Abbreviated Spring Time Random Thoughts – by 2Demeter2 (aka/Rowan)
I was hoping to finish my article on Alanna Rizzo this week, but I have been down and out with the flu and a cold for the past 4 days, feeling rather punkish. So that article will have to wait for another day. On the other hand, one of the “benefits” of being down and out was that I got to watch a couple of the Dodger’s spring training games and have come away with some abbreviated random thoughts on what I’ve seen. I apologize to you for the short post. You all deserve better.
• I don’t know if you noticed, but Mookie Betts is playing for the Dodgers. When did that happen? Mookie Betts!!! It is fun just to say his name and see him wearing Dodger Blue. Mookie Betts!!!
• It has been mentioned by some that Mookie has already taken a significant leadership role with the team. It appears that he and JT will operate as unofficial co-captains. Perfect!!!! Apparently they have started a “Kangaroo Court” to deal with missed signs, missed plays, failure to advance runners, that type of thing. Let’s hope it brings the same sense of determination to the Dodgers as was present in 1988!
• Springtime statistics are so very misleading. The other day minor leaguer Markus Solbach came in to pitch for the Dodgers in the 8th inning. I’m not particularly familiar with him other than he is from Germany and did well in Australia. This was the first time I saw him pitch. I have to tell you I was really impressed. He struck out the first two hitters with ease, as he had good movement and placement with his pitches. The third batter was fooled and hit a little “excuse me” grounder to third base. Devin Mann didn’t get a great jump on the ball and the batter beat it out by a step. The next batter hit a routine grounder to second, albeit a sharp one. Due to the shift, Estevez was positioned closer to the bag and could only keep the ball in the infield. He just couldn’t make the play at first. Up until now, Solbach had been making great pitches, looked very confidant and had good command. However, he missed with his second pitch to the next hitter and put in the only spot that Enrique Soto could hit it. And hit it he did as he smacked a 3-run HR to right field. It should have been a 1-2-3 inning for Solbach, but baseball, it’s a game of inches and his final line read: 1 inning, 3, hits, 3 runs, 2Ks and a 27.00 era. Those who didn’t see the game will quickly assume that he must have “sucked” and write him off. I don’t know if this young man will ever make it to the show, but I’m here to tell you, he didn’t suck, and I know he doesn’t have the same ceiling as Jo Jo Gray, but on this particular day, he looked every bit the equal to him. The stats just don’t bear it out.
• A few years back, I thought that Jake Peter was a better player than Max Muncy. Peter was having a great spring, he showed some pop and defensive versatility. I thought Muncy was okay, but he just didn’t impress me as much as Peter. Well, guess what, I was wrong!!! Big-time wrong. This reminds me of why I’m not working in a baseball front-office and how much smarter the front office, coaching staff, and development personnel are than me.
• Cody Thomas is quickly becoming the ice cream flavor of this spring. As Vin Scully would say: “He has prodigious power!!” The same can be said for DJ Peters. I’m amazed at how athletic these young men are. They are both very big men, and yet have good speed and mobility for their size. As an aside, DJ Peters is 6′ 5″ and weighs 245 lbs. I’m 6′ 4″ and weigh 245 lbs. I don’t understand it, but my body looks nothing remotely close to DJs. Must be something wrong with the numbers.
• McKinstry, Reks, and Raley are also representing themselves well this spring. Again, I’m impressed with their athleticism and how confidant they appear. They are players who look and act as if though they belong.
• I’m writing this on Saturday afternoon, while the Dodgers are playing the Rockies and D-backs in split-squad games. At the moment, the Dodgers are winning handily in both games. That makes it especially nice because it allows many of the younger, young pups to have a chance to play. Deacon Liput, Edwin Uceta, Dillon Paulson, Miguel Vargas, Romer Cuadrado, Justin Yurchak, Steve Berman, Matt Lipka ( I have no idea who he is), and Jacob Amaya, among others.
• I’m not ready to hand the National League crown to the Dodgers yet. They have to go out and earn it. But, my oh my, this is a very deep team. Let’s hope we can avoid any serious injuries to key players.
