The Dodgers announced yesterday that Orel Hershiser will take Greg Maddux’s place as Spring Pitching Instructor. He’s keep his day job as announcer but I think it’s good news to have his help with the pitching this Spring.
A number of Dodger players are already in camp and more are coming in today and tomorrow.
The teams first workout is Thursday.
If you need Spring Training Information, let me remind you that their is a link at the top of the Home Page.
Here we go….
If you haven’t listened to Baseball America’s Podcast on the Dodgers’ Top 10 Prospects. It’s 45 minutes of great information.
Soundbites:
- “One of the top farm systems in baseball”
- “They Dodgers spend lots of money… some of it is burned… but it pays off.”
- “An organization that is successful at both the big league and minor league level.”
Ladies and Gentlemen: This is going to be one hell of a ride!
Discussion (55)
Disagree, not disagreeable
MJ,
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Well, I disagree with you, but contrary to what some people say, I can disagree without being disagreeable… and so can you.
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Peace Out!
Look, I am not saying that A-Gon is a bad guy. He just needs to hit 6th! Not 4th!
…but since you asked, Yasmani Grandal hit .247 with RISP with a .393 OB% and a .971 OPS.
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Adrian Gonzalez hit .297 with RISP with a .376 OB% and a .845 OPS.
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But, remember A-Gon was hitting 4th and Grandal was lower.
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All I am saying is that the hitters around you can make you better or worse.
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A-Gon’s stats are OK, but not great.
Let me break this down:
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A Gon had 90 RBI in 568 AB’s = an RBI every 6.31 AB’s and he mostly hit 4th!
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Yasmani Grandal had 72 RBI in 390 AB’s = and RBI every 5.42 AB’s and he mostly hit lower in the lineup!
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If Yasmani had the same number of AB’s as Adrian, he would have had 105 RBI.
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I rest my case!
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Dismiss the jury!
Let me give you some more reasons:
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Gonzo’s Average Exit Velocity was 88.82. MLB Average was 89.57. He’s below average there.
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Corey Seager’s was 91.71, Turner 91.55, Grandal 93.09, Pederson 94.32.
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Gonzo hit .244 against LH pitching, down from .294 in 2015 – of course in 2014, he hit .201 against LH pitching so he could come back. His BA against LH pitching has been in general decline the past 5 years.
The stars would have to be perfectly aligned for Gonzo to be traded — I don’t think it will happen either.
Most of the comments here are related to this comment: If Bellinger were to force his way into the first base job and the Dodgers were willing to trade Gonzales to make room for him, I still think San Diego is the best bet for such a trade.
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Part of my thinking about San Diego being the most likely team that Gonzales might be traded to is my desire to let Gonzales to return home and keep him in Southern California. He deserves that. The other part of my thinking is that San Diego fans may be the only fans that would appreciate getting Gonzales at this stage of his career plus San Diego’s need for a veteran to tutor their young players.
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No one replied to what I actually said–that if Gonzales were traded it would most likely be to San Diego.
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One person said: “Why would SD trade 26 yr old Myers, who they just signed for $83M/six yrs (and an option for a seventh season) after his best season?” — Part of the answer to that question is inside the question–the $83M contract.
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Another comment provided another answer to why would SD trade Myers. — “Myers is overrated,…Myers had a big power year but still had an OPS less than .800. That does not scream 6 years and $83M to me.
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Agon probably won’t be traded. If he were traded for Myers, I would expect Myers would be traded again by the Dodgers before the 2018 season started.
Why would SD trade 26 yr old Myers, who they just signed for $83M/six yrs (and an option for a seventh season) after his best season?
Count me with those that believe AGon is here for his contract. Cody Bellinger may in fact become a very good MLB hitter, but he has not proven that he can consistently hit at AAA. Let’s let him feel success at AAA before we move one of our more productive hitters to another team; another team in the NL West. Seager was probably considered more advanced, and he needed a full year at AAA before he got the call in September as a 21 year old. If Bellinger is successful at AAA and gets a September call-up, he will have just turned 22. That would put him about 10 months behind where Corey was, and that seems reasonable.
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I would anticipate that the Dodgers will be a very strong contender at the deadline, and that AGon will be very instrumental in their success. If he is, no way does FAZ move him. If he is not having a productive year, no team will take him and his salary. On August 25, AGon becomes a 10/5 guy and will have his no-trade rights enacted. AGon is a Dodger through 2018. I recognize the decreasing OPS for AGon as Mark illustrated, but I do not believe that it will drop below .784. Nothing to base it on, just an opinion. He is a true professional that stays in great shape. I think the shift has a lot to do with his decreasing OPS. I have not had a chance to review what his fly ball vs ground ball ratio has been doing, but maybe he gets more lift this year, and keeps his OPS around .800.
