40 posts
First, to Badger. I love trade scenarios. I do not care how outlandish they are or how realistic they may be. I enjoy reading Bums trade proposals. I am not sure that I ever read one that was realistic, but they are fun. Bluto sometimes gives us scenarios from the baseballtradevalues.com site. They are fun for me. That is what blogs are for. Throw out ideas. To the best of
Now some think they are really going to miss Kike and Joc. Possibly, they both had memorable moments as Dodgers. But neither was a starter. Joc s inability to hit LH pitching relegated him to platoon duty of sorts. Although his glove is excellent, Kike could not hold the starting second base job when it was given to him. Twice.
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,
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
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
Agony and anticipation. That is what the winter meetings have always felt like for me. I am pretty sure many others feel the same. It has been more that way since the advent of free agency. Back in the day when players got no more than a one year deal and were tied to their teams by the reserve clause. For you youngins, that means that the team that signed
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
It has now been 26 days since the Dodgers celebrated their World Series win on the field in Texas. 26 days of pure joy for most Dodger fans. Some bad vibes being aimed at Turner for coming back on the field to celebrate with his team mates, but mostly just joy and the biggest feeling RELIEF! I have not gone whole hog getting World Series swag. I ordered a hat,
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
The Hot Stove League is always fun for us armchair GMs, allowing us to look at ways of improving a reigning World Series championship team. Not just a WS championship team, but THE consensus choice of the best team in MLB for 2020. But changes must be made. Nothing can stay at the top by being stagnant. Changes can come internally or externally. AF is a master as to building
Over the past few days, I have listened to several interviews, heard rumors and news. Here are few things I would like to share: I am so impressed with Edwin Rios (the person). He is mature beyond his years, poised, thoughtful, determined, and fully understands the role hard work plays in becoming a great player. He has singled-out Justin Turner, Clayton Kershaw, and Mookie Betts for teaching him the importance
CLAYTON KERSHAW GETS HIS RING!!! We can put the Kirk Gibson HR and the Orel Hershiser team celebration into the Smithsonian, because we have new LA Dodgers World Series heroes. It took the 3rd time in 4 years for the Dodgers to finally cross the Championship line. Mookie proves to be a difference maker not only for the game but for a World Series Championship team. Corey Seager ends a
The Rays are in the WS for a reason. They are good and they never quit. Let me get the negative out of the way. I have been a Dave Roberts supporter throughout the postseason, but I have also said that there is no way that I would bring Pedro Baez in with runners on base. You want to make a change from Treinen? Okay, that was at least an
Well, basically, that is what we all are in some form or another. I know that I have often thought, damn, I can do it better than he can, or what is he thinking? Armchair GM s also usually feel they are good managers too. Over the last several years, I have often disagreed with both Roberts and AF. I still feel Roberts, although a great communicator and player s manager, still
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
Well that was an interesting and very long game. Dodgers won 5-1, and despite appearances (it could be called an ugly win) they, nevertheless, won in dominating fashion. There were lots of walks. Padres pitchers, threw 165 pitches in 8 innings, as they walked 10 Dodgers batters, and added a hit by pitch for good measure. Walker Buehler started for the Dodgers and almost immediately started to make Dodgers fans
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:
Our Boys in Blue have clinched yet another NL West Championship. That streak has now reached 8, and is one behind 9 consecutive AL East Titles by NYY and 14 consecutive Divisional Titles by Atlanta. Out of the previous seven, the Dodgers have won two pennants, with no World Series Championships. NYY’s streak was from 1998 through 2006. The Yankees won five pennants and three consecutive World Series Championships for
Who the heck were those players wearing Dodger uniforms in the Rockies’ and D-backs’ series? Whoever they were, they certainly did not perform like a playoff caliber team. They struggled with pitching, struggled with hitting, and couldn’t play defense. My, my, my, that’s typically a recipe for baseball disaster!! Heaven forbid that team should have to play the mighty Padres in the playoffs. The Dodgers may as well go home
As baseball aficionados we all know who should play, who should play where, what the best batting lineup should be, how to “correct” batting stances, etc. We are all more knowledgeable than the Presidents of Baseball Operations, or the managers, or the pitching coaches, or the hitting coaches. We have all played the game, some at advanced levels. But to my knowledge, nobody on this site has ever climbed the
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
Tough night for the Dodgers on Jackie Robinson night. The team got in late from San Francisco and did not look ready to play. These games happen. Forget about it, get some sleep, and come back tomorrow. It would be easy to pick apart the game, but no team can play on all cylinders each and every game. The Dodgers started out well enough with a pair of singles by
Nothing comes easy when the Dodgers play the Giants. And I guess that is how it should be. LA goes to SF and we go into extra innings for Game 1 of a 3 game series. Things started out great for the Dodgers as they get a pair of one out singles from Seager and JT. After a Belli fly out, Muncy gets a three run jack in the first
I’m writing this on Friday morning, basking in the joy of the Dodgers 11-2 thumping of the Padres and thought I would share some random thoughts from my recliner: ● Until last night’s game, this year’s Dodgers just haven’t been as fun for me to watch as teams in the past. In “summer camp” it looked as if though they would be invincible. Once the season started though, and even
Mookie has a 4-4 night with 3 HRs and 5 RBIs, and a HBP. His OPS is now sitting at 1.074. Anyone watching the game realizes that Mookie’s 3 HR night ties him with Johnny Mize and Sammy Sosa for the most 3 HR games in a career. I am going to go out on a limb and say that before his career is over, he will have that record
I was not sure how I was going to write my column for Monday. It was looking ugly for a while, but with a pair of 3-run HRs by AJ Pollock and Mookie Betts, the Dodgers turned a potential disaster into a win. Typical Dodger win with the long ball. In the three game series, the Dodgers scored 17 runs, 14 of them directly from seven HRs. I know that
I was hoping to sit down on my patio deck to watch the Dodgers vs Giants when I realized that I could not get the game on MLB.TV. I was already in a foul mood when I had to come into the house and listen to Krukow and Kuiper. I then watch Urias once again nibble instead of going at the hitters. For the first time this year, I am
Except for one bad pitch, the Dodgers have been outstanding on this current road trip. They are currently 5-1 on the trip, with three to go in SD. I am not sure that home and away mean that much in 2020, except do like the last AB for a potential comeback. But there certainly is no fan reaction to build momentum upon. The team is currently 7-3, and on pace
We cannot summarize the two game series against the Asterisks without reengaging about Joe Kelly. Let’s look at the pitch to crybaby Correa to get his mouth going and get Kelly “taunting”. Was Correa really upset about a breaking ball high and tight that went to the backstop to put runners in scoring position? I doubt that was Kelly’s plan. Was he complaining about the pitch to Bregman? No he
