36 posts
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…
Please excuse the timing of this post. It was written early last week, however I was rushed to the ER with what turned out to be a TIA or mini stroke. I was in the hospital being pricked and probed for nearly three days, but came away with a clean bill of health. So now I am…
There is little doubt that the San Francisco Giants have benefited immensely from a heavy measure of serendipity or just plain ole’ luck. I am not trying to minimize their accomplishments, but the fact that no one picked them to have a record above .500, except Gabe Kapler’s…
I know some of you are saying, “Please not another Dave Roberts post” I understand. But if you have ideas, write a post and get it to Mark and he will gladly post it. I was going to respond yesterday to Mark’s reference to Bill Shaiken’s article and some of the comments, but…
A couple of observations for the weekend series sweep of the Pads. The starting pitching was obscene. Urias 7.0 IP – 0 runs, Buehler 7.0 IP – 2 runs, Scherzer 8.0 IP – 0 runs. In 22.0 IP the Padres scraped together 10 hits and 3 walks against the three starters. Two shutouts for…
As I wrote that, I threw up in my mouth because it is true. The Dodgers shut out the Padres who have crashed and burned while the Giants won handily 6-1 in a bullpen game. What if on April 1st I told you the following: Dustin May would miss the seaon; Tony Gonsolin would miss…
That is not the law firm defending Trevor Bauer, but it is the four most scrutinized members of the LAD organization. I started to respond to Mark s post from yesterday, but I got called away for errands. It then got too long for a response, so I decided to make it my own post. I am writing this before Game 1 with NYM, so this could all go to H***
Do you remember when many Dodger fans wanted to trade Gavin Lux, Keibert Ruiz, and the kitchen sink for Francisco Lindor who was allegedly the second coming? Remember how many were heartbroken when he was traded to the Mets who signed him to a $341 Million Dollar Deal? Remember when most fans wanted Lindor, Trevor Story, Carlos Correa, or Javier Baez instead of Corey Seager? Well, of those five (soon
Very early in the season, I predicted that the Dodgers would have a TOP 5 BULLPEN. Well, they currently are now #5 in ERA in all of MLB. I have always used ERA as a metric, although I know there are many others. Some of you want to use other metrics to disprove that they are #5. I say Whatever! I have always thought about combining a number of metrics,
The last few days have reminded me how frustrating this team can be sometimes. And it is not just this version, there have been many over the years. Last year, this team was a lot of fun to watch, and it stretches this season, it has been fun too. After losing the opener to the Rockies 8-5, and Belli losing a HR when he passed Turner on the bases, they
Earlier in the week, there was a little difference in opinion with respect to the Billy McKinney acquisition. I continue to read how porous LAD’s defense is, and with a gimpy Mookie Betts who may need late-inning defensive help to get him off his hip, a slowing AJ Pollock, questionable defense of Matt Beaty, and the need for CT3 to spend more time in the infield, AF went out and
With Dustin May, Trevor Bauer, and Clayton Kershaw all out of the picture, at least for the time being, the Dodger starting rotation after the All-Star Break looks like this: Striker Buehler Julio Urias Tony Gonsolin David Price JoJo Gary Yes, I said JoJo Gray. He will get another start or maybe two at OKC, and hopefully, be built up to at least four innings by then (hey, it s better
It was reported that immediately after the game last night a San Francisco Giants fan tried to blow up a LA Dodger fan s car. He was not successful, however, as he kept burning his lips on the exhaust pipe. Well, if you are only going to get 5 hits, make sure most of them are Home Runs and the Dodgers did that last night. The bullpen again came through BIG
While I’m at it, let’s talk about Friedman for a bit. Where’s that vaunted depth I’ve heard so much about? Anybody with just a little bit of baseball knowledge could have seen that Dustin May would go down for the year, Gonsolin would miss significant time and that your number one prospect, Josiah Gray would get injured. Now’s the time to see that depth.
Let s get one thing straight: Andrew Friedman is the President and GM of the Los Angeles Dodgers. It is his responsibility to oversee anything that is connected with Baseball Operation. For the sake of this blog, Andrew Friedman is responsible for building the Dodgers Bullpen. To date, most Dodgers fans are saying that he built a deplorable bullpen. I have heard one fan say it was an average bullpen. They
After I went into the Army, it was hard to follow the team other than in the paper and the Sporting News. And especially when I went to Korea. Stars and Stripes was usually a couple of days or more behind in the scores. When I came home, and later got married, we would go to games whenever I came back to Cali on leave. Or we would go to the AA games in El Paso.
