A few days ago, Bluto posed the following: “I mean if you are evaluating players from a far then you have to be down on prospects when they fare poorly. But what’s the difference between being down and writing off? And what does writing off mean? Does it mean moving down in the prospect list? Or removing altogether?” I am sure that my opinion of “being down” vs. writing off…
Dear Dave Roberts, We think your lineups are stupid and that you rest the wrong players while playing the wrong players. We think there are only two things wrong with you: (1) Everything you say, and (2) everything you do. We know a lot more than you do about this. We have managed for years while sipping our beverages of choice and cursing your every move. That is why the…
I recognize and acknowledge that I have been at the forefront of wanting the Dodgers to acquire elite relievers I have also readily acknowledged that they do not need to make that trade at this time. Their competition in the NLWest is not stiff, but winning the NL pennant and WS could prove to be more difficult without that elite bullpen. Those names will become more clear as that July…
I am not sure that an Andrew Friedman will ever have a “set” lineup, but if he did, Mad Max should be in it… and second base seems as good a place as any. I suggested early in Spring Training that second base was a position Max could play, but most fans disagreed. That’s how I know I am on the right track sometimes: when people disagree with me and…
Going into the draft it was thought that the Dodgers were going to pick the best player on their board regardless of position. The Dodgers had enough Bonus Pool money that they could have taken a big HS arm and paid to get them out of their commitment. I thought that Daniel Espino would have been the Dodger selection at #25 if he was available, but the Indians took him…
Dave Roberts Many of you wonder why Dave Roberts does certain things, like oh… hit Chris Taylor #3? Some fans almost become enraged when he does such things. Why on earth would he have old man David Freese bat leadoff? Kike Hernandez #5? Why, oh why? Well, simply stated, it’s because you are playing checkers and he is playing chess. He’s about 6 moves ahead of you. You are thinking…
While the Dodgers have two first round picks and 3 picks in the first 78 selections on Monday, the DBacks can go a long way to re-establish themselves with this draft. The DBacks own seven of the first 75 selections this year: their regular picks in the first (No. 16 overall) and second (No. 56) rounds, a compensation first-rounder (No. 26) for failing to sign 2018 first-rounder Matt McLain, two…
A couple of weeks back I mentioned how good DJLM was playing for NYY and that all of the talk that he could not hit outside of Coors was…well just talk. He is proving that he is a hitter with tremendous bat to ball skills; a skill he can take anywhere. 59inarow challenged me with admonishing me into saying maybe you were right about DJLM but what about all of…
The Splendid Splinter Revisited We have seen the obvious similarity in appearance in Ted Williams and Cody Bellinger. When the comparison was originally made, the comparison was only the physical resemblance… they were totally different hitters. After Cody Bellinger’s “makeover” the resemblance is much closer. They still have beautiful swings, but Bellinger has more of an uppercut swing. That’s now the biggest difference. They both are elite hitters and we…
Well, I think I was right that he had excellent bat-to-ball skills and that he had a cannon mounted on his shoulder. I may have been right in calling him “Tony Gwynn-esque.” I do believe that Alex is going to be a star. He may hit 20 HR some years and he could hit more, but this is a guy who will be a career .300 hitter. I truly believe…