?) the team has played better and better as a team.
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Of course, a certain amount of chemistry comes from winning, but I expect that this bunch has been pretty cohesive all year. The Braintrust’s decision to bring Turner and Jansen back proved that it believed in the team and I think that this was huge.
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Although I am skeptical of some of the new age methods employed by the Braintrust, the management has gotten everyone on board. Even guys like Kershaw have been willing to go along with some of their methods (coming out of games early, for example), so now that everyone has bought in, they are all pulling in the same direction.
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I expect that there will be hard times to come but have more confidence in this bunch than at any time since the late 70’s. This is a great time to be a Dodger fan.
Who is the hottest Dodger going into AS week??? According to Cary Osborne of “Dodger Insider”—–
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“On June 17 in Cincinnati, Logan Forsythe grounded out in the seventh inning. He was 0-for-4 at that point — his batting average sinking to .183.
Since June 18, Forsythe is hitting .349/.447/.524. Since June 28, he is fifth in the Majors with a .452 average, second with a .553 on-base percentage and 11th with a 1.198 OPS.”
I agree with what AC said about the Dodgers being a team. I posted the same thing during the 10 game winning streak. Every day someone is coming up clutch. It’s what the Royals, Red Sox, Cardinals and even Giants did when they were winning their world series. I would be ok with trading Puig depending on what we get in return. I read an article about the differences between this year’s Giants team and the ones that won the World Series. It said that one of the chemistry things they had was a team-wide disdain for Angel Pagan. Could Puig be that for us?
From Joe Davis (upon whom I allegedly have a mancrush):
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Clayton Kershaw and Alex Wood are a combined 23-2, which makes them the #1 pre-ASG duo in terms of winning % EVER
Long time viewer, first time post. I just don’t see the FO making a huge trade for a position player. Why mess with success and team chemistry? I do believe they will acquire a RH OF that can come off the bench and who has some pop, but not a player who will automatically be inserted into the starting lineup. Someone who can take the RH pinch hitting and platoon starts that Guiterrez was getting. I could be wrong, but it will be fun to watch and see what the FO does.
I do believe the Dodgers will certainly look to bolster the BP. Once in the playoffs they will need someone who can pitch lock down innings in high leverage situations. I love what Baez is doing but I have to bite my nails when he pitches. Some nights he is “lights out” and others he gets behind hitters in bad pitch counts and gives up the long ball. The FO will certainly look to improve the BP and it will cost some huge assets. “Go big or go home” and I want to see a WS parade in LA. The trade deadline is going to be exciting.
PS-love the website Mark. Great job!
My wife’s family is from Kansas City, and are huge Royals fans. Her nephew called me after yesterdays’s game and said how impressed he was with the Dodger “team”. No one specific aspect, just the team. And that was his point…the team. He said it reminded him of the 2014 & 2015 Royals. I told him it reminded me of the 2004 Boston Red Sox team. Both teams just found a way to win. I made the same point to him about finishing up .500 and still winning 97 games. To put it in more perspective, if the Dodgers go .500 the rest of the way, then the DBacks have to play at a .603 rate, Rockies have to play at a .634 rate, and the Cubs (the next closest Wild Card team) has to play at a .730 rate just to tie the Dodgers. None of the Dodgers .500, DBacks .603, Rockies .634, or Cubs .730 are likely to play at those rates. The Dodgers will play better, and the other three not as well. You would think that FAZ Bashers would wait until June before they start to bury the Dodgers.
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An observation that may upset some people. I watched two Dodgers play over the weekend; Kershaw and Puig. Kershaw knew that if he pitched Sunday, he would not be able to pitch in the All Star Game, and miss out on potentially starting an ASG yet again. Yet he believed it was more important for him to pitch for the Dodgers than for himself. There was also an ancillary benefit by pitching Sunday…Alex Wood would be named to the ASG. Totally unselfish. Then you have Puig who throws a tantrum and pouts because he gets pulled on a double switch, a move deemed necessary to give the Dodgers a better chance at winning. When is it time to quit giving Puig yet another excuse? If there is a way of moving Puig in a JD Martinez trade, I am in favor of doing it in a New York minute. I also would have no problem with putting Verdugo out in RF and letting him prove whether he could hit at the ML level. While Puig’s arm is outstanding, Verdugo’s is considered one of the very best in all of minor league baseball.
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I think Ryu could possibly be a bullpen candidate. But I would rather have someone who has a history of relieving successfully. I would prefer Brad Hand, or Justin Wilson, or Sean Doolittle or my wish… Zach Britton. The Cubs and Indians made one significant trade last year, and they were both for high leverage left handed relievers, Chapman and Miller. The Cubs made an additional trade for another reliever, Mike Montgomery. Could Zach Britton become the Dodgers Chapman and/or Miller? I know I am hallucinating.
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Was it the real Josh Sborz that pitched yesterday for Tulsa…6.2 innings of 2 hit shutout baseball? If Sborz has a solid final two months, I believe he becomes a legit prospect again. I am more and more concerned with Jordan Sheffield, and Gavin Lux for that matter.
Like making excuses for Alvarez or Verdugo, but what was the average age of the other players in that game?
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Our two guys are very young. First time in the limelight. Just wondering.
Rotation: Kershaw, Stewart, Wood, Hill, and Maeda and McCarthy taking turns as #5
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Bullpen: Jansen, Ryu, Baez, Stripling, Maeda, Buehler/Morrow,
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Romo, Fields, Hatcher, Avilan, Dayton, Liberatore, Morrow = trade candidates
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No to McCutchen