Okay now that Yu Darvish is signed, sealed, and delivered to the Chicago Cubs, who is the next domino to fall? 21 of the top 50 are still unsigned, and 6 of the top ten. Interestingly, 5 of those 6 are represented by Scott Boras (JDM, Hosmer, Arrieta, Moustakas, and Holland). Is it collusion, or is it anti Scott Boras? So what does that mean for the Dodgers? The…
Three weeks before pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report, and the free agent market is still in slow motion. MLBTR listed 50 top free agents. Of those 50, 25 remain unsigned, including eight of the top ten. Of those eight, only Darvish is rumored close to signing. What’s to become of the other seven; JDM, Hosmer, Arrieta, Moustakas, Cain, Lynn, & Holland? There are no fresh rumors. Four of…
… and Scott Boras is apt put out a hit on Andrew at any time. Andrew should consider getting Secret Service protection. Currently, the Secret Service protects the most hated man in the America and Friedman is currently the most hated man among agents. What? Who? Why? The lack of movement in the Hot Stove League, especially among the upper-echelon free agents falls squarely at the feet of one Andrew…
You may think that the Dodgers WANT to get under the Luxury Tax Threshold purely to save money and that is absolutely true, but there’s another aspect to getting under the $197 million number: If they don’t, they will likely be in violation of baseball’s “Debt Service Rule.” Major League Teams must comply with certain debt to asset ratios, and while the Dodger assets are high, so is their debt….
Buster Olney recently listed his TOP 10 SUPER UNITS. Now, this will likely change as more players sign contracts or more trades are made. In fact, Gerrit Cole being traded to the Astros arguably changes the Starting Rotation Power Ratings. Here’s where the Dodgers landed on Olney’s lists: Top 10 Rotations Nationals Dodgers Indians The Astros could now be #1 on paper. Top 10 Lineups Astros Yankees Dodgers were #10….
The Hot Stove is Cold… We are all going stir-crazy! OK, let’s get really crazy: The Dodgers trade Matt Kemp, Pedro Baez and Clayton Kershaw to Texas for Cole Hamels and Jose Leclerc. That frees up $35 million in 2018. Next, they sign Yu Darvish as a Free Agent and trade Yadier Alvarez, Yusneil Diaz, Jordon Sheffield and Kenta Maeda to Pittsburgh for Andrew McCutchen and Gerrit Cole. Rotation: Hamels…
A year ago, Dodger fans were wondering whether Adrian Gonzalez had anything left. I stated that if he didn’t, the Dodgers had an option at 1B who was ready to take over – one Cody Bellinger. I had watched Cody and Corey Seager progress and grow through the ranks of the Dodger farm teams, and I knew he was ready. I have only been that sure with two other current…
If you have not checked out www.TheAtheletic.com (it’s a pay site), you should. It’s got some great writing. As an example, Peter Gammons wrote a great piece yesterday: “Want a parade? The surest way to get one is to rebuild the right way. Here’s how it’s done” I can’t reproduce the whole article here, because of the paid content, but Gammons starts here: When baseball unraveled the draft and international…
What’s happening to this year’s crop of free agents? This is December 27, and out of the top 50 MLB TradeRumors free agent predictions, only 19 have signed new contracts, and one decided not to opt out (Masahiro Tanaka). Of the 30 unsigned players, none of the top 11 have signed new contracts (excluding Tanaka not opting out), and 15 of the top 20 are still unsigned. Of the…
If the Dodgers do nothing, this is what I would expect come Spring Training. 1B – Bellinger 2B – Forsythe 3B – JT SS – Seager LF – Kike’ and Joc/Toles CF – Taylor RF – Puig C – Barnes Rotation: Kershaw, Hill, Wood, Maeda, Ryu Bullpen: Jansen, Baez, Fields, Garcia, Koehler, Stripling, Avilan, Cingrani Bench: Grandal, 2 of Kike’/Joc/Toles, and Locastro Grandal and JT can relieve Bellinger…