137 posts
Just wanted to look back at some of my favorite trades in Dodger history. Some, I was very young for, others, not so much. They are in no particular order. 1. Gino Cimoli for Wally Moon. On December 4th, 1958, the Dodgers made the first trade that would impact the team…
As I write this, the Dodgers have just beaten the Angels 3-0 in the Opening Game of the Freeway series. Then, they lost 5-4 in the second game. It’s still Spring Training, and wins don’t mean what they do in the Regular Season, but the Dodgers look ready, and then I read some…
We were discussing, actually, it was just brought up, the impact of Manny Machado when he came to LA in 2018, After the World Series in 18 he became a free agent and left for the Padres. So, I thought I would jump in my way back machine, and stick to LA Dodgers only, seeing what…
That means he is really not fixed – you can just see the momentum shift as he throws strikes and then throws balls. I hope, wish, and pray he is fixed, but he’s not. I hope to the Big Dodger in the Sky that I am wrong. He’s Kenley Jansen revisited. The Dodgers will rue the day…
There has been a lot of speculation as to why the Dodgers have not appointed a General Manager to take the place of their last GM – Farhan Zaidi. Some have speculated that it is because Andrew Friedman is an ego-manic who wants all the power. That explanation is too absurd to…
Andrew Heaney will not be the first low-risk high-reward pitcher signing. It is pretty common to hear things like “ Andrew Friedman signed another pitcher off the scrap heap ” and similar things. I think some fans believe that Andrew is sitting at his desk randomly pushing the…
Not so long ago, the Dodgers signed Albert Pujols. At the time I thought, why? Pujols is way past his prime, and over his contract with the Angels came nowhere near being the player he was in St. Louis. Now a few weeks later, I see an invigorated Pujols being a factor in games he plays. He has 5 HR s, as many as he had with the Angels, and 1
This is a follow up to the best that have ever played in my estimation. Some I never saw. Others I saw many times. It will consist of the starting 8, a pitching staff of 12 and the bench players. Not an easy thing to do. Starters 1st Base Easiest pick for me. Gil Hodges. 370 lifetime homers as a Dodger First to win the Gold Glove when they were
AF has gone on record indicating what he will be prioritizing: “Adding a reliever or two is something that we’re going to keep an eye on and kind of sift through. Really for us, it’s about identifying the talent in a vacuum but also then trying to get as many diversified looks as you can in the pen. This year, we really liked our pen and our pen was a
We need to end this myth that Mookie cannot hit LHP. Over his career, against LHP, Betts is slashing .297/.379/.509/.888. Mookie’s career against RHP .302/.372/.526/.897. Those seem like even splits to me. Over his career, Mookie has faced RHP 76% of the time. I think it is more likely that Betts was unfamiliar with NL LH pitchers, and after a year on a new team and a new league,
The Hot Stove League is always fun for us armchair GMs, allowing us to look at ways of improving a reigning World Series championship team. Not just a WS championship team, but THE consensus choice of the best team in MLB for 2020. But changes must be made. Nothing can stay at the top by being stagnant. Changes can come internally or externally. AF is a master as to building
Second base has been an enigma for the Dodgers for the last two decades. The concern does predate AF, but he has not found the remedy for the position. The opening day 2B for LAD during the AF era has been Kike’ (2 years), Logan Forsythe (2 years), Chase Utley and Howie Kendrick 1 year each. The best bWAR during the AF era was Kike’ last year at 2.2. It
On October 14th, 2014, the Dodgers announced the hiring of Andrew Friedman. Former Tampa Bay GM and Vice President of baseball operations as President of baseball operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers. His contract was for 5 years and 35 million dollars. Friedman was born in Houston Texas and attended Tulane University on a baseball scholarship. His college career was derailed by a couple of injuries. He earned a B.A .
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.