Here s an interesting question: How many different pitchers will have saves for the Dodgers this season? The Dodgers already have three different pitchers with saves after Dave Roberts elected to use David Price in a save situation last night. It looked like a bad choice for a minute as Daza and Trejo both singled to start the inning. Then Trevor Story pinch hit and Price fell behind 2-0 only to
Kenley is a proud man and if he loses the closers role, I could see him walking away and the Dodgers agreeing to pay him to do that. You may or may not know this: But, when Andrew Luck walked away, Jim Irsay paid him $30 million that he was under no obligation to do so. This is just speculation and is way down the road, but it could happen.
If this is who Gavin Lux is (from what he has shown this Spring), then the Dodgers are going to have an incredible offense. If he keeps hitting (and I can t see why he won t) he is going to be very difficult to keep at the bottom of the lineup. With his speed and baserunning ability, he is a perfect #2 hitter behind Mookie Betts. Speed Kills! That moves Seager to #3 and the trickle-down starts. I doubt that Gavin begins the season as the #2 hitter, but if he earns that spot, look out! This 2021
Some games have highlight nd some have lowlights. It seems to me that last night s game was of the lowlight variety. Nothing worth remembering well, maybe a couple of things: The Pitchers Julio Urias has filthy stuff, but he still has not figured out the first inning. This needs to change. There is something about the first inning Bring him in the second, fifth, ninth inning and he is fine .
In 2020, batters who faced Kenley Jansen had a 14% hard contact rate against Kenley, which happens to be the lowest in all of baseball.
2021 could shape up to be the most unusual season on record and that is saying a mouthful since COVID-19-2020 was absolutely Bat S___t Crazy! Here s why: It was a 60 game season some players struggle for 50 games only to shine for the next 100. Other players shine for 50 games and struggle the next 100 games. Some minor league prospects grow by two or three levels and
Today is the day that pitchers and catchers are due to report to Camelback Ranch for the Dodgers. Tomorrow is the first day of workouts. Full squad reports February 22, with the first full squad workout scheduled for February 23. The Dodgers play their first spring training game on Sunday, February 28 against the Oakland A’s at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona. There will be some rules in effect that
Welcome to Super Bowl Sunday. I am a much bigger fan of college football, and since my Packers are out of it, the lure of the Super Bowl does not hold a huge interest for me. I will undoubtedly watch the game, and I have a lot of family in KC so I will have some allegiance to them. I am not against Tom Brady as much as many I
What I do know is that while I cannot individually predict what each pitcher will do, I feel very confident that collectively this bullpen can be great. There is a lot here to like, but that s my opinion. Let s see if I can rub your noses in the Facts come October!
There has been a lot of talk by MLB fans in general how the Padres may have caught the Dodgers. On the East coast, most in NY and Atlanta believe they have better 26-man rosters. Dodger fans of course take offense at such a charge. None of the four teams are finished completing their rosters, but I thought I would take a more in depth look at a Dodgers/Padres comp,
In a November 15, 2015 article authored by Matthew Moreno at dodgerblue.com, Andrew Friedman and Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten maintained that the extravagant spending for the Dodgers would not continue, and that the 2016 season would provide a small opportunity to make progress toward balancing the scale. According to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times, Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly recently echoed a similar sentiment, going so far as to
A little premature to know if AF is finished yet, but the Dodger bullpen has already been overhauled some. Knebel, Cleavenger, Kahnle, the new kids on the block. Kahnle will not pitch this season, and Cleavenger has never pitched above AA. Wood and Baez have gone to SF and Houston respectively, and McGee so far has not been signed anywhere. And the roster sits at 40. There are all sorts
It s really simple: If Brandon Morrow is healthy, he is very, very good! When he s not healthy, he is not a factor. He has had elbow, calf and shoulder injuries the past two years and is allegedly healthy now. He will be 37 in July and this is likely his last dance.
The Dodgers are the class of MLB and favorites to win the World Series again in 2021 but San Diego has pulled closer. However, to think that the Dodgers will just blow by the Luxury Tas Threshold is both naive and delusional. There is not much room They can sign Turner for $18 Million and two years, but Hendriks? Ha! Trading for Arenado? No way! Suarez? I doubt it!