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I agree with Bobbie17 that Myers is overrated, and certainly not needed. If Bellinger is considered the heir to AGon at 1st, why would the Dodgers want Myers at $83M thru 2022 ($71M for 2018-2022 vs. AGon $21.5M for 2018 only)? Myers had a big power year but still had an OPS less than .800. That does not scream 6 years and $83M to me. Myers is considered a poor OF even for the Pads, as that is the reason they moved him permanently to 1B.
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AGon would be a fan favorite in SD and all of their 2,000 fans, but he is also a huge LA favorite. LA fans would not be pleased if he is traded. The 2012 TRADE is sunk cost now, and IMO is not really a major financial obstacle for the Dodgers. Whether his contract has been a deterrent to Dodger needs, we will never truly know, and that issue has been thoroughly debated, and I am sure will be again. He does add to the luxury tax bottom line, but he comes off when the most onerous of the penalties kick in, and will allow LA to extend Kershaw and/or go after one of the big 2018 FA.
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With everything considered, I am happy to see #23 starting at 1B in 2017, and letting Bellinger continue to learn at AAA. In 2018, if Bellinger is ready, AGon takes over for Ethier as the LH bat off the bench, and mentors Bellinger. Who better for a young LH 1B learn from. If something happens to AGon in 2017, I will be happy to see Cody move in.
Do you know what this is?
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2010 – .904
2011 – .957
2012 – .806
2013 – .803
2014 – .817
2015 – .830
2016 – .784
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It’s A-Gon’s OPS since 2011, Notice a trend? Expect more of the same… only more rapid decline.
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In case you don’t know, here is Bill James OPS Classification:
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Great Player – .900+
Very Good Player – .833 – .899
Above Average Player – .766 to .833
Average Player – .700 – .766
Below Average Player – .633 to .699
Poor Player – .566 to .633
Very Poor Player – .566 or lower
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A-Gon will likely be an Average Player this year. The Dodgers are paying him $43 million this year to be average. If he hits #6, we are OK. If he hits 4th we are in trouble.
There is no way that Bellinger replaces AGon while AGon is under contract. If he is that good, he’ll be in the outfield. I agree that he needs at least one year in AAA. Myers is way overrated. Don’t forget he was Minor League Player of the Year. It took him years to make it “big.” So much for the minors. Bellinger hasn’t even gotten to that plateau yet. I hope Mark is right about Cody, but I don’t think he will ever be a Corey. He still needs work on the art of hitting. Lots of it. Of course, power may negate ability to hit for an average. We will see.
Let’s face it: A-Gon and Andre have very little value, unless both get off to stellar starts AND a team in the hunt needs one of them and then the Dodgers would still have to pay at least half of their salary and expect nothing back. I can’t see AZ taking Andre and SD tanking A-Gon. Also, Puig’s value is low. You might get someone to take of of them if you included Alvarez or Verdugo.
Thanks for the podcast links.
Have to agree with Box on this one.
I see Myers as a cornerstone of their organisation going forward.
It wasn’t long ago that they went “all in”, trading best prospects for Big name players. Obviously they tanked, are now rebuilding. Agon doesn’t seem a logical fit to me.
If we felt he was blocking Bellinger, or wanted to get some of his wages off the books, then maybe we could get Carter Capps & pay some of Agon’s salary. I agree Agon would be a popular signing for the fans in SD, and Capps would be a great 8th innings guy for us.
Personally I would keep Agon this season.
The icing on the cake would be signing an 8th innings guy as I’m still not sure about Baez or Romo. Pancakes is still out there?
If Bellinger were to force his way into the first base job and the Dodgers were willing to trade Gonzales to make room for him, I still think San Diego is the best bet for such a trade. San Diego is rebuilding and will have lots of young players on their team and I hear they want a veteran to help with the young players transition into big league players. Gonzales would be a perfect fit for San Diego.
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To help San Diego rebuild the Dodgers could put a package together that added near ready prospects along with Gonzales in order to obtain Wil Myers. I know, San Diego wants to build around Myers but they might be better off with a fan favorite in Gonzales while they are rebuilding along with a couple of young players that might include a few from this list: Verdugo, Calhoun, Oaks, Thompson.
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Myers would be able to play first base in Bellinger isn’t quite ready and move to LF if he is. http://m.mlb.com/player/571976/wil-myers
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It would also be nice to find a way to trade Ethier to Arizona to thin out the outfield and make the Dodgers younger.
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If Puig starts out the season as one of the best players in MLB, do the Dodgers trade high?
With all the talk about Bellinger and his great defense I am reminded that the Dodgers have had a history of great fielding first basemen. To name a few that come to mind: Hodges, Parker, Loney, Gonzales, Bellinger.