28 posts
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 .
Let me preface this by unequivocally stipulating that I believe that Dustin May has a much higher ceiling than does Ross Stripling. Dustin May has had a great start, but has not yet faced any good offensive teams to establish his 2019 bona fides. May is a career starting pitcher and a sudden move to the bullpen could prove to be as problematic as it was for Walker Buehler. I
There has been a lot of discussion about the potential of a slow start this year. I and others have pointed out how the “starters” cannot get through 5 innings before the proverbial melt down. Both Hill and Strip went a solid 4 innings, and then came the 5th. Hill is penciled for his final ST outing on Friday (Saturday?), while Strip is scheduled to start Sunday’s game against LAA
Yesterday, e-6 and Hawkeye were commenting on the relief pitching (or maybe lack thereof) that seems to be coming to LA this upcoming week. When I thought there were going to be only 7 relievers I listed Kenley, Alexander, Baez, Cingrani, Fields, Stripling, and Chargois as the 7. Now that it is back to 8 (at least for right now), I agree with Ken Gurnick that Font will be #8 .
I frequently hear this: This is the same Dodger Team as Last Year. The Dodgers are standing pat. I guess some people think that if they say it enough, it will become true. If that s the case, keep repeating over-and-over that you are Brad Pitt. Poof, it will happen! READ THIS SLOWLY: This is not the SAME team as last year. Is it better? I don t know . MAYBE. Maybe not,
Well this has been some Hot Stove League for the Dodgers thus far, right? The Winter Meetings went just about as most expected…the current 40 man roster is the same as before the meetings started. I don t count Koehler because he was post Winter Meetings, and the signing is still pending physical. I never thought Stanton was an option, but it was fun to fantasize. My only disappointment is that
Lert me start all this by saying that I was TOTALLY in favor of the Dee Gordon trade. I thought Austin Barnes and Kike Hernandez would be very good players. FAZ parlayed Andrew Heaney into Howie Kendrick who played a nice role for the Dodgers a couple of years ago and even though Chris Hatcher was a bust as a Dodger, I would still do that trade in a New
You know, we all have ideas about what the Dodgers should do with their lineup. I want to dump Joc. Others want to move Puig up in the order. Some want to bench Logan Forsythe. I must say this: Everyone got their wish when Chris Hatchet was traded, but I think we all have to remember that this team is 50 games over .500. They are playing the best baseball
Last Monday when the Dodgers acquired Yu Darvish, Tony Watson, and Tony Cingrani, the Dodgers traded four players from their top 30 prospect list; Willie Calhoun, Brendon Davis, AJ Alexy, and Oneil Cruz. That opened the door for four new members of the Dodgers top 30. Jacob Rhame returned to the top 30 and #is now listed at #28. Three new members of the top 30 are: #27 Cristian Santana
Make no mistake…this IS Andrew Friedman’s team. This is not to take anything away from the immense talents of Farhan Zaidi, Josh Byrnes, Alex Anthopoulos, Gabe Kapler, or Billy Gasparino. They help put Friedman’s vision into motion. The Dodgers caught a lot of flak from fans because of the high FO cost. But these are all outstanding baseball people, and why is it a problem having superior FO talent? It
So, the Dodgers currently own the best record in baseball at 61-29, which is a .678 winning percentage. With 72 games left, they could go 30-42 and still likely make the playoffs with 91 wins. If they just play .500 ball the rest of the way, they will end up with 97 wins which would be absurd (playing .500 ball and winning 97 games). If they keep up their current
I d Rather Have Austin Barnes at 2B Than Dee Gordon as long as I have Kike Hernandez as one of the best supersubs in baseball. The Dodgers got a nice return for their former second baseman. That is notwithstanding the obvious fact that Chris Hatcher has been a huge disappointment. In case you forget, the trade was Gordon, Miguel Rojas and Dan Haren to the Marlins for Hatcher, Hernandez, Barnes
and the next men are Trevor Oaks, Brock Stewart and Walker Buehler. Oaks is a back-of-the-rotation starter who is likely ready now while Buehler is a top-of-the-rotation guy who might be ready in 2018, but won t ever be a workhorse (welcome to the new MLB). Stewart could be a a middle-to-back of the rotation guy or an elite reliever. Time will tell. Mitch White and Yadier Alvarez are due
If you are a contrarian in the investment community, you likely have a very good track record of making money because it has been proven over and over again, that running with the herd is a recipe for failure. A contrarian often looks like an idiot most of the time until they clean up the mess that the herd made with their ill-advised buying. In short, a contrarian wants to
