When the Dodgers traded Zach Lee to the Mariners for Chris Taylor, my first reaction was:
He’s a backup SS – OK, but not great.
He’s a utility guy who is a junkyard dog.
Chris Taylor is a baseball rat! He’s an over-achieving utilityman.
That means I like him.
A couple of days later, I wrote:
The more I read about him the more I think Chris Taylor is EXACTLY what the Dodgers need; a True Backup Shortstop. Kike appears to be the odd-man out! Taylor also has a nice compact line-drive swing. He’s a utilityman, but those guys are valuable too.
I was on a year sabbatical from this site and posting on another site where certain people who have bad luck when it comes to thinking, were saying stuff like this about the trade:
I agree that the trade of Lee for Taylor is insignificant – it is trading nothing for nothing.
Dodgerpatch put it this way:
I hope this move isn’t bitterly criticized, ….but it will be.
… and it was! Over-and-over… ad nauseum! What was the harm of the trade and why the vitriol? Zach Lee had no future as a pitcher (I recognized it long before that) and it was a trade of two players who were rather insignificant, but knowing that Chris Taylor was a baseball rat and a junkyard dog, I felt good about the deal. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA CHRIS TAYLOR WOULD HAVE THIS STAT LINE ON JULY 22, 2017, AFTER 80 GAMES:
- .310 BA/.920 OPS%
- 12 HR
- 43 RBI
- 22 DOUBLES
- 4 TRIPLES
Not quite a superstar, but pretty dang good. Actually, very damn good! The fact of the matter is that trading Zach Lee for Chris Taylor may be the best trade made by the Dodgers in a long, long time. Of course, there are lots of good deals done by FAZ: Andrew Toles, Brandon Morrow, Austin Barnes, Kike Hernandez, Yasmani Grandal, Rich Hill. Alex Wood, et al. Let’s not forget that it would have been easy to trade prospects inherited from the prior front office, but FAZ resisted and the pipeline is delivering Ned & Logan’s guys and Friedman’s guys are nearing ready too.
Chris Taylor looks to be a very solid player who has learned to adjust…. month-by-month, week-by-week, day-by-day, at-bat- by-at-bat. Another bat would be nice, but FAZ will make no dope-fiend moves.
Services Today Will be held at The Church of ChrisTaylor with the Rev. Truth Hurts officiating (he’s the guy with the harmonica). He just loves to dance.
P.S. For the record, I am not irreverent – I’m just having fun with a play on words, so don’t do what happened at Charlie Hebdo. It’s just in fun.
Dodger News
- Andrew Friedman must have blackmailed the Rays into taking Sergio Romo. I mean, how can you even get anything for him? Hatcher is next!
- Where are the Rich Hill Critics now?
- The Dodgers are 7th out of 30 teams in HR. First in BB. 3rd in OPS. 3rd in OB%. 5th in Runs and will likely finish higher.
- It’s a long shot, but the Dodgers have a chance at having 8 players with 20 or more HR. Bellinger, Puig, Seager and Grandal are within striking distance of 25-30 HR, while Taylor, Turner, Hernandez and Pederson all have 10+ HR right now.
- Yasmani Grandal is hitting .273 in case you weren’t paying attention.
- Trayce Thompson needs to go back to AAA and let’s see if Willie can hit or maybe Alex.
- Something to think about:
Trade Logan Forsythe and Ryu to Boston (who needs a third-baseman and a starter) for C.J. Chatham and Rafael Devers. Taylor goes to 2B and Calhoun or Verdugo goes to LF. You can flip the prospects for a LHRP.
Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at a conversation between Andrew Friedman and Al Avilia who is VP of baseball operations for the Detroit Tigers:
Friedman: We would be interested trading for Justin Wilson.
Avilia: We are open to that. What were you thinking of offering?
Friedman: How about Trevor Oaks, Jordan Sheffield and Edwin Rios?
Avilia: Well, if you want Wilson you have to take Verlander.
Friedman: How much of his salary will you pay?
Avilia: We will pay the rest of this year’ salary and we want Buehler, Alvarez and Verdugo for the pair.
Friedman: Coughing and choking sounds….
That pretty much sums up what is happening right now. It could change by the end of the month….
Minor League Notes
- Alex Verdugo looks tired right about now. I think he needs a 7-day DL. He’s dragging! He’s young and playing a lot.
- Willie Calhoun jacked 21st HR last night as a pinch hitter. It was the only run OKC scored.
- Yasiel Sierra went 3 innings last night and did not allow a run, but did walk 3. So far this year, he has pitched 59 innings, allowed 54 hits and struck out 71 while walking 22. His ERA is 2.29, but his WHIP is a little high at 1.29. He is 26 and I think he has to be part of the Dodgers plans NEXT year. He can be a workhorse out of the pen.
- Shea Spitzbarth has to be considered next year too. He has pitched 50 innings, allowed 40 hits and struck out 54 with 19 BB. His ERA is 1.98 and his WHIP is 1.18.
