What Will Be

If I remember correctly 7 of Joc’s solo homers were leading off the game. Not a bad way to start a game!

Where the hell is my man Toles?

As for Bochy, the word in the Bay Area is that he may not Like the new GM

Sorry Mark, but I don’t agree with trading either Joc or Alex for Castellanos. Both guys imo are much more valuable the him. Just to get a RH bat is no reason to trade the popular Joco or the young and rising talent of Verdugo. Castellanos. They didn’t want Harper, didn’t want Machado, settled for Pollack and now you want Castellanos? We can do better by just waiting.

I just saw a page on Trout talking about the Phillies.

Can you imagine if the Phillies sigh both Harper and Trout?

I don’t think 59 could take that!

interesting editorial at dodgers nation about the current state of baseball and the cba

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http://www.dodgersnation.com/dodgers-have-3-years-to-win-the-world-series-before-baseball-armageddon/2019/02/18/

Farhan Zaidi, starting this year

Did everyone see that Bochy is going to retire after this next 2019 season?

AC & 59 – Well put gentleman… AC you advocated JDLM and I said why not Dozier for another go at it.. I’m big on D up the middle and hope 2B will be OK with Muncy or whomever…

It will be several weeks of Woulda-Coulda-Shoulda rants & raves…

Watford my Man – Keep the faith with Barnes… I gotta feeling…

I too hope all is well Toles and hope to see him soon… And yes, what a story…

With all the prospect lists starting to pop up, it’s a nice look into recent IFA signing. The Dodgers have been limited in what they can spend, but seem to be spending it really, really well.

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Uceta was signed in 2016 for just (relative just there) 10K.

Carillo in ’16 for 75K.

Robinson Ortiz in ’17 for 60K.

Alex De Jesus and Jerming Rosario in ’18 for 500K and 600K.

Carlos Rincon for 325K.

Yep, this is going to be a looooong week. I didn’t know anyone was so passionate about Jose Peraza, who by the way was acquired by the same front office just 6 months before the trade that sent him to the Reds. How can you argue with a guy that calls the front office idiots after winning the division 6 straight times (a record) and back to back World Series? Some people just choose to thrive in misery.

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I will give you this Carlos. I would love to see them acquire a top talent. My guy is Harper with Kluber a close second. Actually, I would rather have Trevor Bauer than Kluber because I would rather have a guy on the way up in his career than on the way down. And to tell you the truth, I would rather have Arrenado or Rendon than Harper. So, at this point I would wait it out and see what’s available at the deadline.

Koehler getting injured without throwing a pitch was unlucky last year as well.

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I’m really optimistic. This is the best Rotation I can remember, and if Baez & Kelly can get the ball to a rejuvenated Kenley, then the BP should be fine.

I said last year that he was carrying too much timber, and it looks like he’s addressed it.

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Catcher remains the the only major concern for me.

I read some of the comments on here and then see some of the same observations on other sites, and it has to be frustration that the Dodgers did not win it all in 2017 or 2018. Because I keep reading that the FO has not done enough to help the team this year (more so on other sites). I still have no idea what the budget for AF is, but it has to be somewhere near the CBT threshold of $206MM. Right now, they are at $198MM and if Kershaw and Maeda max their incentives, the Dodgers will go past that threshold without adding anyone at the trade deadline.

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The Dodgers committed 3 years and $93MM to Clayton ($31MM AAV), $18MM QO to Ryu, 3 years and $25MM to Joe Kelly ($8.3MM AAV), and 4 years and $55MM to AJ Pollock ($12MM AAV). They already have $19.3MM committed to Jansen, $18.7MM to Hill, and $19.0MM to JT (all at $16MM AAV). And that is not enough? To some, no.

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Many want another $31+MM to Bryce Harper for 10 YEARS, and Bryce has had all of one outstanding year, and one very good year, and the rest not so much. He is a very good player, but I do not see him as THE DIFFERENCE, and certainly not at his cost.

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Machado? Been there done that. Next!!

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JT Realmuto – If anyone believes that 2 years of JTR is worth May, Lux, and either Ruiz or Smith, I am extremely grateful that you are not the GM for the Dodgers.

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Pirates wanted Ross Stripling for one year of Francisco Cervelli. If anyone feels the Dodgers missed there, see comment above on JTR.