• If you had to trade one position player and one pitcher before the end of spring training, who would they be? Why would you trade them? And, what would you expect in return? I’m interested in your thoughts.
My Thoughts on Trades – by Mark Timmons aka/Martin
Last year, Andrew Fredman traded Alex Wood, Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was: none would have been offered the Qualifying Offer and rather than losing them for nothing, it’s better to trade them for SOMETHING. That SOMETHING turned out to be two very, very good prospects. The Dodgers still have one and the other was used to get Mookie Betts and David Price.
If you believe that we can “watch and learn” then learn this: Kike Hernandez and Joc Pederson will be Free Agents in 2021. Neither will get the QO. Joc is making $7.7 million as a platoon player and there is no way the Dodgers will hand him $18 Million… because he would take it! The same with Kike.
It’s time for them to move on to play on a team where they can play a lot more. Andrew Friedman understands the plan and he is even eager to let players grow. That means that we could look for a trade sometime in the near future. The Dodgers have no discernable needs, so I look for prospects in return. Zach Reks and Edwin Rios could also be part of any deal.
Some fans thought there was some kind of conspiracy in not playing Joc Pederson. Dumb! He can’t be traded unless he shows he is healthy. I really look for Joc and Kike to be traded this spring. They will be replaced with McKinstry and Raley. How much can Friedman get in return? Who wants them? It might have to be a 3 or 4 team deal… and it might be that AF doesn’t want two rookies on the squad right about now. I get that as well!
I won’t even try and predict who the Dodgers could get. Odds are, they might be prospects 2 years away. The Dodgers could trade a number of players and still not miss them… they are so deep. Could Cody Thomas handle LF is Joc was traded?
Let the trades begin… OR NOT!
Dodger News
- When Andrew Friedman screws up, he ends up with a guy making $60 million, like AJ Pollock. When Brian Cashman and Theo Epstein screw up, they end up with Stanton making $290 Million and Heyward making $184 Million. I like Friedman’s screw-ups better… and I was never on the AJP Bandwagon… everyone makes mistakes. AJ can still prove useful.
- I think this is the year where Striker “Never Call a Pitcher Walker” Buehler becomes a Cy Young Contender.
- You never really know, but for years I have heard that Yadier Alvarez has “mental health issues.” We can talk bad about him, but imagine being in a strange country and having issues such as that. We don’t know what they are, but we can only wish him the best. “Goodbye Yadi. we hardly knew ‘ya.” It’s possible he stays in the organization, although I don’t see it.
- We still have nothing on Andrew Toles…
- The Dodgers Pitching Coaches and Rob Hill are working with David Price on simplifying his delivery and he is going to pitch exclusively out of the stretch this year. He has also done that in times past.
- Keibert Ruiz looked impressive behind the plate. He was in charge and controlled the game. Now, as to the bat thing…
- For those of you who question whether Kenta Maeda asked for a trade, here it is from MLB TRade Rumors.com:
As if there weren’t enough drama surrounding the Dodgers’ three-way deal for Mookie Betts, departed Dodger Kenta Maeda revealed on his YouTube channel that he had requested a trade out of Los Angeles, per Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times.
Neither the trade nor the revelation of Maeda’s request are particularly shocking as Maeda had made clear in the past his desire to be in the rotation. With Clayton Kershaw and Walker Buehler providing one of the better 1-2 punches in the league, the Dodgers preferred using Maeda as a roving power arm, especially come playoff time. The Dodgers used Maeda as a starter in 2016’s playoffs, but he didn’t make it out of the fifth inning in any of his three playoff starts. In the three postseasons hence, the Dodgers made Maeda into a relief weapon and saw him post a 1.64 ERA in 22 innings in the playoffs from 2017 to 2019.
While 2019’s postseason run was shorter than expected, Maeda was dominant in the NLDS agains the Nationals. He appeared in four of the five games, surrendering just one hit and no walks to seven strikeouts.