Have you noticed that a few certain fans like to bang on Friedman and Company about trading away Cotton, Montas, Holmes, De Leon, Peraza and Schebler but fail to mention anything of value FAZ has done? ME: Wow, Alex Wood is doing great! FAZ-BASHER: Squirrel! That Rich Hill really sucks, even he says so. FAZ is an idiot! Schebler (.252) and Peraza (.258) are playing OK in a hitter s ballpark,
Says who? Name a Number 2 better than Clayton Kershaw! He has a 7-2 record and a 2.01 ERA and then of course our #1, Alex Wood is 6-0 with a 1.69 ERA and he has pitched like 26 straight scoreless innings. There s not a better duo in baseball. Of course, the Dodgers are #1 in all of baseball in tear ERA and WHIP. and then Baez and Hatcher
I was listening to an interview about how the Cubs were built on MLB Radio a few days ago and heard a story about how Kyle Hendricks was acquired. First of all, I have the greatest respect for Theo Epstein and do not want to denigrate him in any way, but the story shows how sometimes it s better to be lucky that good. As the Cubs were being blown up, Theo
There are no excuses. It s all about just getting the job done. When Kershaw went down last year, it was Next Man Up! There s nothing different about that with Justin Turner. Justin is a very good player, but this team is deep and Chris Taylor or Logan Forsythe can play third base. For that matter, the much-maligned Kike Hernandez can too. While I am thinking about it, I haven t heard
In theory, the Ten-Day Disabled List should be a wonderful thing for pitchers, but initial results are not so good. It appears that after being off for ten days a starter just is not quite in-sync. Ryu was obviously out of sorts (maybe he is injured) and McCarthy also looked like he needed another start before coming off the DL. So, in reality, while it might be a tool to
It used to be Starsky and Hutch but now, there is a new crime drama showing at a Ravine near you, featuring Sergio Romo, a soft-tossing arsonist who likes to start fires from the bullpen and Chris Hatcher a talented flame-thrower who is an arsonist in his own right. The crime is that they are both still pitching OK, throwing. The drama is when will it end? This duo needs
As bad as the score was, Ryu was not bombed. He gave up no HR s it was really the walks and wildness that did him in. The Dodgers had the same number of extra-base hits as the Rockies. Yes, he was out 10 days and yes, it was Coors Field. Let s not forget that he had not pitched for two years, so FAZ is trying to manage his innings so
A picture is worth a thousand words, so I thought I would post scientific evidence of what led to Adrian Gonzalez and Yasmani Grandal hitting 3rd and 4th. Any questions? Actually, what else can you do but throw darts? The lineup is less important than the players in it. I would like to see Toles in everyday. Let him play. Of course, Bellinger has to be in it as well .
I m a Big Picture guy. I am not very involved in the Day-to-Day aspects of my real business (except as necessary), but am focused on the Big Picture. I was intimately involved in building the business for 15 years, but growth demanded that I become the visionary, and not the Day-to-Day Manager. Besides, I am not nearly as good at the day-to-day stuff anyway. So, here s the way I work:
The Dodgers will win the NL West and go on the the World Series. Some of you have already judged this team as lacking and are ready to throw in the towel and the baby and the bathwater! NOT SO FAST! In case you haven t heard, the season is 162 games long that means there are 144 games left. You can think what you want and you will but
Evidently Rich Hill doesn t flourish in Spring Training, and while he was not in mid-season form last night, he was pretty good. Five innings was enough let him go six his next start. You have to love this guy s story, determination and never-say-die attitude. What are the odds that a guy finally figures it out at 36 year old and becomes a star? Probably about the same that he
Anytime the season starts with a Giant loss, especially a fantastic bullpen meltdown and a Dodger win, It s all good! Obviously, there is a long way to go, but you might as well get off to a good start against the AAAA Little Sisters of the Poor. I think Clayton Kershaw makes more than the whole team and it s easy to see why! Seven straight Opening Day wins! Joc Pederson
We now know who comprises the 25 man roster. Is it what I would have chosen? Probably not, but I do understand the reasons for the selections. I was disappointed that Chris Taylor was not selected, but I understand why Kike’ was valued more as utility player. I understand that Taylor is an infielder that needs to learn OF. If Seager goes on the DL, it will not be Kike’
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.
