20 posts
Editorial Comment This post was written prior to the Blake Snell acquisition by the Padres. The longer this offseason goes without much movement, the more likely AF is going to get involved. The number of teams that want to jettison payroll is growing and is undoubtedly going to pique the interest of teams like LAD. While it will stress out fans who continually want to see something happen to
Just like every other fan, I have my favorites. I believe I have been more than obvious that Corey Seager has been my favorite Dodger since he was drafted. I also have jerseys for current Dodgers, Kershaw, Buehler, Bellinger, Turner, and Wood. I love the stars, but I am also partial to those who are more role players and not top of the rotation pitchers. The angst I feel with
It was suggested that what the Dodgers need is a dominant closer and a dominant setup man. No mention as to who those players should be. But they better not allow a base runner as that is what is expected for Dodger relief pitchers. Below is the pitching line for the top closers (in terms of # of saves) in MLB for 2020. I dare say that if LAD fans
The Will Smith era has officially begun. In his first game as the primary catcher for the LAD, he caught Clayton Kershaw. There were no noticeable miscommunications between the two. Kersh got off to a rough start, but settled in nicely for still another QS. Offensively, you could not ask for a better game. 3-3 with 2 doubles, a HR, sac fly, and 6 RBIs. This new offensive threat for
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
STARTING ROTATION? There is a lot of talk on who should be the opening day pitcher. It does not appear that Clayton is going to be ready anytime soon, and Buehler seems headed to the #5 slot in the rotation to begin the season. Mark had a half serious idea on using an Opener for the opening game. Nyet on the half serious part that thinks they should. But
Editorial Note – This was written before the massive Russell Martin deal went down, and I did not want to consider this post to be like Kemp, Puig, Wood, and Farmer and just dump it. The written word is a strange thing. One reader will read comments one way and another reader another way, and yet the writer had a totally different reason for the comment. The most recent
On Tuesday it was announced that the Dodgers had acquired right-hander Jaime Schultz from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for 22-year-old right-hander Caleb Sampen who had been selected by the Dodgers in the 20th round of the 2018 First-Year Player Draft. On January 4 the Rays had designated Schultz for assignment after receiving right-hander Oliver Drake from the Blue Jays in exchange for cash considerations. Drake had also
So far, this year is beginning to mimic last year a bit. There has been some movement, but it is for the lesser thought of FA or in one case a player who wants a bigger pay day next year (Josh Donaldson). It seems that a lot of teams are looking for the trade route first before even considering a high cost FA. Look for Harper and Machado to
What are the Dodgers needs going into the 2019 season? We know they need a catcher. I discussed that in great length yesterday. I think they need a 2B other than CT3 or Kike’, but I know I am in the minority. I think the Dodgers need a leadoff batter. That is really not what Alex Verdugo does, but he seems the most logical…if he makes the squad, and there
There are currently 38 Dodgers on the 40-man roster without consideration of either Yasmani Grandal or Hyun-jin Ryu accepting their respective QO. With the current makeup, the Dodgers will have a salary total of nearly $179MM or approximately $27MM under the 2019 competitive balance tax threshold. We will all know no later than Monday, November 8 at 2:00 PM PT if either accept. Assuming they do not accept, below is
I hope you all bear with me. I would like to somewhat continue the FAZ discussion from yesterday. And then to give one last autopsy report on the 2018 WS. As Mark indicated, FAZ took over a team that had a payroll in excess of $250MM. One would think that a team with that…
The Dodgers are at somewhat of a crossroads at the break. They are in 1st place in the NL West and are 3.5 games behind the Cubs for supremacy in the NL. They are 1.0 game behind the Brewers, .5 game behind the Phillies, and are virtually tied with the Braves in the very tight NL race. There are 11 teams within 5.5 games of the Wild Card. The AL
Three weeks for the trade deadline and rumors without knowledge continue to excite or anger baseball fans across the country. It is fun to read other fans takes on their teams and how their prospects line up with others. I was really enjoying Brewers’ fans takes that Keston Hiura should not be included in any trade for Manny Machado, but the Dodgers are silly for not including Verdugo or Ruiz
Yesterday, e-6 and Hawkeye were commenting on the relief pitching (or maybe lack thereof) that seems to be coming to LA this upcoming week. When I thought there were going to be only 7 relievers I listed Kenley, Alexander, Baez, Cingrani, Fields, Stripling, and Chargois as the 7. Now that it is back to 8 (at least for right now), I agree with Ken Gurnick that Font will be #8 .
What’s happening to this year’s crop of free agents? This is December 27, and out of the top 50 MLB TradeRumors free agent predictions, only 19 have signed new contracts, and one decided not to opt out (Masahiro Tanaka). Of the 30 unsigned players, none of the top 11 have signed new contracts (excluding Tanaka not opting out), and 15 of the top 20 are still unsigned. Of the
One of the positives about getting to the WS and extending it to 7 games, is that there is only 5 weeks before the Winter Meetings in Orlando. We are going to have to pack in a lot of thought and suggestions about the restructuring of a 104 win team into a WS champion. We are all so much smarter than Friedman and Zaidi sitting in front of a computer
I am an unabashed and unapologetic supporter of FAZ. They have built a tremendous team and know how to utilize a full 40 man roster to their advantage because they have the depth to do so. I also believe that a winning TEAM is greater than the sum of the individual players. Clayton Kershaw is special. There is no question of that. But he is one of 40, and I
Andrew Miller is a 6’7” left hander from Gainesville, FL and attended University of North Carolina. He was drafted in the first round by the Detroit Tigers in 2006. Miller was called up later that year and made his ML debut on August 30, 2006. From 2007-2010, he bounced up and down from the MiLB to MLB (Det/Fla). While he did have some very good starts, he never established himself
PeterJ asked what I thought the OKC rotation might be. I have been playing with that for about a week, so I thought I might step out and draw some conclusions. Just like LA, OKC is still a work in progress. Whichever LHSP does not make LA rotation will probably go down to OKC. Both Wood and Ryu are pitching well, but only one is going to make the rotation.