- ThinkBlueLA speculates that Wilmer Font might be a good candidate for the Dodgers Rotation. I wonder how he would do in the pen? High 90’s with excellent control and he has 101 Inning this year which is 40 more than last year. I’d consider him in the pen.
Discussion (78)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Mark pointed out Masterson’s game as well as Alvarez. I think Mark was being kind to Yadier and his outing today. Adam Bray had a complete game 1 hit shutout for Rancho.
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Dustin May pitched 6.2 innings allowing 5 hits, 2 runs, 2BB, and 6K for Great Lakes. Angel German pitched the final 2.1 picking up his 6th save.
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Kevin Malisheski, 5 IP, 3H, 1R, 0BB, 1 K, and Colby Nealy, 2 IP, 2H, 1R, 0BB, and 3K were the pitching stars for AZL Dodgers today.
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Keibert Ruiz had two hits including his 3rd HR at Rancho. He is now batting .389. Brendon Davis was just promoted to Rancho and went 2-4 in his Rancho debut.
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For OKC, Mike Freeman had 4 hits, while SVS, Kyle Farmer, and Justin Masterson had 2 each. With his 22nd HR,Calhoun is now tied for #2 in the PCL for HRs. With 21, O’Koyea Dickson is tied for #5.
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Tim Locastro had 3 hits today for Tulsa, while Matt Beaty had 2. Zach Reks had another multi-hit game for Great Lakes.
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Kevin LaChance and Romer Cuadrado had two hits each for Ogden Raptors.
Sorry nit. Picking.
People our best pitcher got hurt. Let’s not start not picking the catchers or our minor leaguers. I have complete FAITH in FAZ. I am happy we have some good options. We don’t. need to make a dope fiend move. Don’t hate!!!
Stripling and Stewart have not been stretched out. Masterson hasn’t been a good major league pitcher for a few seasons. Buehler only has one AAA start and it wasn’t successful. Maybe Oaks or Font? Maybe a trade for another non- Mat Latos type pitcher?
Can someone explain why the catcher sets up middle belt high? It happened a bunch of times with Jansen. Terrible. Also too many high pitches called. Can’t believe how our catchers set up. MIDDLE BELT HIGH. I need an explanation.
I know that we are all talking trades and performance, but I am going to change the subject. Todays game made me think of a “what if….” situation, so you rules guys please give me the answer. 8th inning, Dodgers lead 3-1, 2out and KJ comes on for a potential save. He gets the last out of the 8th, but in the bottom of the inning the Dodgers score 5 runs making it 8-1 going into the 9th. Jansen sets them down 1-2-3. Does he get a save?
Justin Masterson went 7 innings today in OKC. He struck out 6 and walked 0. He is now 9-4 with a 3.88 ERA.
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BTW, Calhoun Jacked #22… a 3-run shot! He now has 65 RBI.
According to Dave Roberts, Kershaw and McCarthy both heading to DL. That leaves 4 healthy starters. Any guesses who becomes #5 (after Wood, Hill, Maeda and Ryu)?
Just before the season started I stated 105 wins more to express enthusiasm than really believing that Dodgers would win that many. I didn’t think that was a short sale. 105 wins is now the under! CHEERS!!!!!
Dodgers losing the first two to the Braves reminded me of the crap-shoot factor that often plays into a championship. I see that factor is pretty small with the energy these Dodgers have. It can go wrong but just not very likely.
If Dodgers win tomorrow and then play just 50% for wins the rest of the way that’s 100 wins.
Do we have any Forsythe haters left?
They hear us talk you know!!!
Come on AC comment on my Buehler scenario!!!
Taylor, JT, and Forsythe in the 10th. Three pretty good junkyard dogs. Bull pen did well. Jansen can be forgiven. Bring on a Minnesota.
Strange but Strasburg was also injured in the 2nd inning vs Arizona today
Good job Dodgers!!!!
Who in here said Jansen was going to blow his next save opportunity???
BELLINGER HITS #27. YES!!!!
Enter Mr. Buhler…Just a cup of coffee or two mind you and see what we have!!! I think someone said we have 40 man opening… We might find he’d be a find in the BP…
Like someone said about Taylor, as long as he’s in the lineup were good…
Forsythe’s defense is outstanding. Barnes is hitting really well. Would like to see more of Barnes at second to see how good he is there. Barnes could be the second baseman next year with Taylor staying in the outfield. I would prefer however for Barnes to start as soon as August 1 to evenly split catching duties with Grandal.
It’s official – Lower back tightness.
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Here comes the DL!
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Now they really go after Darvish!
What happened to Kershaw?
Man down!
Dodgers showing Interest in Darvish:
https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/07/dodgers-have-strong-interest-in-yu-darvish.html
I have watched Willie Calhoun several times in the past two weeks and he has a sweet, compact swing. At 22, he will get even better, but he cannot play 2B at all. He just misplayed a routine popup. Come on DH!
