41 posts
Could Jason Martin be the next Max Muncy, CT3 or Justin Turner? There is no reason to believe that he could but also no reason to expect that he could not. Martin, like JT, is a California boy who was born in Corona and attended Orange Lutheran High School in Orange which is…
On August 12, 1994, the MLB Players walked off and the player strike began. The strike ended 232 days later on April 2, 1995, making it the longest such stoppage in MLB history. Who is hurting? The fans. The same people they (both sides) are trying to keep coming to games…
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
There has been a lot of chatter about the cool reception the current group of FA’s are receiving. DJLM got $90MM, but he is going to be spreading that over 6 years for a team favorable AAV. George Springer turned a small bidding war between the two teams that figured to spend (Mets and Jays) into a Toronto overspend of 5 years $150MM. That was about $25MM more than the
By now, everyone knows that Kike Hernandez will not be back in Dodger blue. Some fans are very saddened by his departure. I go on Twitter a lot because guys like Rosenthal and Passan, and even Heyman, post there quite often, and even break the news of signings there. I know some here subscribe to The Athletic, but I just cannot afford something like that so I get my news
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
I have lost count of the number of times I have read that Kody Hoese is expected to have a big impact for the Dodgers in 2021. I find myself smh and disagreeing. But to some, it comes across as me denigrating the talent of Kody Hoese. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have not seen enough of Kody Hoese to know whether he is going to be
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
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
Peter O Malley was born on the 12th of December 1937 in Brooklyn, New York. We all know who his parents were. He spent his childhood as a child of privilege. His dad s success allowing the family comforts many of the citizens did not enjoy due to the depression. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania. And then from the Wharton School of Business in 1960. Peter s first job with the
In October of 2014, the ownership of the Dodgers decided to go in a new direction and named Andrew Friedman President of Baseball Operations. GM Ned Colletti was moved to another position in the organization and Friedman brought in Farhan Zaidi as the new GM. At the time, the only thing I knew about Friedman was that he had been running the Tampa Bay Rays. I knew they had gotten
Back again with my second installment about the 10 men in the hall who were umpires. Looking back and remembering some of the umps I do, I cannot help but wonder what has kept guys like Augie Donatelli and Shag Crawford out of the hall. Only the Vets committee knows for sure. But today s story profiles a couple of pretty good umps and one really versatile one who excelled in
Elimination game, facing the Braves top pitcher, Max Fried, and the Dodgers, besides the obvious need to win, had several objectives: 1. get off to a good start; 2. run up Fried’s pitch count; 3. Keep Buehler’s pitch count down; 4. Keep the Braves off the bases; and 5. Score more runs than the Braves. The Dodgers were successful on four of the
Today, the Dodgers face off against the Atlanta Braves in Game 1 of the 2020 NLCS. The Dodgers have never faced the Braves for the pennant before. They have faced each other three times in Divisional Series play. 1996 NLDS – Dodgers lost to Atlanta 3 games to 0 2013 NLDS – Dodgers beat Atlanta 3 games to 1 2018 NLDS – Dodgers beat Atlanta 3 games to 1 Before
Sorry for the delay in getting this posted. I already had my article queued up and ready for publish before last night s come from behind walk off win. Zac Gallen is going to be a superstar in this game and he just shut the Dodgers down. But the 2020 Dodgers are relentless and have no quit. I think that is a tribute to Mookie, just as 1988 was a tribute
I wrote this before Game three in partial response to MT’s comments. With the way my year is going, the Dodgers will win 25-0, Belli will go 7-7 with 4 HRs, and the team will go 15-15 WRISP. Update – Well not quite as good as described above, Wednesday’s game had some definite positives. The Dodgers actually used two bunts to put the team in a position to score two
While I favor LAD farmhands and follow them closely, I am a fan of MiLB baseball period. I scour through the top publications to see what prospects the Dodgers might have some interest in, or in my opinion should have interest in. The top three baseball publications have all reported their top 100 prospects and the Dodgers are prominent in all three. Their least representative publication is MLB Pipeline (MLB)
ASStericks! 2Demeter2 came up with that and I give him his props for that actually I am jealous that he thought of it before me. Henceforth (or is it Hinchforth) they are no longer the Astros, but rather the ASStericks. Here s is what 2Demeter2 has to say about the cheaters: 2Demeter2 Having just completed reading Commissioner Rob Manfred’s 9-page report regarding this matter there were many things that made my
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
It s is becoming pretty apparent that the Astros are a bunch of cheating, dirty-rotten scoundrels who stole the 2017 World Series from the LA Dodgers with their Criminal ways. In some aspects, this is worthy of a Pete Rose-Type Ban for the Players involved. The video evidence is mounting all over YouTube, compiled by amateurs. Rob Manfred and his Minions should have independent counsel or prosecutors investigating this and forcing
Well the first domino fell on Thursday when Atlanta signed LHRP Will Smith for 3 years and $40MM. It is a little less than Craig Kimbrel $$$, but not much. The Braves are in a position to sign multiple FA and still be well south of the CBT threshold. I expect them to make a run at MadBum and Yasmani Grandal, and maybe Josh Donaldson. Some prognosticators have suggested with
Many loyal Dodger fans believe the Dodgers ownership group is cheap and not interested in winning, and only interested in counting profits. Never mind that the Dodgers have spent more on player personnel contracts over the last five years than any other team. They have also spent lavishly on player development and re-focusing on their MiLB programs. I think we can all agree that the contract costs were not all
Let me preface this by unequivocally stipulating that I believe that Dustin May has a much higher ceiling than does Ross Stripling. Dustin May has had a great start, but has not yet faced any good offensive teams to establish his 2019 bona fides. May is a career starting pitcher and a sudden move to the bullpen could prove to be as problematic as it was for Walker Buehler. I
It has been widely published that the Dodgers are 31 years between World Series Championships. All Dodger fans want to forget that, but what if…I know it sounds like the Kratt Brothers. For those with small children or grandchildren you probably know Wild Kratts. Brooklyn was nine World Series and lost their first seven: 1916 and 1920 (as The Robins – managed by Wilbert Robinson) and did not return for
I was doing some research for a post I was trying to put together when I encountered one of my All-Time favorite Dodger pitchers, Burt “Happy” Hooten. I have no idea why, but I seem to favor pitchers from University of Texas, and pitchers from Texas in general. Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, Ross Stripling, Howie Reed, Huston Street, Brooks Kieschnick, Ryan Pressly, Greg Swindell, Shawn Tolleson,
Mark and I don’t always agree on everything Blue, although I think we are pretty consistent from a Macro view. But when it comes to the bullpen, Mark and I just do not see eye to eye. I have been a relief pitcher wonk since 1959 and Larry Sherry. Clem Labine would have been my favorite Dodger in the mid 50’s. I am not going to go through the history
I recognize and acknowledge that I have been at the forefront of wanting the Dodgers to acquire elite relievers I have also readily acknowledged that they do not need to make that trade at this time. Their competition in the NLWest is not stiff, but winning the NL pennant and WS could prove to be more difficult without that elite bullpen. Those names will become more clear as that July
Going into the draft it was thought that the Dodgers were going to pick the best player on their board regardless of position. The Dodgers had enough Bonus Pool money that they could have taken a big HS arm and paid to get them out of their commitment. I thought that Daniel Espino would have been the Dodger selection at #25 if he was available, but the Indians took him
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