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I agree with Dodgerrick on Yan Gomes and at the time thought he would have been a good pickup. It is possible that the Dodgers did not want Gomes unless he came with Kluber or if they believed they could be patient and wait out Miami for JTR. Could have been a miss, we will never know how much of a consideration it was.

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I have read that the Dodgers should have tried to sign Nate Eovaldi. 4 years $67.5MM for a pitcher with two TJ surgeries. I think the Dodgers would have talked to Eovaldi for a high AAV contract for 2 years, but not 4.

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Joe Kelly (30) was less expensive and younger than both Zack Britton (31 and 3 years $39MM) and Andrew Miller (34 and 2 years at $25MM), and less expensive than Jeurys Familia. Of the four, I might have considered Familia at 3 years $30MM, but he was willing to take less and go back to NYM. If Kelly can come close to duplicating what he did in the post season, he will more than earn his $8.33 AAV.

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I was a strong advocate for JDLM, and I do think they missed out there. I would have liked a consistent strong defensive everyday 2B to combo with Seager. However, I will defer to AF who thinks that CT3, Kike’, and Muncy will produce equal or better numbers at a far less cost. And yes, I do believe finances had a strong consideration for 2B. The three combined are less than DJLM. I remain a DJLM fan and would have loved to see him in Dodger blue rather than NYY pinstripes.

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How many would have spent $140MM+ for 6 years for Patrick Corbin. The Dodgers have enough LHSP, and Corbin made it clear that he wanted East Coast. (preferably NYY, but DC is close enough).

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Keuchel? Kimbrel? Any of the Gonzalez’ (Marwin, Gio, Carlos)? Josh Harrison? If you are GM, WHO?

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The Dodgers NEED to rely on their farm system. That is where they will look for their stars; Kershaw, Buehler, Jansen, Ryu, Joc, Belli, Stripling, Ferguson, maybe this year Verdugo. Since they were in the Dodgers farm system via trade, I think I can include Barnes and CT3. So, if they can pick up more prospects like Jeter Downs and Josiah Gray, all the better. They will continue to add where they need, but it will be complimentary players like Pollock and Kelly, not prima donnas like Harper. AF will undoubtedly spend $30MM AAV again, but it will be home grown, and it could very well be when Corey Seager becomes a FA.

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Everyone knows how I coveted Corey Kluber. It did not happen. We will never know what the cost of Kluber was. Next!!

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Pitchers and catchers have reported, so it is now time to get behind this team as it is. They are the jewel of the NL West and have every right to claim favorite status for the NL crown going into the season. We have no idea yet who will be needed at trade deadline. But we do know that AF is not afraid to pull the trigger at that time if need be. If there is a difference maker available, I think he will absolutely go for that player. We also know that AF will not mortgage the future. It is indeed a good time to be a Dodger fan.

From Friedman, we are not sure when Toles will arrive, but he has been in contact with our organization, and he has our full support.

So many doubts, pretty funny actually. Hear this from Dodger fans often. Friedman and Roberts seem excited. Some of this angst from Dodger fans probably is more about the Dodgers not signing Harper or trading for Kluber. Hey, I will miss Puig, he was fun to watch, but he couldn’t hit lefties. Does anybody really think it would be a good idea to keep him in his walk year as a part of a platoon? He was already making noise about issues with the front office thinking. Not playing regularly when he was looking for a big contract wasn’t going to cut it. I will miss Kemp. He pretty much saved the Dodgers in the first half of 2018. The Dodgers simply had too many outfielders. Good, bad or indifferent they had to do something. Maybe Joc Pederson is on the trade block or maybe he isn’t. But he has power and I think the team is afraid to trade him because he continues to improve. Plus he goes deep against some pretty elite pitchers. I have a hard time understanding why some fans undervalue AJ Pollock. He’s a game changing player and several Dodger pitchers have said they are glad they don’t have to face him any longer. He can play center and lead off, something the Dodgers haven’t really had in awhile. Yes, he’s had some freak injuries, but that’s pretty much what they’ve been, like Turner getting hit on the wrist at the end of spring training last year. Not much you can about those type of impact injuries. The Dodgers have the deepest starting pitching in baseball and the bullpen is far better than what they had starting 2018, when they blew game after game in the first couple of months. Injuries can always change a season, but the Dodgers, thanks to depth, have been able to overcome the last few years. Friedman and Roberts are excited. You can hear that excitement in interviews. So why the doubts? Spring is for optimism, not pessimism. We’re not talking about the Detroit Tigers here. Maybe Pollock said it best. When he played in Arizona, they hoped to win and make the playoffs. In LA? They expect to win and go deep in the playoffs.