The Dodgers had begun to utilize their postseason strategy with Maeda more during the regular season. Now with the Twins, Maeda should be back in the rotation on a full-time basis as he prefers. Maeda has a personal goal of reaching 200 career wins, per Hernandez, which would mean accruing 14 wins per season for the next for years. That’s a tall order for anyone. Only ten pitchers posted so many wins over the past four years. That said, the Twins offense should help in providing an environment conducive to win collection.
In his first four seasons stateside, Maeda has gone 47-35 with a 3.87 ERA/3.71 FIP, and that’s with starting approximately 26 games per season. If he stays healthy, Maeda could potentially garner another 4 to 6 starts per season, putting him in range to hit his target. While Wins aren’t the tell-all stat of years past, it’s safe to assume the relationship between Maeda and Minnesota will have gone quite well if he does indeed achieve the 200-win mark.
Discussion (63)
Disagree, not disagreeable
I get where Eric is coming from. There are a lot of questions with our starters THIS year Can Kersh tegain2-3 mph on his fast ball? Is Wood’s stuff even better than in first half of 17? Can Price pitch like he did in first half of 19 before he got hurt? Is Urias ready to be a co ace with Buehler by the end of this year? Can the “old men” stay healthy? If we get yes’s to these questions then we dominate. If not then we have some options with our young guns in OKC. My point is our young starters have the potential to dominate for the next several years and are the backbone of our franchise! And on top of that we have some incredible positional talent. We should be able to maintain a level of excellence for years to come! Well done AF and company!
Very good games for Kike, McKinstry, Rios and C. Santana. Also, Jansen, Pollock, Reks, and Gonzalez did well.
Cassidy put Kershaw in that rotation, And go with a six man rotation.
I don’t think anyone has mentioned this yet and I apologize sincerely for being such a killjoy, but I wonder what contingency plans MLB has made for the spread of the coronavirus. At some point some major leaguer is going to come down with it. What do they do then? Quarantine the entire team for 2-4 weeks? What about the teams they played for the prior one or two weeks? What happens when you get to the end of the season and some teams have played 15-30 games less than the others?
I hope you can point out that I was being a fear monger in November, but this could turn into a very strange year very quickly.
Gray’s not getting traded for anyone much less a risky reliever. Our young starters are the backbone of this franchise. Buehler, Urias, May, Gray and Gonsolin. And more on the way! Other franchises could only dream about this group of starters!
If Joc repeats another season with 30+ HR, Freidman will sign him at 5 / 50-60, he is a Dodger and Freidman will negotiate with Joc.
Kiké? he will also stay, is too valuable, he plays all positions above the average in defense.
Pollock is the strange man, they are going to have to trade him and pay a part of his contract, even when he runs he looks bad, he looks like a goat when he runs.
Zach McKinstry is making Hernandez expendable. How about Hernandez and someone reasonable in a trade for Ken Giles.
Looks like Kolarek will be a victim of the new rule change
Let’s just win a freaking World Series. Start the season with what they have. It will work itself out. Most likely Pollock will get injured and wind up on the DL. If not the Dodgers will be in a strong position to strengthen their team at the deadline both short term and long term.
~
Also, AJ can suck it up for a year. He did nothing to be given a position. The Dodgers are going to be stuck with AJ’s contract. He’s not going to hit the AB’s needed to opt out so he’s still going to be in LA when Joc hits the open market.
As far as what Singing the Blue indicated , correct about Pollock and Joc not really being ‘all in ‘ on a platoon set up I have mentioned that a few times before. But as mark pointed out, neither Pollock or Joc can dictate how that plays out because Roberts and Co. will make those decisions. MY guess is that Dodgers will again try to move Joc once he is back in action and is healthy enough to play. Kike is or could be a trade candidate but I am not seeing that same urgency to move him just yet. Again, some have pointed out replacing KIki and Pollock with 2 LHB in McKinstry and or Raley. Don’t see those 2 making the roster just yet. Let’s try and maintain the balance on the offensive side that we now have.
