SponsorUS Water Systems
LA Dodger Talk
Topic

Andrew Sopko

22 posts

LAD PROSPECTS – REAL OR HYPE

I continue to read about the sensational LAD prospects. Mark has the Dodgers as a top 10 MiLB organization while no major publication does. After the loss of Keibert Ruiz and Jo Jo Gray, the publications dropped them to mid-level (around 15). Certainly not bad, but also not…

By Jeff Dominique · December 9, 202134

State of the Farm

I am sitting continuing to try to understand how the Board of Trustees and the AD at USC have chosen to retain perhaps the most over his head coach in all of NCAA Football, Clay Helton. Rudy mentioned that both Westwood and South Bend are cheering loudly, but my radar has all of the Pac 12 and South Bend laughing at this. Oh well, enough pity party for me. It’s

By Jeff Dominique · November 26, 201874

Rule 5 Draft Preview

I was going to write about who I thought the three top potential GM candidates might be…Josh Byrnes, Kim Ng, and Chaim Bloom. My money was on Chaim Bloom, Rays Senior VP Baseball Operations. For those who may want to know a little more about Chaim…

By Jeff Dominique · November 11, 201847

2018 Texas League Champions Tulsa Drillers

The top prospects on the Tulsa roster at the beginning of the season were Mitchell White, Yadier Alvarez, DJ Peters, Yusniel Diaz, Will Smith, and Keibert Ruiz. Mitchell White was injured in the beginning and did not seem to get back on track until the end of the season. Yusniel Diaz was traded to Baltimore in the Manny Machado trade. Will Smith was promoted to AAA on August 1. Yadier

By Jeff Dominique · September 21, 201824

Let The Trades Begin

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

By Jeff Dominique · July 10, 201833

Rancho Cucumonga Potential Prospects

Reviewing Class A players and projecting is very premature, but it does get done. That is why so many A level and even rookie level players are included on Top prospects lists, only to fall out later. The most difficult jump in professional baseball is from A Ball to AA. So there is a lot of guessing that goes on with these evaluations. Depending on the age, it is doubtful

By Jeff Dominique · June 1, 201844

Projected OKC and Tulsa Rosters

We have bandied about a potential LAD 25 man roster, so now I want to take a shot at a possible 25 man roster at OKC and Tulsa. One thing we have learned is that FAZ really wants players who can conceivably be called to LA if needed at AAA. At times there may be a player that has advanced quick enough to move to OKC without a real opportunity

By Jeff Dominique · March 25, 20189

Dodgers Depth

Mark referenced a site, https://www.rosterresource.com/mlb-los-angeles-dodgers/ , that I have studied for some time. I went back to look at my notes and do have some observations: There is no way the bench will be comprised of 4 RH hitters and 1 switch hitter. I do not see Segedin or Thompson on the 25 man coming out of Spring. I would project Toles and one of Peter/Muncy/Locastro to replace Segedin

By Jeff Dominique · January 21, 201871

Let s Assume FAZ Does Nothing

If the Dodgers do nothing, this is what I would expect come Spring Training. 1B – Bellinger 2B – Forsythe 3B – JT SS – Seager LF – Kike’ and Joc/Toles CF – Taylor RF – Puig C – Barnes Rotation: Kershaw, Hill, Wood, Maeda, Ryu Bullpen: Jansen, Baez, Fields, Garcia, Koehler, Stripling, Avilan, Cingrani Bench: Grandal, 2 of Kike’/Joc/Toles, and Locastro Grandal and JT can relieve Bellinger

By Jeff Dominique · December 23, 201740

Disappointment or ???

