Austin Barnes was drafted by the Marlins in the 9th round of the 2011 amateur draft. In December of 2014, Austin was acquired by Andrew Friedman in one of his first trades with the Dodgers. He was a key piece in the Dee Gordon trade wherein the Dodgers traded Dee Gordon, Dan Haren, Miguel Rojas, and cash for Chris Hatcher, Andrew Heaney, Kike Hernandez, and Austin Barnes. Austin Barnes might…
“Andrew Friedman should have signed….” “What didn’t Dave Roberts pinch hit for…” “Something is wrong with Walker Buehler…” “May Muncy has lost all confidence…” “They should have traded for…” “Why did they not play Rios after his big night? Yes, we are fans and we second-guess just about everything, even things we know nothing about. We may have some information, but not all the information and we simply don’t know…
When I read stuff like the Dodgers don’t have the pitching to win or that Tyler Anderson should not even be on the team, or that Muncy and Bellinger should go to OKC, and it is past time for the Dodgers to make changes, I just shake my head and call the perps out. At best, it is a nonsensical, knee-jerk reaction. At worst, whoever said it, might need to…
Dodger fans as a whole are an emotional lot. They do tend to go off of the rails when the team slumps. I am guilty of this myself sometimes. But let the team hit a cold streak and the boo birds and naysayers emerge from the depths of one’s psyche, and the bad vibes begin. No player or front office person is immune. The finger-pointing and name-calling begin. The blame…
There are two types of people. Those that make assumptions without any logic or proof and those that need proof before believing anything. Before I jump right into this, I am going to give you a quote from Dodgers’ GM, Brandon Gomes about Andrew Friedman: He’s an incredible leader. His ability to take in a ton of different opinions and bake them in, his ability to say ‘I don’t know’ is…
Who doesn’t like to be around a guy who always smiles, never complains, and is just a fun and outgoing person? The Dodgers had that guy from 2015 until 2020, when they won the World Series. He was the “Banana Man” – namely Kike Hernandez! The Dodgers have a history of having some characters in the clubhouse: Jay Johnstone and Jerry Reuss were also right there with Kike. The fact…
That is evidently Andrew Friedman’s new bullpen strategy and I happen to think it is a stroke of genius. We all know that bullpens are fickle and it is hard to predict with a great degree of certainty whether a pitcher who was great in 2021 will even be average a year later. Injuries happen and pitchers are bad one year and great the next. Now, it is not always…
After 10 games, the Dodgers are 8-2. Not a bad start! First place belongs only to the Dodgers now. Clayton Kershaw, while no longer an Ace, is very, very good. Best #3 in Baseball! Andrew Heaney has made a lot of Dodger Fans eat crow. Gonsolin and Anderson are a nice #5 until the Catman starts to trust his stuff. Gavin Lux has made me eat crow. Cody Bellinger has…
For several years, Dodger fans complained about the Dodgers bullpen… or lack thereof of one. Maybe a lot of their ire was directed (unfairly) at one Kenley Jansen, but I think that many Dodger Fans believe that in the past Andrew Friedman simply did not value the bullpen and therefore did not build good bullpens. I beg to differ. The Dodgers’ bullpen has never been as bad as fans have…
Lots of fans have asked exactly that same question. Some have even said “I can’t believe Freidman signed Heany!” or “What was he thinking by signing Heaney – it’s a flashback to Anderson, McCatthy, and Kazmir!” Maybe he just likes players with the name “Andrew” – After all, he did sign both Toles and Heaney. Well, it’s certainly not that. Some fans have even said that Friedman “overpaid” for Heaney….