97 posts
First, to Badger. I love trade scenarios. I do not care how outlandish they are or how realistic they may be. I enjoy reading Bums trade proposals. I am not sure that I ever read one that was realistic, but they are fun. Bluto sometimes gives us scenarios from the baseballtradevalues.com site. They are fun for me. That is what blogs are for. Throw out ideas. To the best of
Kenley is a proud man and if he loses the closers role, I could see him walking away and the Dodgers agreeing to pay him to do that. You may or may not know this: But, when Andrew Luck walked away, Jim Irsay paid him $30 million that he was under no obligation to do so. This is just speculation and is way down the road, but it could happen.
If this is who Gavin Lux is (from what he has shown this Spring), then the Dodgers are going to have an incredible offense. If he keeps hitting (and I can t see why he won t) he is going to be very difficult to keep at the bottom of the lineup. With his speed and baserunning ability, he is a perfect #2 hitter behind Mookie Betts. Speed Kills! That moves Seager to #3 and the trickle-down starts. I doubt that Gavin begins the season as the #2 hitter, but if he earns that spot, look out! This 2021
I wonder if the Dodgers could lure Vin Scully back to do a few games this year? It might give him some solace and joy and allow him some time away from his grief. It would also overjoy Dodger fans just to hear him one last time: Everyone processes grief differently, so it may be out of the question or well within reason. At any rate, it s just an idea
In 2020, batters who faced Kenley Jansen had a 14% hard contact rate against Kenley, which happens to be the lowest in all of baseball.
2021 could shape up to be the most unusual season on record and that is saying a mouthful since COVID-19-2020 was absolutely Bat S___t Crazy! Here s why: It was a 60 game season some players struggle for 50 games only to shine for the next 100. Other players shine for 50 games and struggle the next 100 games. Some minor league prospects grow by two or three levels and
Today is the day that pitchers and catchers are due to report to Camelback Ranch for the Dodgers. Tomorrow is the first day of workouts. Full squad reports February 22, with the first full squad workout scheduled for February 23. The Dodgers play their first spring training game on Sunday, February 28 against the Oakland A’s at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona. There will be some rules in effect that
What I do know is that while I cannot individually predict what each pitcher will do, I feel very confident that collectively this bullpen can be great. There is a lot here to like, but that s my opinion. Let s see if I can rub your noses in the Facts come October!
It s quite possible that a monkey throwing darts at random reliever names may outperform the deepest pocket GM s in the game when it comes to picking relievers.
It s really simple: If Brandon Morrow is healthy, he is very, very good! When he s not healthy, he is not a factor. He has had elbow, calf and shoulder injuries the past two years and is allegedly healthy now. He will be 37 in July and this is likely his last dance.
Sign DJ LeMahieu? That would cost the Dodgers a draft pick. Remember when, after losing Mark Teixeira to free agency and the Yankees, the Angels were awarded the 25th pick of the draft as compensation. And who did they use that pick on? None other than Mike Trout. Or look at it another way: Signing Mark Teixeira cost the Yankees Mike Trout.
