23 posts
No one has ever seen a 30-year-old Shoehei Ohtani play because Shohei will not be 30 years old until July 5th, 2024. However, we did see a 29-year-old Ohtani play, and we saw him tear his UCL and then go on the IL with an oblique strain, which would have likely kept him out of…
One of the last transactions Andrew Friedman made with the Tampa Bay Rays was a three-way deal with the Tigers and Mariners when he acquired Willy Adames in a trade along with Drew Smyly for David Price and others. Could lightning strike again? Could Andrew Friedman pull off…
This is the time of year when we hear that teams will be listening on potential trades for Player A. However, most of the time those proclamations are simply rhetorical. The Brewers have said they are willing to listen to offers for Josh Hader. The Rays will be listening on offers for Blake Snell. The Reds will be listening on offers for Sonny Gray. The Cubs are listening on offers
When I took over the administration of LA DodgerTalk , I said that I would continue as long as I enjoyed what I was doing. The time has come for me to announce that it is no longer fun for me. I was offered an opportunity to consult on back office procedures for a non-profit company involved with School Choice, and I have decided to accept the challenge. I have
Admittedly I am writing this without knowing the submitted Playoff Rosters for either team, but I I am going to give it a go anyway. I have already indicated who I thought would be on the Dodgers playoff roster. But for consistency: 1B Muncy 2B CT3 3B JT SS Seager LF AJ CF Belli RF Mookie C Smith DH – Rios Bench:
We have the first series under our belt and here’s a few observations: ● I thought they might, but alas, it doesn’t appear that the Dodgers will go 60 0. That’s a shame, as it would have eliminated all worry about making the playoffs. I guess 59-1 will have to do. ● If we win all our games 8-1, 9-1 or lose 5- 4, then it doesn’t appear
It is time for a little Devil’s Advocacy. I have been an unapologetic fan of Andrew Friedman and what he has accomplished, and just as critical as to what he has NOT accomplished. I was critical when AF did not beat out the Astros offer for Gerrit Cole before the 2018 season. The Astros traded a #5 SP in Joe Musgrove, a decent but unceremonious 3B, Colin Moran, a RHRP
We often take a look at minor league players who have never been considered as can’t miss players. Some are very late round draft picks that creep up on the minor league ranks. DC and I have mentioned Zach McKinstry quite a bit this season. Zach was a 33rd round draft Pick (2016) out of that baseball hotbed Central Michigan University. He has continually charged up the organizational ladder and
This is AF’s 5th full year, and hopefully he will continue for several more years. He is human so he is prone to making mistakes, but never has he made an error without a very good reason for making a change. Most of us may not have understood the decisions, but they were always made to help the team. And I recognize and appreciate that it was a rhetorical statement,
I know many of you out there in LADT land have been “calmly” discussing your varied opinions on AF. Some think he is the best President Baseball Operations/GM in the history of baseball, while others believe he is very much overrated. I do not know what is wrong with the latter group. Aren’t those of you who are in that group just glad to be the 2nd best team in
I wanted Chris Sale at the 2016 trade deadline when he was burning bridges with the ChiSox. I cannot fault management because he was not traded until the Winter, and I have no idea as to who Chicago was demanding. We can speculate all we want, but nobody here knows. I was a strong advocate for Justin Verlander at the 2017 trade deadline, but understood why the Dodgers did not
Editorial Note – This was written before the massive Russell Martin deal went down, and I did not want to consider this post to be like Kemp, Puig, Wood, and Farmer and just dump it. The written word is a strange thing. One reader will read comments one way and another reader another way, and yet the writer had a totally different reason for the comment. The most recent
Yesterday Mark wrote, “this Dodger Team, right here, right now, is better than the 2018 version.” I will stipulate that the Dodgers may be better just for the loss of Farhan Zaidi and Turner Ward. That may be cruel, and they may do wonderful things for their new respective clubs, but they were a disconnect for this team. Friedman wants more of his fingerprints on the roster and approach, and
There has been no big player transactions and it is a holiday weekend, so pickings for material are pretty slim. However, as long as the Dodgers are mentioned in some big-name transactions, I will continue to think that something could happen. At the very least it allows for a lot of conjecture and good writing material. We all have our favorite Dodgers who we do not want to see moved
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
It took 174 games, but the Dodgers are heading back to the World Series. As I stated yesterday, it seems like this team needs to have their backs against the wall before they kick it in gear. From the shouts that we are going to single them to death to come back to getting a 2 run HR and a 3 run HR to beat the Brewers in Game 7 .
One day you’re the goat, and the next day you’re the GOAT. Okay maybe not GOAT, but certainly greatest hitter on that day. After going 0-5 with 4 strikeouts and an error in Game 1, Justin Turner goes 2-4 and hits a go-ahead 2 run HR in Game 2. With CT3 on 1st base after an infield single, Justin Turner hit a 2-0 splitter that stayed up over the middle
In a game where the two best hitters struck out 7 out of 10 plate appearances, this was a very hard game to watch much less write about. Unfortunately for the good guys, JT s strikeouts were much more problematic than Christian Yelich s. The Blue put up a good fight late, but Game 1 goes to Craig Counsell in his chess match against Dave Roberts. It appears that Counsell played Roberts
In the last thread, Tylerdurden31 stated that “If it clear we are one if the best five NL teams. We could be the best right now (even after an abysmal start). Between now and October we will experiment, test, and look for new ways to get production. Occasional failures like today must be tolerated in order to locate the growth potential in our roster. Win games? That’s last year. This
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
Mark referenced a site, https://www.rosterresource.com/mlb-los-angeles-dodgers/ , that I have studied for some time. I went back to look at my notes and do have some observations: There is no way the bench will be comprised of 4 RH hitters and 1 switch hitter. I do not see Segedin or Thompson on the 25 man coming out of Spring. I would project Toles and one of Peter/Muncy/Locastro to replace Segedin
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
