28 posts
I have been away for a bit due to some unexpected personal family matters, but I have continued to read the blog everyday. Last week when Mark proclaimed, “This could not only be the best Dodger bullpen of All-Time, but it could also be one of the best in the game… maybe ever!”, many unsurprisingly jumped on that testament. I have been a huge critic of the bullpen makeup, and
On Saturday, AC provided us with an amazing analysis of questions to be answered this spring. It prompted me to go back a few years and see what the pressing questions were in the spring for the past few seasons and how they were answered: Last year, the top questions facing the Dodgers heading into Spring training were: • Is Clayton Kershaw definitely in decline? I would feel safe to
So many of us have been looking at FA possibilities and trade possibilities that most have not paid any attention to the first date that will impact the 2020 Dodgers roster. The 40 man roster needs to be set by November 20, 2019 with all Rule 5 eligible prospects protected. The actual Rule 5 draft will take place on Thursday, December 12, 2019. That gives AF and his staff less
I have not been shy about stating how I feel about the bullpen. And I do understand that recognizing that there may be a problem and doing something about it can be and often is two different things. Maybe with the way the starting pitching is performing, this will become less of an issue, but I prefer to plan rather than to react. I have never disagreed with Mark about
First of all, Happy St. Patrick s Day. We are down to 10 ST games with one week to go in Arizona followed by 3 against LAA. Two games in Anaheim and one game at Dodger Stadium. Thus far the Dodgers are 12-8-2, as if that means anything. Who have been the surprises? Offensively, Kike Hernandez and Austin Barnes have been red hot and IMO have established themselves as starters. Kike
Finally, ST has arrived, and the first ST game is today against the ChiSox. The 7-man scheduled pitching rotation for Saturday’s game is Daniel Corcino, Jaime Schultz, Kevin Quackenbush, Josh Sborz, Stetson Allie, Josh Smoker and Joe Broussard. Sunday’s game 7 man scheduled rotation will be Hyun-Jin Ryu, Brock Stewart, Dennis Santana, Adam McCreery, Tony Gonsolin, Mitchell White, and Dustin May. I had already written a lengthy response to Mark’s
While recently doing a bit of background checks on a couple of minor league players I started to think of some Dodger memories that I have and also an update on some current items. First, I don’t know if Gil Hodges should be in the HOF or not. I really liked Harold Baines but as a Dodger in my formative years I revered Hodges as I did so many
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
I was wrong. Imagine that. I predicted a 3-K series in which Kershaw, Kenley and Kemp would play significant roles in the Dodgers play-off push. Perhaps their roles were significant in the final outcome but not in the manner I had envisioned. Clayton demonstrated to us that he…
AAA – PCL American Conference Playoff – OKC Dodgers v. Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals) Game 1 – Memphis Redbirds 4-2 Win over OKC Dodgers Game 2 – OKC Dodgers 5-4 Win over Memphis Redbirds Because of the wet field postponement on Wednesday, the Dodgers and Redbirds were forced to play a doubleheader on Thursday and came away with a split. The series shifts to Memphis in this best 3 out
So, who is coming to help on Saturday when rosters CAN expand? The current 40 man is filled with players on the DL. How many of those are legit, who knows? Well I guess FAZ does. Another consideration might be how many of the Rule 5 eligible draftees do the Dodgers want to take a look at in September. Current Dodger relievers on the 40 man: Julio Urias
I know I sound like a broken record. There is NOT ONE late inning high leverage reliever on the 40 man outside of KJ. The closest two are in Tulsa; Marshall Kasowski and Andre Scrubb, neither of whom is ready. I am not sure how Kenta Maeda and Chicken Strip are going to change this. There are no relievers better than what FAZ has already accumulated that will pass through
Yesterday Mark made a good argument as to why the Dodgers might want to stand pat. Today I would like to make an argument as to why the Dodgers should consider another move or two. I understand the thought that with how the Dodgers are built right now they can compete and win the NL West. I understand why many believe the team should stay as is and let the team
Editorial Note I wrote this before the Buehler injury. The 2018 Amateur Draft is now over. All that is left is the signing of the draft picks. The Dodgers did not select a high school player in Round 11 indicating to me that they expect the top 10 to be close to the bonus pool + 5%. There will be some savings with picks #9 and #10 as
Baseball, among all of the major sports, is the one most closely linked to statistics. There seems to be a stat for just about every circumstance one can imagine. Each year the game becomes more and more saturated with statistics. The use of statistics in the greatest game of all is not new. The practice of keeping records of player achievements was started in the nineteenth century by Henry Chadwick .