With the 100th pick in the 2020 MLB Draft, The Los Angeles Dodgers select…Jake Vogel, CF, Huntington Beach High School, Huntington Beach, California. https://www.mlb.com/video/2020-draft-jake-vogel-of?t=mlb-draft “Now batting for your Los Angeles Dodgers, CF, Jake Vogel”. At least that is what his high school coach is hoping to hear. More players from California have gone on to play MLB than any other state, and in particular Southern California has been a gold
Mark uses “Rants and Raves” so I will use “Bites and Bits” to avoid any copyright infringement with Mark or Bits and Bites Snack Mix. Actually I have little to rant and rave about but have some small pieces of somewhat innocuous “stuff” that I will post. Some things that just popped into my head during the past few days or that I stumbled upon. Some of it might be
First of all, Happy St. Patrick s Day. We are down to 10 ST games with one week to go in Arizona followed by 3 against LAA. Two games in Anaheim and one game at Dodger Stadium. Thus far the Dodgers are 12-8-2, as if that means anything. Who have been the surprises? Offensively, Kike Hernandez and Austin Barnes have been red hot and IMO have established themselves as starters. Kike
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
This time two years ago, and again, this time last year, the Rabid Friedman Bashers (RFB) were predicting that Clayton Kershaw would opt out of his contract due to the Dodgers failures in the World Series. The Bashers look for anything they might spin their way to make Friedman look bad and when that fails they move on to something else. I m not sure she meant it as a compliment,
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…
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
Before We Start… At least we now know that Clayton Kershaw wants to stay with the Dodgers, if possible, AND the Dodgers want Clayton Kershaw to be a Dodger for life, if possible. I think this is more than an “extension” – I think it may be a lifetime services contract. There’s a…
WELCOME TO THE FALL CLASSIC 2018!! By the time the Dodgers and Red Sox square off in Game 1 of the 2018 World Series, it will have been 356 days since the Dodgers went down in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series. It will be 30 year s this month since the last Dodgers WS victory. This year’s WS can make all of those bad memories go away (at least
With the Yankees being TKO ed by the Red Sox, the slate is set. The Red Sox play the Astros while the Dodgers play the Brewers. Many Dodger fans didn t think the Dodgers would be one of the last four teams standing . but here they are! Think about this: The Dodgers are one of the TOP FOUR TEAMS IN BASEBALL! I think that the Dodgers will be one of the last
I don’t know how to react to last night’s game. There was so much bad that happened and a lot of good. It is easy to concentrate on the 2-out walk to the pitcher followed by a grand slam HR. However, Buehler followed that by retiring the next 10 batters, including 4 strikeouts. It is entirely plausible that without that walk to Newcomb, the Dodgers shutout the Braves for third
Now that the regular season is through, we can begin to speculate as to what will make up the NLDS roster. It really shouldn’t be that difficult for 23 of the 25 players, but those last two will surely draw some scrutiny. IMO the givens: Starting Pitching (4): Clayton Kershaw Hyun-jin Ryu Walker Buehler Rich Hill Bullpen (8): Kenley Jansen Kenta Maeda Alex Wood Pedro Baez Scott Alexander
We should know the answer by later in the afternoon (EDT). The Dodgers will play: At the Brewers in the Wild Card game; At the Cubs in the Wild Card game; Verses the Rockies in Game 163; or Verses the Braves in Game 1 of the NLDS. It could take me until this evening to explain it all, so we will just wait and see what happens, but the best
Yesterday’s game was fun and to be appreciated. What a fan appreciation day!!! The Dodgers score 14 and collect 16 hits. Ryu pitched AND hit superbly. He allows 4 hits and collects 8 strikeouts, and ZERO walks, and gets THREE hits. Josh Fields and Julio Urias come in and shutdown the Padres for the final three innings. It is hard to get too excited about shutting down the Padres, but
That phrase was popularized in the United States by Mark Twain (among others), who attributed it to the British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli. It seems that there is a stat for everything and we all have our own opinions. I voiced my displeasure with Dave Roberts not playing Yasmani Grandal last night after his breakout game against the Reds on Wednesday. Many other Dodger fans voiced the same displeasure over
OK, you all likely know what happened last night: Joc Pederson drove in the first run against Zack Greinke. Hyun-Jin Ryu had pitched 7 strong innings when Roberts pinch-hit for him with Kike Hernandez. On a 2-2 pitch from Greinke, Kike jacked the ball out of the stadium to tie the game at 2-2. Next, Dylan Floro played the role of set-up man and shut down the D-Bags in the