Remember our biggest weakness last year, was not hitting when runners were in scoring position, not hitting HRs.

I rather see our players do that consistently then hit a bunch of solo HRs, that are just filler for our offense, and make our run differential look better then it really is.

And being able to hit in those situations, is going to be the key against good pitching in the post season.

I hope Cody gets back to doing this after working with our hitting instructor, because Cody not only hit well in these situations in 2017, he did that in the last couple innings in games, in the clutch.

Although Cody was not as bad as some, in these situations last year.

Corey and Turner can’t be the only players able to hit in these situations, because if we get to the post season, pitchers won’t be giving these guys much to hit.

That report on Dodger com was written at 1pm western time, and Bill Plunkett of the OCR said everyone was at spring training at 3pm western time yesterday.

And when Plunkett said that, Toles wasn’t one of the last to report to camp.

Verdugo has not proven anything at Big League Level and maybe has not been giving a chance but he is not proven and seems to have a bad attitude too so i am not sure he will be good. He has talent and could be a contact hitter and better than Joc for sure but is not a fact. This FO has failed to land Realmuto, Kluber, Sign any FA. The dumb Zaidi thankfully gone gave stupid contracts to his friends Macarthy , Kazmir, Anderson all worthless pitchers and with zero guts for pitching. Always injured and mediocre stats. Instead of going to the big star this idiot always signed mediocre players until last season that he got Machado and when he traded for Darvish who was terrible in post season and not that good during the season but did had a couple good outings in first rounds of playoffs. I am not convinced Kelly is the solution he has been terrible inconsistent in his carreer i think they should have signed more BP arms because Jansen has been so inconsistent and giving home runs every outing.

Good Morning. I am tired of defending this front office. This team is worst without Puig and Kemp and that nonsense trade with the Reds. As well as the last trade before this that this FO made with the Reds where they handed Peraza for nothing and was a terrible trade. This team needs to Sign Harper or Machado and this cheap owners need to do show this is a big team if not they wont win the WS. Boston Spent and they won. If it was not for Machado , Puig, Kemp, etc the Dodgers would have not made the WS. You can criticize Puig all you want and defend this FO for trading him but he is one of the very few players that had clutch moments and showed up . As far as i remember Jensen, Kershaw have always been terrible in the post season most of the time. Puig in the last 2 Octobers carried the team. Forget about Verdugo , just sign Harper or Machado as soon as possible and stop playing games like this is Tampa or Oakland. Do something.

WTF is the Joc to ChiSox all about? It seems very strange to me since Toles is MIA and it isn’t their style to just hand the job to Verdugo. Do the Dodgers have another outfielder lined up?

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As far as Castellanos goes, his best OPS was last year at 854. and his DRS was -19. Wouldn’t it make more sense to keep Joc and Kike in a platoon?

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Right now, Belli, Seager, Muncy and Joc are the lefty bats

Kike, Turner, Marnes, Pollock, Taylor are righty bats

The lineup looks very balanced

Do we really (still) need another righty bat?

Add one more to the list…Craig Kimbrel. Somebody is going to sign him.

Another very interesting article, and by the way, thanks for the 68’s draft link, I definitely think it’s the best one so far, and not just from Dodgers, but from any other team ….

And on what the first 4 could be different makers, my personal opinion I would say that only the first 3…

Good morning for all of you!

Last day to report to spring training is today and Toles is the only player not already in camp.

I agree the Dodgers will make mid-season adjustments. It is too early though to know what weakness will need fixing or what opportunity will be irresistible. Casty would have been a good trade if the DH were approved for 2019 but it wasn’t.

I hope Pederson totally changes his plan against lefties and just tries to hit every pitch up the middle or to left field and get all his home runs against righties. If not, Joc and Kike’ would make a great platoon and together give the Dodgers much more than what Casty could do alone.

Smith will play a strong role this year for the Dodgers and Ruiz will then be the full time catcher in OK. It will be 2020 before the two truly compete for the Dodger catcher spot. Barnes might have something to say about all of that.