I had not realized that this was the first error they make …
very interesting
regarding trades. My preference is to trade Pollock, but that is extremely unlikely. Barring injury(ies) I don’t see how Pederson can remain a Dodgers past the trade deadline. Platooning, losing arbitration, unlikely Dodgers will offer a qualifying offer, Beaty/Raley/Rios/McKinstry/Thomas available to alternate with Pollock in LF. Pitcher? The obvious choice is Stripling since the team attempted to trade him to the Angels along with Pederson, and Pages for prospects. His place could be taken by Gonsolin, or Nelson when/if healthy. Another possibility is Wood if Urias and Price are pitching well for Dodgers; Wood cannot be traded until after June 15. Dodgers return — prospects.
Many thanks to MT for taking an ordinary post and making it extraordinary. If you folks don’t already realize it, Mark does so much behind the scenes to make this blog as special as it is. Mixing Dodger baseball with Laugh In – classic!
You bet your sweet bippy, this is a special blog and community!! You can look that up in your Funk and Wagnalls!
Say Good Night Dick. “Good night Dick!”
RE: “the windshield”:
Conventional wisdom is that the best indicator of future performance is past performance. That’s why, for example, the Dodgers traded 3 prospects for Mookie Betts – they assume that his past performance is indicative of his likely future performance.
Using our host’s logic, you would sign all of the worst players in the league because because seeing their past performance is looking backward and not through “the windshield”. That is totally illogical.
If you have independent reasons to believe, for example, that Josh Hader is due for regression that is one thing – it’s another altogether to assume that he’ll be bad this year because he has been great the past 3 seasons.
It’s also illogical to assume that the Brewers would trade the guy who’s arguably been the best reliever in baseball for the past 3 seasons for spare parts.
2D2, hope you get feeling better.
I’d love to see the Dodgers part with Pollock but it won’t happen. I like him less and less as time passes. I would definitely try to trade Kike and Joc. Get something for them while we can and give them a chance to be everyday guys elsewhere.
My first petty lineup complaint after the 1st week – Who’s the backup shortstop right now? My guess is CT3.
Who’s the starting 2nd baseman? Gavin Lux.
So, why is it that yesterday the lineup has Lux at short and CT3 at 2nd? Why not give the players reps right now where they are going to play. I know it’s no big deal and both can play either middle infield spot but to me this is indicative of Doc’s lineup du jour mentality. I hate it. Let’s work on having a nice, reliable, predictable everyday lineup where players play regular defensive positions without the need for bring 2 or 3 different gloves to the yard everyday.
Doc loves to overmanage.
When healthy Pollock had a decent regular season. Granted he was horrific in playoffs but got to,give him another year before proclaiming him a bust. See Mark, I’m trying to look through the windshield on this one!
Okay, maybe they opt to trade Joc or Kike, maybe both. I wouldn’t be surprised either way. I see Joc as the more likely candidate, but since this isn’t really a money issue, they may just keep him.
No question, too many players, not enough at bats. Since Joc is resuming baseball activities, they may decide to let this play out. If another team suffers an injury and needs an outfielder, Joc might become a prime candidate. Since this is his free agent year, it is very important for him to maximum his at bats, hit against lefties if possible and lose the platoon player tag. Not sure he will be happy with less.
Kenta had issues with his use ( no secret ) the past two years, he didn’t want to embrace the late season bullpen role. He made it clear he wasn’t happy so they finally accommodated his request and contributed significant money to pay him to play elsewhere, although the draft pick is worth something.
AJ has too much contract to trade unless the Dodgers contributed significant dollars and that makes no sense. Plus, he’s a Right handed bat.
Talking money, interesting article in the LA Times today about the Dodgers parting ways with Yadier Alvarez. That deal cost the organization $32 million ( contract and tax penalty ). The Dodgers spent $136.5 million on failed investments in Cuban players with pretty much nothing to show for it. Alvarez, Alex Guerrero, Erisbel Arruebarrena, Yasiel Sierra and Hector Olivera from 2013 to 2016.
You have to wonder what they were thinking.