We have bandied about a potential LAD 25 man roster, so now I want to take a shot at a possible 25 man roster at OKC and Tulsa. One thing we have learned is that FAZ really wants players who can conceivably be called to LA if needed at AAA. At times there may be a player that has advanced quick enough to move to OKC without a real opportunity
Yesterday, e-6 and Hawkeye were commenting on the relief pitching (or maybe lack thereof) that seems to be coming to LA this upcoming week. When I thought there were going to be only 7 relievers I listed Kenley, Alexander, Baez, Cingrani, Fields, Stripling, and Chargois as the 7. Now that it is back to 8 (at least for right now), I agree with Ken Gurnick that Font will be #8 .
Last week DC discussed a Dodger reliever from every level in the organization. Every reliever on that list has the potential to be at least a MLB middle reliever. Some may become high leverage relievers. Zach Pop was certainly drafted last year for just that reason. One other that I started to follow last year in the DSL was Elio Serrano, who could be special. But at 19 he has
What is the value of each minor league player? That is, how important is each player? For me, the answer to the question is that none are more important than others. Sure, we like to see prospect lists with rankings but perhaps we should look at team rosters and draft lists, players that are signed as non-drafted free agents and minor league players signed after being released by other teams .
Mark referenced a site, https://www.rosterresource.com/mlb-los-angeles-dodgers/ , that I have studied for some time. I went back to look at my notes and do have some observations: There is no way the bench will be comprised of 4 RH hitters and 1 switch hitter. I do not see Segedin or Thompson on the 25 man coming out of Spring. I would project Toles and one of Peter/Muncy/Locastro to replace Segedin
Over the last few years, we Dodger fans have become accustomed to botched relief in post season appearances. Which is why I have included one of my favorite images of reliever Steve Howe and catcher Steve Yeager following the final out of the 1981 WS. I have been fascinated with relievers since my first Dodger hero, Larry Sherry. From Clem Labine, Ron Perranoski, Phil Regan, and Bob Miller to Eric
The OKC Dodgers finished the 2017 AAA season with a 72-69 record, good enough for 2nd place in the PCL American North Division. However, they were 10.0 games behind the division champion Colorado Springs Sky Sox (Brewers). The Sky Sox then lost to the Memphis Redbirds (Cardinals) in the American Divisional Series. The El Paso Chihuahuas (Padres) beat the Reno Aces (Dbacks) in the Pacific Division championship series. The Memphis
Last Monday when the Dodgers acquired Yu Darvish, Tony Watson, and Tony Cingrani, the Dodgers traded four players from their top 30 prospect list; Willie Calhoun, Brendon Davis, AJ Alexy, and Oneil Cruz. That opened the door for four new members of the Dodgers top 30. Jacob Rhame returned to the top 30 and #is now listed at #28. Three new members of the top 30 are: #27 Cristian Santana
DRAFT UPDATE The 2017 MLB Draft is in the books, and the signing deadline has come and now gone. The Dodgers had 40 draft picks, and signed 33. Each of the first 13 picks signed, and 19 of the first 20 signed. 8 signed from picks 21-30, and 6 signed from picks 31-40. For comparison purposes, the Dodgers drafted 42 in 2015 and 2016, and signed 36 and 33 respectively.
Thursday night’s game was the official half way point in the season. So I thought it was an opportune time to look at what is right, or what is wrong, what can be fixed, or what doesn’t need fixing. With Thursday night s win, the Dodgers are 53-28. That is a projected win total of 106. They will win 94 even if they go 41-40 the rest of the way. The
There has been a lot of discussion about the state of the Cuban players the Dodgers signed in 2015. It has been nearly two years since the Dodgers embarked on a $43,874,000 spending spree on 11 international players, but only three are Cuban. There were also five from the Dominican Republic, one from Venezuela, and one from Nicaragua. Eight of the players are still remain in the organization with 7
Tim and Christina Smelzer were looking at a picture of their ten year old son, Devin, with Cole Hamels. But this was not an ordinary picture. This was a picture of a young boy with no hair due to chemotherapy and radiation therapy treatments treating his cancer. After taking too many trips to the bathroom to urinate, Devin was diagnosed on multiple occasions with a urinary tract infection. However a
We now know who comprises the 25 man roster. Is it what I would have chosen? Probably not, but I do understand the reasons for the selections. I was disappointed that Chris Taylor was not selected, but I understand why Kike’ was valued more as utility player. I understand that Taylor is an infielder that needs to learn OF. If Seager goes on the DL, it will not be Kike’