Puig’s took an extra 45 minutes of batting practice yesterday with Ward and Mota. They were trying to get hm to hit the ball in the air more. Last night looked like it may have helped.
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Also Tayor did not like the way he was batting before the all star game. He studied a lot of film. Needless to say I think he has found his problem. Utley said Taylor has a quality at bat every tme he goes to the plate. Nice to hear from an old pro.
Good to get back to get back to winning ways.
Interesting read
https://thekzonenews.wordpress.com/2017/07/14/is-kershaw-really-a-postseason-choker/
Red Sox are not trading Devers, and definitely not for Ryu and Forsythe. Not sure how even the rosiest of glasses depict Forsythe as an adequate 3B for a team with World Series aspirations.
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Mark
I do agree, that Forsythe is the odd man out, because Kike’ is out producing Forsythe, and he isn’t getting consistent at bats, like Forsythe is.
What I noticed the most about last night’s game, was that our offense was not to productive, without Turner, and Taylor in the line up.
And Cody and Corey, are not part of this problem.
We were lucky to even score that go ahead run last night, before Taylor came into the game.
Because Puig hit a swinging bunt, and if Grandal doesn’t knock the ball out of the catchers mitt, that go ahead run, wouldn’t have scored.
And here is my daily sermon, we will have to do better, and learn how to be more productive on offense, or we won’t be able to score to many runs, against good pitching.
The only runs we scored up until Grandal knocked that ball out of the catcher’s mitt, were from two solo HRs.
The other players need to learn to make the proper adjustments, so they don’t continue to hit their balls, into the shifts.
And if they are going to hit into a out, they need to make it be a productive out..
Possibilities if Forsythe is traded
1. Ethier winds up playing LF by late August.
2. Agon returns and Bellinger moves to LF
3. Kike’ becomes the regular LFer
4. Taylor plays wherever he says he wants to play
Great post Mark, lol. Chris(T)aylor reminds me of Matt Carpenter, but better. And to think, for Zach Lee? Unbelievable
I hope the DH comes soon so we can see Willie, that would only bolster this lineup in a couple years
It will be really interesting to see what happens this week, a bullpen piece would be nice!
I just love the Taylor story. Just like I love the JT story. Teams that gave up on them and now they are Dodgers and playing very good baseball. I felt if Taylor would bat 275 that would be very good. He can hit both lefties and righties.
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We are going to have two veterans coming back. Agon and Either. Both are going to need some playing time if they are to help us in the playoffs.
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We have three good starting pitchers. We just need to figure out the 4 and 5 spots. Ryu, McCarthy and Maeda certainly have been given enough opportunities to nail down a position. I really think it is McCarthy and Maeda in the 4 and 5 spots with Ryu to the pen.
Couple of updates above.
The FO may not do anything at the trade deadline or they may make a big splash. We’ll see. One thing I do know is Chris Taylor is in the starting line-up and will remain so. Could the Dodgers acquire OF help and move Taylor to the full-time 2B job? That is a real possibility as Forsythe has been underwhelming and I can see the Dodgers trying to add an OF piece. Is that piece Verdugo? Maybe!
Next week will be fun.
A lot of fans have lamented losing Peraza (.606 OPS) and Schebler (22 HR .241 BA). Peraza would not even be on the team (Kike’s OPS is 200 POINT HIGHER) as a utility player. In LA Schebler would not have as many HR and I see no place he would have played. Montas did help us get Hill, so to me, the FO moved pieces that they had no use for.
I was OK with JT getting a breather, especially after Roberts said he was dealing with an upper respiratory infection, and Utley hit a HR last night with Forsythe sliding to 3B. I was scratching my head about sitting Taylor and putting Thompson in LF and so was Roberts after watching him K 3 times in 3 AB’s so when he pulled Hill with 1 out in the top of the 7th he sent Taylor out to LF. Baez did his part, getting the final 2 outs and doing it again in the 8th. Taylor led off the bottom of the 7th with a HR to Right Center and then to top it off comes up in the 8th and hits a 2 run 3B! Two takeaways from all of that: Taylor should be in there every day no matter the position, and Thompson is taking a spot away from a more deserving player. His .119 average and below .100 for July and pitiful performance last night are all signs (not lost on Roberts or Faz) Not sure what to do with his 40 man spot either, the best replacements like Calhoun, Verdugo and Dickson are not on the 40 man, maybe an extended DL stint is in order. That is the one trade Faz would probably like back, losing Schebler and Peraza (and Brandon Dickson) for Montas, Micah Johnson and Trace. None of the 3 did what the Dodgers were hoping for and both key players going to the Reds have done well. (Brandon Dickson was a throw in) Also last night Roberts got 2 PH singles from Barnes and Kike before Taylor’s 3B. 4 hits, 3 runs and 3 RBI’s from his bench! That’s making some lemonade! Hill pitched another strong game as well, and Kersh goes today looking for a series split.
You are on a new path of some really good trade ideas – well done!