While some people believe Pollock was a mistake, I think you need to let it play out. Giancarlo Stanton is a mistake for the Yankees, not just issues staying healthy, but because of enormous amount of money involved and the number of years.
Mark you may be looking through the windshield but you’re driving in reverse! I’d take my chances with Hader and Clevinger
Pollock is untradable. Let’s go big. What would it take to get Hader. Joc, Strip, Kike and Ferguson and another prospect of need for Brewers. Or make a run for Clevinger even tho he’s injured. Or you wait until trade deadline when a good starting pitcher like Strip is even more valuable. With our depth there are a lot of options. Good to be a Dodger fan!
Good article 2D2. I would trade Joc for the reasons mentioned above. We will lose him anyway next year. We will only get prospects in return. Raley would be my fourth outfielder. I would also trade Kike for the same reason. Both Joc and Kike could be full time starters for another team. I would probably keep McKinstry. Beaty and Taylor will be on the team. Peters and Thomas need to play AAA ball this year. Both could be very good. I am not sure I would trade any pitcher. Stripling would be the one to trade, if you did, because of age and give him a chance to start full time.
Taylor is clearly the backup shortstop and could also fill in at second and left field and center field. Hernandez’s best position is second and plays a good shortstop and average outfield. Both are righty bats. Neither look good at third IMO.
It is difficult to keep players relevant and sharp. Platooning helped accomplish that as did over using pinch hitters. The Dodgers can go with 4 righty and 4 lefty bats on a regular basis or platoon in LF and 2B to some extent.
Pollock may not hit righties or stay on the field. Joc won’t be given a chance to hit against lefties. Lux is ready to be a regular and Taylor and Hernandez have been given their chances and didn’t take advantage.
I prefer a platoon of Joc and Taylor/Hernandez in LF. Joc could be signed to a three year contract that has a smaller AAV than the QO. There is no need to trade him just because he is a free agent next year.
I would trade Rios, Pollock, Alexander, and Floro for someone like Diaz.
2d2 – Good post, lots of food for thought. Hope you’re feeling better soon.
For the position player, I would trade Joc for all the reasons mentioned above. A guy with that kind of power would certainly be worth something to a contender. He and Pollock simply won’t work together as a platoon. They’re good soldiers and they would say all the right things, but neither would be happy and that would ultimately affect their performance.
For the pitcher – I guess if you put a gun to my head I would go with Strip, but I really like him and think he’ll be very valuable to us. He’s one of the rare guys who will go back and forth (rotation to bullpen) without complaining.
MT – my “argument” with you yesterday wasn’t that Maeda didn’t ask out but I said I doubted that he demanded it. Just doesn’t seem like his way of doing things. The quotes you posted today used the word “requested” which I’m thinking is the more likely scenario. No biggy. We’re just talking semantics here.
Hope you are over the flu, 2D2. ‘‘Tis the season” right? I always enjoy your articles and this was a good one from your sickbed no less. My thoughts on who I would trade and who I would like to get in return are as follows, dumb as they may sound and probably to many disagreements.
I would trade Pollock. I would replace him with Cody Thomas or DJ Peters. I think it is their time to be on the big club and could back up Bellinger if needed in CF.
I would trade Kiké and replace him with McKinstry. It would give Kike a chance to be a starter on another team and give McKinstry a chance to show what he can do. Sorry Mark.
2D2 – MT – Outstanding work…
The way I see it we still have 185 games ahead of us…
Dodger BP = I’m impressed, bur not yet mannah from heaven…
Cody Thomas, my darkhorse coming into ST… Wow, but I gotta be honest, he will be seeing much better pitching as we get closer to the home opener… We’ll see…
That’s it for now, wifey is calling… Jump on my walker and get some breakfast..
AF may think we need jocs bat this year. After all who would replace him? Raley maybe but not near the player. AF may be cautious on kike because he lost Downs and McKinstry is unproven. The Angel trade minus losing pages might have filled the void depending on the prospect(s). A trade along those lines might be the ticket. I would like to see a trade to build our prospects and improve our team.