Well, let the bidding begin. A number of publications have put out their top 50 Free Agents list. MLBTR is one of my favorites to follow. They are no better with their prognostications than are any other publication. They run contests every year, and many of the readers have turned out better with picks than the writers. One year I got 12 out of 50. Not bad, but there were…
Blake Snell, Yu Darvish, Carlos Carrasco, and the BIG MARKET name, Francisco Lindor. These four have a chance to be top tier in 2021, with Lindor in the elite class. And they have all changed teams this offseason. The first two names have moved the Padres into a top three NL and top four MLB team, while the second two names have moved the NYM to a significant NL East…
Somebody made a point as to what the Padres transactions did for the psyche for the other teams. The Padres have now joined the Dodgers, Braves, probably Mets, and maybe the Nationals (with their pitching and Soto/Robles/Turner) to separate from the rest of the NL. Some team from the NL Central will get to the playoffs, because, well one of the teams has to. It is a rule. Because of…
Yes, I am thrilled that we have baseball again. And I am just as sure that the Dodgers are going to win this year. I am not much of a gambler, but I dropped a few dollars on the Dodgers winning the 2020 WS. But I have a tough time getting excited about beating a team like the Giants who have very little, if any, chance of making the playoffs. …
A long time ago when the earth was young – well maybe not that long ago – I visited the Cape Cod region of Massachusetts. It was almost 45 years ago and it was a whirlwind visit as a day trip from East Bridgewater, a small community about 30 miles south of Boston. My wife and I were visiting relatives in the East Bridgewater area and they took us on…
Yesterday we discussed the Dodgers minor league managers for the full season teams. Today we are going to focus on the rookie league managers. Ogden Raptors – Austin Chubb Chubb was born in Lake Mary, Florida and attended high school in his home town. Following his graduation, he attended State College of Florida in Bradenton, Florida playing for the Manatees for two years. He then transferred to Florida Southern University…
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…
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…
One position where the Dodgers are looking for improvement is in catcher. I have read some who are not happy about who of Maldonado, Wieters, Lucroy, Vogt, Joseph, Mesoraco, Ellis, or Butera, Friedman will select from. Most of the naysayers did not want Grandal back but have no recommendation for a replacement except JT Realmuto. If it were only that easy just to want something. The Fish are looking for…
The article Mark referred to in the previous post is a continuous reminder as to how Giancarlo Stanton has energized the 2017 Hot Stove League. Ned Colletti would have absolutely been in the middle of the discussions. It is little wonder that a baseball exec like Dave Dombrowski is highly motivated. Dombrowski has not met a large contract challenge that he has shied away from yet. John Mozeliak had been…