26 posts
On November 15, I started to write about the impatience some fans have with Gavin Lux, and it imploded into an overall generalization about many fans seeing MiLB stats and believing that those numbers will automatically translate to MLB numbers. And then when they do not, then…
Well, let the bidding begin. A number of publications have put out their top 50 Free Agents list. MLBTR is one of my favorites to follow. They are no better with their prognostications than are any other publication. They run contests every year, and many of the readers have…
There has been a lot of speculation about FA the Dodgers may want to re-sign or sign. We have no idea what the CBT will be, or what the penalties will be if a team exceeds that limit with the upcoming CBA. Currently the taxes can reach a maximum 50% for all salaries above the…
Before I answer with my position, let me do my best to lay out some of the factors assuredly being discussed in the Dodger “war rooms”. Max Scherzer is a HOF pitcher who can still bring it at 37. He would be a front of the rotation pitcher even with the Dodgers. This year he is 7-4 with a 2.83 ERA and an exceptional WHIP of 0.886 in 105 IP.
Maybe Monday s comeback win and Kenley Jansen s dominant save was what the Dodgers needed to turn around their sinking ship. Last night, the Dodgers won 7-1 behind a dominant seven innings by Julio Urias and 6 up and 6 down by Jimmy Nelson, who is now taking to the bullpen like a fish takes to water. It s not going to be all fairy dust and ponies right away, but you
Welcome to Super Bowl Sunday. I am a much bigger fan of college football, and since my Packers are out of it, the lure of the Super Bowl does not hold a huge interest for me. I will undoubtedly watch the game, and I have a lot of family in KC so I will have some allegiance to them. I am not against Tom Brady as much as many I
“Well, it’s a significant demarcation,” Mets president Sandy Alderson said. “I wouldn’t say that it’s a line that cannot be passed, but it’s definitely a significant consideration when you get to that level.” Per Andy McCullough, The Athletic, “by instructing Alderson to mind the luxury-tax threshold…new Mets owner Steve Cohen has conformed with his 29 colleagues in baseball’s ownership class. The competitive balance tax operates as baseball’s de facto salary
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
In a November 15, 2015 article authored by Matthew Moreno at dodgerblue.com, Andrew Friedman and Dodgers president and CEO Stan Kasten maintained that the extravagant spending for the Dodgers would not continue, and that the 2016 season would provide a small opportunity to make progress toward balancing the scale. According to Bill Shaikin of the LA Times, Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly recently echoed a similar sentiment, going so far as to
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 .
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
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
There is still a lot of chatter that the Dodgers want Nolan Arenado, Francisco Lindor, or Trevor Bauer. I am of the opinion that at the start of the 2021 season, none of those players will be with the Dodgers. If the Dodgers were to trade for Lindor or Arenado, they would have to trade some pretty good prospects (actually really, really good prospects) in order to get either one .
The chances of Lindor getting traded to the Dodgers are slim and none and the changes Nolan Arenado is traded to the Dodgers are even less than that.
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
A long time ago when the earth was young – well maybe not that long ago – I visited the Cape Cod region of Massachusetts. It was almost 45 years ago and it was a whirlwind visit as a day trip from East Bridgewater, a small community about 30 miles south of Boston. My wife and I were visiting relatives in the East Bridgewater area and they took us on
I cannot see the Dodgers signing Josh Donaldson. He reportedly has two pending four year deals (Twins and Washington). But the Braves have right of last refusal (meaning that is where he wants to play), but they are going to need to guarantee that 4th year, which they are contemplating right now. There is no reason for the Dodgers to continue to chase their tails here. JT is a quality
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
This will be somewhat unusual for me, as generally I am an extremely unapologetic pro-FAZ supporter, and I still am. But to critically examine any operation, personal biases need to be thrown out, even when it comes to the Dodgers. Sports team owners do not get into the game for short term profits. The big profits come when the team is sold. For the Dodgers, the ownership group has
As I am sitting in my Friday office chair at Starbucks, waiting for my two former Giant clients and our regular Friday coffee business/baseball chat, I just cannot stop smiling. A lot of the regulars came up and congratulated me knowing how faithfully I have worn my Dodgers jerseys win or lose. Today it is Kershaw, on back to back days. It’s been raining all night in NorCal, so I
Make no mistake…this IS Andrew Friedman’s team. This is not to take anything away from the immense talents of Farhan Zaidi, Josh Byrnes, Alex Anthopoulos, Gabe Kapler, or Billy Gasparino. They help put Friedman’s vision into motion. The Dodgers caught a lot of flak from fans because of the high FO cost. But these are all outstanding baseball people, and why is it a problem having superior FO talent? It
While I love to read Dodgerrick’s comments, I think that he and I look at the state of the Dodgers in different prisms, but he asked some questions earlier that got me to thinking. While I may have initially taken exception to the tone (my perception, not his intent) of the questions, they are nonetheless legitimate and fair. Anyone betting on which starting pitcher goes on the DL 1st? Now
