45 posts
There has been a lot of discussion as to what is the best way to develop a team; a team for sustained contending. Most LAD fans believe that AF builds his team for success from within. Others believe organizations can build a winning team by trading prospects for young controllable MLB stars. Others believe they need to sign affordable free agents. Most believe you need a bit of all the
Right about now, as COVID-19 rages across the country, MLB is making plans for a 162 game season. How many of those games will be played in empty stadiums remains to be seen, but It might be less than we think. The Indiana Pacers will begin allowing fans into Bankers Life Fieldhouse on January 19th. Sales will be limited to 1,000 tickets per game through Jan. 25 and gradually increase .
Blake Snell, Yu Darvish, Carlos Carrasco, and the BIG MARKET name, Francisco Lindor. These four have a chance to be top tier in 2021, with Lindor in the elite class. And they have all changed teams this offseason. The first two names have moved the Padres into a top three NL and top four MLB team, while the second two names have moved the NYM to a significant NL East
I was listening to MLB Radio, as I am prone to do when taking a short trip. Indianapolis is a city that has a major highway (Interstate 70) dissect it East and West in the center of the city. Meridian Street dissects the city North and South and I-465 circles around the city (Indy is called the Circle City ). One can easily drive around the loop in an hour, making
Somebody made a point as to what the Padres transactions did for the psyche for the other teams. The Padres have now joined the Dodgers, Braves, probably Mets, and maybe the Nationals (with their pitching and Soto/Robles/Turner) to separate from the rest of the NL. Some team from the NL Central will get to the playoffs, because, well one of the teams has to. It is a rule. Because of
There is always the debate as to whether prospects are meant to be held onto so as to build from within, or should they be used as prospect capital to acquire existing MLB stars. Of course, these trades need to be made at the peak of the prospect trade value in order to maximize the return. The Dodgers have had a perennial top 10 farm club since AF signed on
Editorial Comment This post was written prior to the Blake Snell acquisition by the Padres. The longer this offseason goes without much movement, the more likely AF is going to get involved. The number of teams that want to jettison payroll is growing and is undoubtedly going to pique the interest of teams like LAD. While it will stress out fans who continually want to see something happen to
The financing of a baseball season is going under the microscope this offseason and potentially into next season. There is no question that MLB lost several billion in revenues. According to Forbes’ estimates from 2019, as gathered by the University of Michigan sports economist Rodney Fort, MLB teams made a total of $9.9 billion as follows: REVENUE (IN BILLIONS) UNDER… CATEGORY NORMAL SEASON HALF-SEASON W/O FANS* Gate receipts $2.84B $0.00B
While most everyone was saying that DJLM was a guarantee to re-sign with NYY, there are comments emanating from Cashman that indicate that DJLM is not a slam dunk. However, the negotiations have gone nowhere in a while. Could it be that some other team is making headway into the negotiations causing Cashman some concern? I have been a DJLM advocate for nearly the last three years. I was disappointed
as we sit in our easy chairs, Andrew Friedman is in the Catbirds Seat knowing that he doesn t have to make one solitary move and knowing that other GM s will make some moves of the dope-fiend variety. So we wait.
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
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,
I continue to read that AF cannot sign high priced FA because they need to hold money for their prized youngsters: Corey Seager, Cody Bellinger, Julio Urias, and Walker Buehler. AF has set himself up with large contracts coming off the books as these players come into their FA years. Now there is no guarantee that any of the four want to stay with LAD, but there should be sufficient
This is really hard because we have nothing to go on insofar as for player development in 2020… and it is going to get worse! Next year, MLB is allegedly going to contract 40+ teams (if they stick to the plan). If there are 30 players on a team (counting the IL), that is almost 1,200 players who will be out of jobs. It’s sad, but it’s also a stark
Right now Dodger catcher Will Smith is the talk of the town and perhaps rightfully so. Just a few short weeks ago he was being thrown on the scrap heap by some Dodger faithful. I for one am not surprised that he has stepped up to claim the starting role as the Dodgers’ catcher. It was mentioned the other day that there was nothing to suggest that this transformation could
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
The Los Angeles Dodgers have reported to Dodger Stadium; or at least some of them have. There are some who have apparently tested positive for the coronavirus, while others (so far only David Price) has opted to sit out the 2020 season. I am perfectly comfortable with any player or management personnel deciding that it is in their best interests to opt out for the season. I just hope that
All off-season I have hoped the Dodgers would go BOLD. Of course I was disappointed. I thought this would be the year. But unlike some here, I am not about to concede the WS to NYY (or LAA) this year or any time in the future. NYY CBT is already at $245,341,667 with holes still to fill. $2.5MM more in spending and they exceed the top penalty. The tax is
Yesterday, I wrote that the Dodgers were a young team and what I was specifically referring to was that the core was young, especially if Ryu, Hill, Freese, and Martin are not back. The Dodgers had seven (7) rookies impact the team this year: Will Smith Alex Verdugo Gavin Lux Tony Gonsolin Dustin May Kyle Garlick Matt Beaty Next year they will also have a few. The Dodgers are built
As we are getting ready to see who the Dodgers first opponent will be in the post season, it is extremely difficult for me to consume any negativity ascribed to the Dodgers after this season. No conditional statements…they were great. The best team in LA Dodgers history. I say LA Dodgers because the 1953 team that 105, did so with 8 less games. I still read from some how bad
A couple of weeks back I mentioned how good DJLM was playing for NYY and that all of the talk that he could not hit outside of Coors was…well just talk. He is proving that he is a hitter with tremendous bat to ball skills; a skill he can take anywhere. 59inarow challenged me with admonishing me into saying maybe you were right about DJLM but what about all of
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
Less than two weeks to go before Opening Day, and I still have one more team to give my best shot an analyzing for the upcoming 2019 season. Today I am taking a look at what should be the Dodgers closest competition (only competition?) in the NL West Colorado Rockies. Last year, after 162 games, they tied our Los Angeles Dodgers with a 91-61 record, tops in the NL West. They
Well, I was going to continue with my analysis of the NL West competition, but I thought that I would comment on the this past week and what the future may hold. Most Dodger fans got caught up in all of the Bryce Harper sweepstakes (including me), but as many of us said at the beginning of the Hot Stove League, a long term deal for Bryce Harper is not
So, since Bruce Bochy has announced he will retire AFTER this season, will Bill Hanselman be hired now or wait until the next off-season? That is, if he really will be the next Giants manager and I have heard he will be. I guess you never know, but it makes sense. Andrew Toles has been his own worst enemy in the past with getting kicked off teams, etc. Is this what is happening again or is it really something
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
Well now that the Dodgers have signed AJ Pollock, what comes next? Maybe something. Maybe nothing. Is JT Realmuto on the horizon. Apparently, the Pads are very much in on JTR, but they are insisting on extension talks before they consummate the deal. Obviously, either Francisco Mejia or Austin Hedges will be going back in a package. The Pads have ML OF’s available as well a bucket load of high-level
There has been a lot of discussion on the state of free agency. Many consider the system broke. Very few teams can be considered as realistic in offering the likes of Bryce Harper and Manny Machado. But the problem is that many of the non “generational” type players wait until the top players sign and then hope that those that miss out on the Harper’s and Machado’s may be in
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
