You asked for it, so you got it! Yesterday, the subject of Minor League Splits was brought up, and the fact of the matter is that they are hard to find and sometimes incomplete. You can find them at www.Baseball-Reference.com under the player. The problem is that the stats are all lumped together if the player (like Miguel Vargas) played in the Majors and Minors (like in 2023). So, if…
Chris Sale is a classic example of the “Best Trades You Make Are the Ones You Don’t!” Now, don’t get me wrong – It’s possible that Chris Sale may have a fine season for the Braves, but if I were forced to bet on that, I would bet that he would not! Chris will soon be 35 and has injured practically every body part a human has since 2017. In…
Let’s talk about BABIP, which is just another statistic. It is not meant to be an “end-all, be-all” analytic. It does, however, give a person a degree of insight into a players’ soul (if you will). Here’s what the MLB Glossary says about BABIP: Batting Average on Balls in Play (BABIP) Definition BABIP measures a player’s batting average exclusively on balls hit into the field of play, removing outcomes not…
I hope that 2024 brings the Dodgers a World Series. However, If I had to take the field or the Dodgers and had to put up $100,000.00 of my own money, I would take the field because it is a crapshoot (to some degree). Maybe “crapshoot” is not exactly the right word, but it’s close and I will devil you with it until you accept it. Every year for the…
It’s easy to be a fan. It takes no effort, really. You just root for your team, and if your team is winning… well, you are a fan… and you are happy. To some fans, if the team is not winning, they are no longer willing to be a fan. We call them “fair weather fans.” I have been an LA Dodger fan since 1963, and there has been fair…
The next big thing for the LA Dodgers occurs on Thursday, February 16, 2024. That’s when the pitchers and catchers report. The position players report by Monday, February 20, 2024. If the Dodgers have a big signing or trade between now and then, I will be surprised… but not shocked. Why do I say that? The Dodgers’ 2024 payroll for salary threshold purposes has surpassed $280 million, according to Cots…
Well, I am not surrounded, but there are too many idiots, and I am weeding them out. I do not know what their motivation is. I don’t know what the thrill is for them to engage in the Sport of Disagreeing with Mark Timmons, but all I know is that I control them and I don’t want that much control. I just know that I am not going to do…
I think it was in 1965 or 1966 that I figured out Ran Fairly was not very good against LHP. I was only 12 years old, but every time a LHP went against the Dodgers, I knew that Ron Fairly (who may have been my favorite Dodger at one time) would not do well. To the best of my knowledge, platoons were not a thing back then… at least, they…
Teoscar Hernandez hit the jackpot last Winter, as the Seattle Mariners signed him for $14 MM. That was an absurd amount for a player who should be in a platoon. I can make a case that the Dodgers should sign Hernandez to platoon with Jason Heyward… but only at a much-reduced rate… perhaps about half of what he made in 2023. If the Dodgers could sign him to a contract…
Over the last eight seasons, no team has won as many games as Dave Robert’s Dodgers. 753. His teams have won seven division titles, three NL pennants, and a World Series. Lasorda and Alston, probably the two most celebrated managers in Dodger history, never came close to that kind of success. Different eras, of course. Lasorda’s teams won two World Series, seven years apart. His 1977 and 1978 teams went…