One of the last transactions Andrew Friedman made with the Tampa Bay Rays was a three-way deal with the Tigers and Mariners when he acquired Willy Adames in a trade along with Drew Smyly for David Price and others. Could lightning strike again? Could Andrew Friedman pull off another blockbuster deal? A lot of Dodger fans have wanted Willy Adames for their SS, and while he is not a top-of-the-order…
When the players pitch and get hits, the manager looks like a genius. Torey Lovello looked the part last night as Merrill Kelly looked like Cy Young. In what can only be called an epic game, Kelly went seven innings, allowing three hits, one run and striking out nine. This was a guy the Dodgers hit hard during the regular season. He has a 0-2 record against them with a…
Once again, Bruce Bochy demonstrated why he is a genius. Bochy’s strategy was this: After his starter gave up five runs in 4.2 IP, he told the bullpen not to give up any runs the rest of the way. No one else on the planet would have thought of something so ingenious. Then, in the 11th inning, he whispered into Adolis Garcia’s ear. “If you hit a Home Run, that…
People can be tricked into believing something. That does not make them stupid. What makes them stupid is if they keep believing what they were tricked about… and they let someone trick them repeatedly. Sometimes, when something good or bad happens, I have to process it, and it is instinctual for me to condense it into its simplest form. I read what others say, but I usually come up with…
If you didn’t see this yesterday, here is a very insightful comment from Vinny’s Ghost: “The baseball playoffs are like choosing the 100-meter finalist in the Olympics from marathon runners.” That actually sums it up, Vinny! That is a very good analogy. However, if this format sticks, then the Dodgers, along with the Braves and the Orioles, are going to have to adjust. The Dodgers sat out for a week…
Texas Ranger Style – Right about now, every Dodger fan wants Bruce Bochy as their “Flavor of the Week Manager.” He has been managing for 26 years and has made the playoffs in five seasons. He has won three World Series, so he must be great, right? Monday was Bochy’s 13th managerial win in a postseason game when facing elimination after he notched his 12th such win in Game 6….
Quite often, I publish blogs to stimulate conversation. It doesn’t bother me if you hate what I say… or even hate me. I don’t hate anyone, but today, I am going to tell you exactly what I believe needs to happen this offseason, and it starts with not signing Shohei Ohtani. Oh, Andrew Friedman will be “all in” and will say as much, but it’s a dope-fiend move to sign…
All of the teams who cruised to 100+ wins in 2023 were bounced from the playoffs in short order. Now, you can believe that there are no excuses, but you have to have your head someone dark to believe that sitting out a week for the Wild Card Round has no effect. I don’t believe in excuses either, but there are reasons, and we would be foolish not to consider…
If you have been around baseball for as long as I have (and many of you have been around it longer), if a team won the NL or AL Pennant, they played the winner of the opposite league in the World Series. Then, if they won four games in that series, they were declared World Champion. Simple! They were the best team in baseball that season. It was simple. It…
Well, in a couple of weeks, after the dust settles and a new Champion is crowned, if the Astro holes don’t win, we can all put on our GM caps and begin making our fantasy selections on just who the Dodgers might target via trade, free agency or dipping into the Asian free agent pool and plucking a Nipponese pitcher. I expect some changes, maybe even one or two in…