Tommy John surgery repairs an injured elbow ligament. It s most commonly done on college and pro athletes, especially baseball pitchers. But it s sometimes done on younger people as well. Tommy John surgery is also called UCL reconstruction. UCL is short for ulnar collateral ligament. During Tommy John surgery, a surgeon replaces the injured UCL with a tendon taken from somewhere else in the patient s body. The UCL is located on the inside of
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
As baseball aficionados we all know who should play, who should play where, what the best batting lineup should be, how to “correct” batting stances, etc. We are all more knowledgeable than the Presidents of Baseball Operations, or the managers, or the pitching coaches, or the hitting coaches. We have all played the game, some at advanced levels. But to my knowledge, nobody on this site has ever climbed the
I know it is only exhibition games, and the Dodgers did not face MadBum, Robbie Ray, Zac Gallen, or Luke Weaver, nevertheless, it was an impressive display of offensive prowess over the Snakes. The DBacks figure to be the Dodgers chief challenger in the West. I think the Pads will begin to start to strut their stuff, but they are still a year away. They just do not have the
I have been away for a bit due to some unexpected personal family matters, but I have continued to read the blog everyday. Last week when Mark proclaimed, “This could not only be the best Dodger bullpen of All-Time, but it could also be one of the best in the game… maybe ever!”, many unsurprisingly jumped on that testament. I have been a huge critic of the bullpen makeup, and
Time for Dodger Baseball. I like the sound of that as we begin Spring Training games today against the hated Giants. We all know ST games are meaningless in wins and losses, but I still want to see a win in every game. If you compete, compete to win. Before I get into ST, I want to offer my response to the apparent skepticism about the Dodger pitching. Are there
It is highly doubtful that the Dodgers are done this off-season in trying to improve their roster, but let’s suppose this is it. If the Dodgers make no further moves this off-season. How will the season turn out? I say they still win the N.L. West by 7-8 games. They finish the season with 96 wins. They prepare for the postseason with a trade deadline deal to put them in
I know that many are afraid of a Betts/Price trade because of the financial concerns for David Price, and I can understand that. So I went back and looked at the Nick Punto trade (I know Mark’s favorite subject); a previous time when the Dodgers assumed a huge financial obligation for a perceived benefit. I pulled the below article: https://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2018/3/29/17104518/gonzalez-beckett-crawford-red-sox-dodgers-trade-retrospective One of the lines that caught my eye was when
All off-season I have hoped the Dodgers would go BOLD. Of course I was disappointed. I thought this would be the year. But unlike some here, I am not about to concede the WS to NYY (or LAA) this year or any time in the future. NYY CBT is already at $245,341,667 with holes still to fill. $2.5MM more in spending and they exceed the top penalty. The tax is
Mark is often criticizing many of us who seem to propose what he believes to be dope fiend moves. Now granted, there are some very silly FA signings, and perhaps dope fiend is a proper description. But just because a change is recommended and one does not agree with it, does not automatically qualify the transaction as being dope fiend. Per an Andy McCullough article in the Athletic, In December
Enjoying a Veterans Day weekend in Atascadero, CA celebrating my youngest grand daughter’s first birthday. Frankly, my thoughts are filled with her and not so much Dodger baseball. Trade proposals have been flying around this blog with renewed fervor over the past few weeks. I admit those discussions have a certain excitement to them, much like anticipating that new toy you want for Christmas, all the while knowing that most
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
Mark and I don’t always agree on everything Blue, although I think we are pretty consistent from a Macro view. But when it comes to the bullpen, Mark and I just do not see eye to eye. I have been a relief pitcher wonk since 1959 and Larry Sherry. Clem Labine would have been my favorite Dodger in the mid 50’s. I am not going to go through the history
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
It has been suggested by some that Craig Kimbrel is the solution to the Dodger s bullpen woes. Just to be sure that I understand it, this is the Craig Kimbrel that Boston (who needed a closer) parted ways with and 28 other teams have passed on? No one wants him for a reason, but the Dodgers should sign him anyway with some silly knee-jerk reaction because he just happens to
When the Dodgers were sold the last time, Guggenheim and Company were not my pick to be the owners, but here we are. There s nothing you or I can do about that. They are the owners, and they certainly have a very peculiar set of circumstances. They are under SEC investigation, defending lawsuits, their principals are using their personal wealth as security, shareholders are upset (maybe even revolting), they are
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
My apologies to the Wizard of Oz line, but it seems appropriate for me at this time. Please indulge me with a tribute to one of my all-time favorite Dodgers, Alex Wood. I do not know why I grew an attachment to Alex Wood. He has been someone I have followed since his rookie year, wishing that he could somehow find his way to the Dodgers. That was kind of
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
