In 1963, Sandy Koufax won his first Cy Young Award. In 1964, he finished 3rd in the Cy Young Award, and then in 1965 and 1966, he won the Cy Young Award again, which meant he won the Cy Young Award three out of four years. Dean Chance may have deserved to win, but Sandy was a close 3rd in the voting. Koufax was 19-5 with a 1.74 ERA, 223…
Standing tall at 6’4″, Joe Jacques is a wiry left-hander whose deceptive sidearm delivery has made him a specialist against left-handed hitters. A graduate of Manhattan College, Jacques has pitched in the majors for two consecutive seasons, debuting with the Boston Red Sox in June 2023 after being plucked from Pittsburgh in the 2022 Rule 5 Draft. While his MLB stints have been limited—23 appearances for Boston in 2023 with…
The Dodgers could stand pat this offseason and still would be the odds-on favorites to win the World Series in 2025. I am not saying that should stand pat or even that they might stand pat. But, if they do, they will still be a damn good team. Let’s asume that the Dodgers stand pat and don’t sign or re-sign any player (other than arbitration-eligible players and utility free agents)….
Andrew Friedman is not relly serious about Juan Soto, but h has to act as if he is so as to drive up the price to whoever signs him. It will take something North of $500 Million to sign Soto… maybe $600 to $700 Million. Who knows? The Dodgers might be in on him at $500 Million, but not a higher number… but I never thought they would sign Ohtani…
The Arizona Fall League is officially winding down. The Championship games will end on November 16th (two days before my birthday). Zyhir Hope, Sean McLain, Eriq Swan, and Jake Gelof did not make anyone believe they will be superstars, but they did show promise of being useful players as they mature. Of course, Hope has the tools, being a 5-tool player, but at 19, he’s still hard to project. It’s…
To all the Vets who served and came home: “THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!” Freedom ain’t free! Also, let’s never forget the ones who didn’t make it home. Rants and Raves
The stars are aligning! Japan’s ace Roki Sasaki is on the brink of a Major League debut, poised to electrify fans stateside in the 2025 season. The Chiba Lotte Marines have announced they’ll be posting Sasaki, the consensus top young pitcher in Nippon Professional Baseball. The 23-year-old phenom, who turned 23 on November 3, has dazzled in NPB since his 2021 debut, wielding a fiery fastball that blazes past 100…
AI (Artificial Intellegence) is something I use everyday. I know… one of you is going to say, “Well, you need it.” TOUCHE! When ChatGPT first came out a few years ago, I subscribed for life ($20/month) and gradually began to use it more and more every week. Just for fun, I asked it this question, “What happened to Miguel Vargas after he was traded by the Dodgers to the White…
Pitchers used to pitch like 200-300 innings a year. They won 300 to 500 games in their career and were deemed “Iron Men.” Now, pitchers are lucky to pitch into the fifth inning and log 150 innings a season. Is it true that they “just don’t build them like they used to?” That’s actually a very ignorant thing to say. It’s not stupid – just ignorant of the facts. Pitchers…
The LA Dodgers will carry fourteen pitchers next year because they have the advantage of listing one as a position player. This will enable them to use the same number of bullpen pitchers as this season as Shohei Ohtani joins the Dodgers rotation. Clayton says he will be back, although I doubt that he will be ready to start the season after toe and knee surgery this offseason. Maybe the…