The Dodgers Farm System produced nine new Dodgers last year, three of whom are still on the Baseball Prospectus Dodgers Top 20 Prospects (Lux, May, and Gonsolin): Gavin Lux, SS Dustin May, RHP Josiah Gray, RHP Miguel Vargas, 3B Keibert Ruiz, C Tony Gonsolin, RHP Diego Cartaya, C Jeter Downs, SS Kody Hoese, 3B Gerardo Carrillo, RHP Michael Busch, 2B DJ Peters, OF Jacob Amaya, IF Omar Estevez, IF Mitch…
The New Paradigm
Most people don’t get it. Some never will, but the Dodgers Farm System is arguably the most productive in MLB. Right after the trade with the Reds last season when the Dodgers sent Kyle Farmer, Matt, Kemp, Alex Wood, and Yasiel Puig to the Reds for Jeter Downs and Josiah Gray, Dodgers fans completely and totally took leave of their senses. “It’s a salary dump!” “The Front Office doesn’t care…
For a Change of Pace – Meet Jacob Cantleberry
Left-hander Jacob Cantleberry was selected by the Dodgers in the 13th round of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Missouri. He was born in Greenwood, Indiana and attended Center Grove High School in his home town before heading off to San Jacinto-North Community College, located just outside of Houston, Texas. In two seasons with the Gators he posted a 23 – 4 record through 32 appearances,…
My Favorite Baseball Books and Movies
When I read about “WAR” and “dWAR” I’m reminded of a couple of songs from my past, “What a Wonderful World” by Art Garfunkel, and “War” by Edwin Starr, whose lyrics I butcher to get my mind around the discussion of the past several days: “Don’t know much about sabemetrics Don’t know much of analytics Don’t know much about advanced statistics I don’t know what dWAR is for But I…
Meet Aaron Ochsenbein – Closer in Waiting
There has been considerable discussion on LADT regarding relief pitchers and more specifically what the Dodgers could or should do to strengthen the bullpen. It is a conundrum in that standing pat might fit the definition of doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Yet with relief pitchers who knows. How many have that dominant year and then what follows is not nearly as dominant…
Rant & Rave Saturday
Rich Hill won the 2019 Tony Conigliaro Award, becoming the first Dodger to do so. The award has been given out every year since 1990 to a Major Leaguer who has overcome adversity through the attributes of spirit, determination, and courage that were trademarks of Tony Conigliaro. Rich Hill is a worthy recipient and I hope he will accept a reasonable one-year incentive-laden deal. Rich Hill exemplifies what power the…
What Box?
Most people have a great deal of difficulty thinking outside of the box. In most cases, the box is just a wall they have built around their minds. The past couple of days I have read some really dumb stuff from people I think are very smart, but somehow, when it comes to the Dodgers, they take out their brains, set them on the dresser and come to comment on…
2015-2016 Winter FA Revisited
Earlier in the week, I read an article from Dodgers Nation on the perceived struggles the Dodgers seem to have with signing elite free agents. There is no real answer, but a lot of potential scenarios. And then there was a comment during the week, “If the Dodgers do nothing much at all, is that good, are we glad that they chose not to try to improve the team, while…
Help Wanted
We have what I believe is the best Dodger Blog on the web. Of course, it’s the comments and even the readers who don’t comment (thousands a day), as well as the quality of the posts by 2Demeter2 (2D2), Dodger Chatter (DC), and Jeff Dominique or Always Compete (AC) as we have known him. 2D2 is employed full-time as an attorney (watch it or he will sue you, as will…
Rant & Rave Wednesday
It turns out MadBum was just using the Dodgers to drive up his salary for the D-Bags… or maybe Friedman was driving up the salary the D-Bags had to pay the Bum… Oh nevermind, he is still a Bum! The D-Bags could be pretty good in 2020. They won’t win, but Mike Hazen has done a decent job. On the other hand, the Giants and the Rockies are a trainwreck,…