Wednesday the Dodgers announced “layoffs across the organization.” Right about now, I do not know who has been laid off. I would be surprised if this included anyone in player development and the baseball ops side of things… but you never know. Allegedly, the Dodgers have lost over $100 Million in 2020. If you are on the side of labor, you might say that is way overinflated and if you…
Who Will Play 2B
AF has gone on record indicating what he will be prioritizing: “Adding a reliever or two is something that we’re going to keep an eye on and kind of sift through. Really for us, it’s about identifying the talent in a vacuum but also then trying to get as many diversified looks as you can in the pen. This year, we really liked our pen and our pen was a…
How Do You Like Me Now?
In October of 2014, the ownership of the Dodgers decided to go in a new direction and named Andrew Friedman President of Baseball Operations. GM Ned Colletti was moved to another position in the organization and Friedman brought in Farhan Zaidi as the new GM. At the time, the only thing I knew about Friedman was that he had been running the Tampa Bay Rays. I knew they had gotten…
What If?
Keep Tommy Lasorda in your prayers, but he is 93 and the Big Dodger in the Sky is going to get this baseball icon sooner or later. We love you Tommy!
Men in Black Part 2
Back again with my second installment about the 10 men in the hall who were umpires. Looking back and remembering some of the umps I do, I cannot help but wonder what has kept guys like Augie Donatelli and Shag Crawford out of the hall. Only the Vets committee knows for sure. But today’s story profiles a couple of pretty good umps and one really versatile one who excelled in…
Starting Pitching
Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw, David Price, Julio Urias, Dustin May, Tony Gonsolin, Josiah Gray. It sure seems like the Dodgers are loaded with starting pitching. But are they? Outside of Walker Buehler, which of the above pitchers is a lock to being a top of the rotation starting pitcher. Clayton Kershaw? Sure fire HOF pitcher, and should end his career as a Dodger. There is no question in my mind…
AC’s Musings
We need to end this myth that Mookie cannot hit LHP. Over his career, against LHP, Betts is slashing .297/.379/.509/.888. Mookie’s career against RHP – .302/.372/.526/.897. Those seem like even splits to me. Over his career, Mookie has faced RHP 76% of the time. I think it is more likely that Betts was unfamiliar with NL LH pitchers, and after a year on a new team and a new league,…
The Stuntmen in 2021
Of course, Kike was a defensive wizard while Mickey was a defensive liability, thus the large glove. Mickey was a better hitter… for average, while Kike had a lot more power. Both were great teammates and the clubhouse was better with them. In Hatcher’s 12 years in the Majors, he put up 2.9 WAR. In 7 seasons, Kike Hernandez put up 10.2 WAR in half the AB’s as Hatcher.
What Will Dodger Baseball Look Like in 2021?
NOTE: This coffee cup was given to me by a very special friend who is now fighting cancer. I pray that you beat that bastard, Bob! Thanks for the mug. I think that the mug pretty well sums me up! There is a lot of time between now and Spring Training and it could be a cold, contentious Winter on the labor side as MLB and the MLBPA continue to…