Are the Dodgers in on Bryce Harper? Yes, even Ray Charles can see that! A better question is “Will the Dodgers really try to sign Bryce Harper? The answer is the same answer I give when people as “Do you wear boxers or briefs?” I say “Depends.” Bada Bing! But seriously… Bryce Harper has “IT” – the “IT FACTOR.” He would be an instant fit for LA. Yes, the Doders…
Catcher Prospects! or Catcher Prospects ?
One position where the Dodgers are looking for improvement is in catcher. I have read some who are not happy about who of Maldonado, Wieters, Lucroy, Vogt, Joseph, Mesoraco, Ellis, or Butera, Friedman will select from. Most of the naysayers did not want Grandal back but have no recommendation for a replacement except JT Realmuto. If it were only that easy just to want something. The Fish are looking for…
Hope Springs Eternal
Baseball is the ultimate game for statistics, and in the past few years statistics have multiplied faster than a warren of rabbits. Launch angles, exit velocity and spin rates are only a few of the new statistics. Some statistics such as framing and DWAR are somewhat subjective and not yet a perfect means of measurement. So many fans use stats literally in the respect that your stats say what you…
Pruning The Roster To Keep It Healthy
Yesterday Mark wrote, “this Dodger Team, right here, right now, is better than the 2018 version.” I will stipulate that the Dodgers may be better just for the loss of Farhan Zaidi and Turner Ward. That may be cruel, and they may do wonderful things for their new respective clubs, but they were a disconnect for this team. Friedman wants more of his fingerprints on the roster and approach, and…
Machine Gun Kelly
No matter how big of a Dodger Cynic you are, you have to admit that this Dodger Team, right here, right now, is better than the 2018 version. The 2018 version did not have Joe Kelly, Corey Seager and Julio Urias. Even if the Dodgers are done dealing… and I doubt they are, the team is better than last year. I’d like to say they are better without Turner Ward because…
These are now Friedman’s Dodgers
It’s hard to say if the Dodgers would have been making the moves they are and saying the things they are if Farhan Zaidi was still General Manager, but my opinion is that they would not. I think Andrew Friedman has decided not to fill the GM’s position because he wants to make sure he gets “his way” which makes perfect sense to me. I think Andrew gave Farhan a…
A Little of Everything and not Much of Anything
While recently doing a bit of background checks on a couple of minor league players I started to think of some Dodger memories that I have and also an update on some current items. First, I don’t know if Gil Hodges should be in the HOF or not. I really liked Harold Baines but as a Dodger in my formative years I revered Hodges as I did so many…
Believe No One!
… especially not me. Well, that is the one thing you can believe – I don’t have a clue! Believe that! That’s it. At the Winter Meetings, some teams are talking, some aren’t. The ones who are, could very well be putting out propaganda (false information). Some teams have a lot of leaks to the press. Andrew Friedman’s Dodgers are very tight-lipped. There are no leaks, except for a few…
2018 MLB Winter Meetings
Okay, I am done arguing with people on this or any other baseball site about corporate finance, which happens to be a subject I am very well-versed in. But that is different than knowledge of the Dodgers balance sheet of which I have none. So, let’s move on. I am writing this in an El Dorado Hills Starbucks at about 1:30 PM. So this may not be current by…
CBT Threshold and Team Salaries
One day until the Winter Meetings, and I was trying to come up with something clever to say that has not already been speculated and discussed 100 times already. Since there has been a lot of speculation that the Dodgers have unlimited funds, I thought that I would look to see where all of the teams are in relationship to the CBT threshold of $206MM. This is a dynamic chart…