I find myself in somewhat of a dilemma. I never believed the Dodgers would spring for Stanton. That is not what they do. It is not who they are. But yet I was getting excited about the chance of the ONE true game changer available this year becoming a Dodger. I was convinced that the Dodgers only entered into the discussion to get Stanton to say no to the Giants. I

By Jeff Dominique · December 10, 201732

Dodger AFL Pitching Prospects

Yesterday, I discussed the Dodger hitters in the Arizona Fall League and of course Will Smith was the star of the team. Now, we focus on the Dodger pitchers, none of whom are really top prospects, but there are a couple are worth talking about. Of the Dodger hitting prospects, Will Smith was ranked #8, Yusniel Diaz was #5 and Matt Beaty was #30. Of the pitchers, none of them

By Mark Timmons · November 17, 201711

Minor League Free Agents

There has been a lot of discussion about pending ML free agents, but there are 572 minor league free agents, including 23 Dodgers. To qualify for minor league free agency for 2018, a player would have signed a minor league Uniform Player’s Contract (UPC) in 2011 and not be released from the terms of that UPC. Teams can renew a player’s UPC six times before the player is declared a minor

By Jeff Dominique · November 12, 201720

Oh What A Relief It Is

Over the last few years, we Dodger fans have become accustomed to botched relief in post season appearances. Which is why I have included one of my favorite images of reliever Steve Howe and catcher Steve Yeager following the final out of the 1981 WS. I have been fascinated with relievers since my first Dodger hero, Larry Sherry. From Clem Labine, Ron Perranoski, Phil Regan, and Bob Miller to Eric

By Jeff Dominique · November 6, 201743

Going Back to Houston

Some of you oldtimers will remember this: They don t make em like that anymore, but I digress. The Dodgers are in Houston hopefully for a sweep, but I ll take 2 out of 3 and close it in LA. Really, this has the look of a seven game series. Tonight is a very critical game. The winning team will have momentum and that is important. Tonight, Yu Darvish faces the

By Mark Timmons · October 27, 201784

Don t Go Down With The Ship, Doc!

Early in the year, Chase Utley was mired in a horrible slump and fans started calling for him to retire. Dave Roberts had faith in him and after hitting .122 in April, he bounced back by hitting .314 in May, and he has been serviceable since then. He plays great defense, is a wonderful teammate and at 39 years of age, he just looks to be over-matched at the plate

By Mark Timmons · October 19, 201753

AA Tulsa Drillers 2017 Recap

The Dodgers AA affiliate, the Tulsa Drillers in the Texas League, had a very successful season. They reached the Texas League Championship final game and lost a heartbreaker 1-0. Dennis Santana pitched an outstanding game in a pressure situation, and looks primed for 2018. There were some outstanding performances by individuals as well, and many look to be promoted to AAA for 2018 where they are one step away from

By Jeff Dominique · September 22, 201730

Dodger Minor League Playoff Opportunities

We all know that the Dodgers are in the process of finishing the regular season with home field advantage throughout the playoffs, but many of the minor league teams are also in playoff contention. 6 of the 8 teams have legitimate playoff hopes, and two are almost certain. AAA – OKC Dodgers – This is one of the teams that playoff hopes are quickly slipping away. They find themselves 9

By Jeff Dominique · August 23, 201724

Bye Bye A-Gon?

So far this season, Adrian Gonzalez is hitting .250 with Zero home runs and 9 RBI. His OB% is .337 but his OPS is .653. This is likely the main reason the Dodgers hitting is not up to where it should be, because as Vin Scully said Adrian Gonzalez is the Dodgers Butter and Egg Man. Right about now, the butter is melted and the eggs are scrambled. Other players are

By Mark Timmons · April 29, 201767

Minor League Report April 7

I started this on Friday, and was not able to make it through the Rancho Cucumonga Quakes Game 2, so I am a little tardy with this one. Friday was just not a good day for Dodger baseball. The ML team still cannot hit lefties, and the 4 minor league teams also went down to defeat. Except Rancho (RC) came up big in Game 2 of their DH. AAA –

By Jeff Dominique · April 8, 201713

State of the Dodgers Through Different Prisms

While I love to read Dodgerrick’s comments, I think that he and I look at the state of the Dodgers in different prisms, but he asked some questions earlier that got me to thinking. While I may have initially taken exception to the tone (my perception, not his intent) of the questions, they are nonetheless legitimate and fair. Anyone betting on which starting pitcher goes on the DL 1st? Now

By Jeff Dominique · March 30, 201756

OKC ROTATION THOUGHTS

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.

By Jeff Dominique · March 25, 201754