I have been writing for LADT for more than three years, but beginning tomorrow, May 1, I am undertaking a larger role. I have doubts about the eventual outcome, but not about my zeal in taking over this great site. To be clear, LA DodgerTalk is still owned by Mark, and that my role will be as the primary administrator. I think that I am up to the task, but…
Game 1 is in the books. Behind the solid pitching of Clayton Kershaw and a trio of relievers, the Dodgers shutout the Giants, and the Dodger batters crushed Johnny Cueto 15-0. LAD fell short of their 8 home runs hit in last year’s opener, but they did manage 6, including a grand slam by Joc Pederson. Corey Seager, Max Muncy, Cody Bellinger (2), and Will Smith all hit 4-baggers. Besides…
Yesterday Badger brought up an article as to who got voted the dumbest motherf*&$#$@ in the history of baseball. It was a very interesting topic and brought a lively discussion. I have no idea if there is a perceived difference between dumb and stupid, but for this exercise, I am considering that the authors meant stupid. The definition of dumb is …”temporarily unable or unwilling to speak”, and I seriously…
With the excellent column by DC on the teenage players, and with the outstanding article in The Athletic on Zach Reks, I thought I would take a look at late bloomers. If Zach Reks does make it to the Majors, he would certainly be a late bloomer, but he hardly is the only one. A young infielder was drafted in the 9th round out of South Carolina and had a…
I have been away for a bit due to some unexpected personal family matters, but I have continued to read the blog everyday. Last week when Mark proclaimed, “This could not only be the best Dodger bullpen of All-Time, but it could also be one of the best in the game… maybe ever!”, many unsurprisingly jumped on that testament. I have been a huge critic of the bullpen makeup, and…
Time for Dodger Baseball. I like the sound of that as we begin Spring Training games today against the hated Giants. We all know ST games are meaningless in wins and losses, but I still want to see a win in every game. If you compete, compete to win. Before I get into ST, I want to offer my response to the apparent skepticism about the Dodger pitching. Are there…
While I favor LAD farmhands and follow them closely, I am a fan of MiLB baseball period. I scour through the top publications to see what prospects the Dodgers might have some interest in, or in my opinion should have interest in. The top three baseball publications have all reported their top 100 prospects and the Dodgers are prominent in all three. Their least representative publication is MLB Pipeline (MLB)…
Is there in fact collusion going on in MLB? With all of this backlash on the various trades, it is becoming more clear to me that if the MLBPA did not have Tony Clark as the union president, the union would clean the clock of MLB and it’s own lightweight, Rob Manfred. Boston is not hurting in revenue or operating income, and can certainly afford the salaries and resultant luxury…
I was in the middle of a meeting with our outside CPA’s discussing tax strategies last night when a colleague busted in and told me the Dodgers just traded for Mookie and Price. That is all he knew at the time. Unsure who went in the deal. He just knew that I wanted the Dodgers to get Mookie. My meeting broke up shortly thereafter and I went back to my…
I was going to respond to the MiLB contraction topic, but I was not going to add anything meaningful to what was already discussed. Suffice to say that I do not believe that the contraction plan has much of anything to do with enhancing player development. I think it has more to do with once again bending to the whims of the financially challenged organizations, in yet another cost saving…