It’s Not All About Bryce Harper

February 28, 2019

Have you ever been to an auction where one party was “hell-bent-for-leather” to win whatever the auction target was. The guy who wants to win at all costs is not called a “winner” where I am from. He usually overpays and regrets it later. My wife has won auctions costing thousands of dollars, only to regret it later. The winner of an auction is often really “The Loser.” Winning an…

Read More >>

Rant & Rave Monday

February 25, 2019

RVS gets all the glory… (10 runs a game average) at least until tomorrow. The Dodgers are undefeated! Print the tickets! If you listened to the Andrew Friedman interview, you should never say the Dodgers want to be an “all or nothing” team. Why no MRI on Kershaw? Because you don’t want to know… “La, La, La, La, La, La, La” <fingers in ears> DJ Peters has added bulk and…

Read More >>

NL West First Look – SF Giants

February 24, 2019

Yesterday I wrote about the Padres because of the late signing of Manny Machado. The Padres have suffered mightily for many years, but appear to be on the verge of not only being respectable, but also a contender in a year or two, depending on their pitching progress. Today I suffer because I am writing about the hated Giants. The best thing about the Giants is that they are projected…

Read More >>

What Does the Future Hold for Raul Ibanez?

February 6, 2019

Last week Mark kind of stole my thunder with his remarks about Raul Ibanez who is a Special Assistant now to Andrew Friedman. He had signed with the Dodgers in February of 2016 along with Greg Maddux. The reasons for my interest in Raul Ibanez was that first, it was recently rumored he had an opportunity to move to another organization and didn’t. Secondly, suggestions were made that others were deserting…

Read More >>

I’m Just Sayin’

February 5, 2019

There is so little movement in the Hot Stove and yet, so much to talk about, so here goes: TOP FARM SYSTEMS Someone here a few days ago opined that they wanted Logan White back as the GM. Of course, Logan was never GM for the Dodgers before – he was Director of Amateur Scouting, and while I love Logan White, I cannot remember when the Dodgers Farm system was…

Read More >>

Potpourri for $1,000 Alex

February 2, 2019

As we are winding down to less than 2 weeks before pitchers and catchers report, I was having a tough time trying to find a single topic to write a novel on.  So I am going to just give some of my thoughts on a few topics. 1. Yes, Stan Kasten stuck his massive foot square in his mouth at the FanFest, and for no good reason.  I am by…

Read More >>

The New LA Dodgers

January 22, 2019

Farhan Zaidi is the President of Baseball Operations for the San Francisco Giants right here, right now… and while it may never be fully understood what role Zaidi had in in the managing and coaching decisions by the LA Dodgers, I think by the end of the 2019 season, we will find out that Farhan was a micro manager. Great guy, but he was not good at deligation. He had…

Read More >>

Pruning The Roster To Keep It Healthy

December 15, 2018

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…

Read More >>

Review of the Non-Tenders

December 3, 2018

Well we are now in December, less than one week away from the Winter Meeting, and the Dodgers have Kevin Quackenbush and Adam McCreery.  So, I guess the Dodgers are all set.  Andrew & Co. addressed the bullpen, what else can anyone else want?   I have been scouring the internet to catch word that the Dodgers pulled off a trade for JT Realmuto or Corey Kluber.  Or if Andrew…

Read More >>

State of the Farm

November 26, 2018

I am sitting continuing to try to understand how the Board of Trustees and the AD at USC have chosen to retain perhaps the most over his head coach in all of NCAA Football, Clay Helton. Rudy mentioned that both Westwood and South Bend are cheering loudly, but my radar has all of the Pac 12 and South Bend laughing at this. Oh well, enough pity party for me. It’s…

Read More >>