NL West First Look – SF Giants

February 24, 2019

Yesterday I wrote about the Padres because of the late signing of Manny Machado. The Padres have suffered mightily for many years, but appear to be on the verge of not only being respectable, but also a contender in a year or two, depending on their pitching progress. Today I suffer because I am writing about the hated Giants. The best thing about the Giants is that they are projected…

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What Will Be…

February 18, 2019

There are about a 100 Free Agents who are not signed. That seems like a large number, but less than ten are really top players. The rest are likely minor league contract players. This is the list I have: Bryce Harper Manny Machado Dallas Keuchel Marwin Gonzalez Gio Gonzalez Josh Harrison Clay Buchholz Ervin Santana Evan Gattis Certainly, not all are even starters, in fact, I could make the argument…

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Houston, You Have a Problem…

February 12, 2019

Houston Mitchell is a writer for The LA Times and covers the Dodgers. Yesterday he stated that he was trying to make sense of the Dodgers’ off-season. Houston is a wonderful writer, but he has papers to sell and he knows that many Dodger fans are not sophisticated enough to understand how a successful team is built. He and The Times understand that the average fan is underwhelmed at what…

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Being a Dodger

February 10, 2019

Per JT on the Suits: “We trust them,” said the third baseman and team leader. “The front office has done a great job. They build a 40-man roster, not a 25-man roster, and that’s the biggest difference between the Dodgers and other teams.” I have been saying that for 4 years running.  AF is a master at building the 40-man roster to play in a 162-game season.  The Dodgers should…

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I’m Just Sayin’

February 5, 2019

There is so little movement in the Hot Stove and yet, so much to talk about, so here goes: TOP FARM SYSTEMS Someone here a few days ago opined that they wanted Logan White back as the GM. Of course, Logan was never GM for the Dodgers before – he was Director of Amateur Scouting, and while I love Logan White, I cannot remember when the Dodgers Farm system was…

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Potpourri for $1,000 Alex

February 2, 2019

As we are winding down to less than 2 weeks before pitchers and catchers report, I was having a tough time trying to find a single topic to write a novel on.  So I am going to just give some of my thoughts on a few topics. 1. Yes, Stan Kasten stuck his massive foot square in his mouth at the FanFest, and for no good reason.  I am by…

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A Checkup From the Neck Up

January 29, 2019

So… many Dodger fans and Dodger Bloggers and Dodger Journalists are saying that the Dodgers are cheap and ran like the Tampa Bay Rays because they won’t go out and trade bushels of top prospects for Kluber or Realmuto or that they won’t sign Bryce Harper to a 14 year/$420 million dollar contract. Look, there is no dumbass vaccine and I am convinced that fans who want that are mentally…

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So How Was Your Hot Stove League?

January 27, 2019

Well now that the Dodgers have signed AJ Pollock, what comes next?  Maybe something.  Maybe nothing.  Is JT Realmuto on the horizon.  Apparently, the Pads are very much in on JTR, but they are insisting on extension talks before they consummate the deal.  Obviously, either Francisco Mejia or Austin Hedges will be going back in a package.  The Pads have ML OF’s available as well a bucket load of high-level…

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Why A.J. Pollock?

January 24, 2019

If were are under the illusion that Bryce Harper was coming to the Dodgers, then you are likely to be asking that question… and it’s possible anything I say will not satisfy you. I was not a fan of getting AJ Pollock and really wanted Nick Castellanos, but Castellanos was going to cost several players – I have no clue exactly who. It’s not that Friedman won’t trade prospects –…

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Revenues, CBT Threshold, and Luxury Tax

January 19, 2019

Yesterday Mark commented, “The fact that the Yankees went over the Luxury Tax Threshold does not mean the Dodgers should do the same. That, and the Yankees have no outside shareholders to revolt.  Hopefully you can understand that.”  Maybe it was or maybe it wasn’t, but I assumed that is directed at me since I brought up NYY exceeding the CBT threshold.  I want to be clear.  I never said…

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