170 posts
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
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
So far, this year is beginning to mimic last year a bit. There has been some movement, but it is for the lesser thought of FA or in one case a player who wants a bigger pay day next year (Josh Donaldson). It seems that a lot of teams are looking for the trade route first before even considering a high cost FA. Look for Harper and Machado to
I hope you all bear with me. I would like to somewhat continue the FAZ discussion from yesterday. And then to give one last autopsy report on the 2018 WS. As Mark indicated, FAZ took over a team that had a payroll in excess of $250MM. One would think that a team with that…
WELCOME TO THE FALL CLASSIC 2018!! By the time the Dodgers and Red Sox square off in Game 1 of the 2018 World Series, it will have been 356 days since the Dodgers went down in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series. It will be 30 year s this month since the last Dodgers WS victory. This year’s WS can make all of those bad memories go away (at least
Now that the Dodgers are in the NLDS, I thought I would take a look back to see how they got here. While I never gave up hope, I absolutely had my doubts. I had concerns about how the team was structured, and in game management. It became apparent that the primary focus for the front office was to get below and stay below the competitive balance tax threshold. If
The Magic Number is down to 5. The Rockies do not look like they are going away, so the Dodgers are going to need to win this race. I am more than fine with that. On a night that showcased another of those all RHH lineups against a very good LHSP, the players came through when they needed to. The team scored 7 runs with only one solo HR, so
Maybe Guggenheim and Company invested heavily in a pharmaceutical firm that had a new blood pressure medication and the plan was for the Dodgers and their coaching staff to do whatever was necessary to keep to Dodgers treading water, choking in the clutch, implosions of the bullpen, freaky lineups to drive up Dodger fans blood pressure so that they would seeking this new wonder drug to lower their collective blood
By now, everyone has read the article in Fangraphs by Jeff Sullivan, on how Non-Clutch the Dodgers are as team, and individually! In analyzing the information, I think there are a few facts we need to consider, facts like the Dodgers should be much better than they actually are. Sullivan says this: By almost every indicator, the Dodgers look like the super-team they were expected to be. They’re just not
Except for bad pitch selection (4 fastballs) to his last batter, Rich Hill was again terrific. No blisters = a very good pitcher. This is the pitcher the Dodgers are paying for and if he keeps it up, he s a bargain! Blisters have been his kyrptonite! The bullpen was very good again: Floro, Alexander, Chargois and Jansen handled a hot A s team. Oakland has the 4th best bullpen ERA in
I just like that headline! I do have to admit that just losing Logan Forsythe makes them better. So, there is that. I hope Logan does well in Minnesota or wherever he lands next year, but great guy that he is, he was an unmitigated disaster in LA. Well, In guess Manny Machado does make them better as well yeah A LOT BETTER! The Dodgers gave up eight, count em
Maybe this is what happens at the trade deadline: Rotoworld Injury Updates Hyun-Jin Ryu (groin) pitched two innings in a simulated game on Wednesday. Next up is a three-inning simulated appearance Saturday in Los Angeles. The left-hander will likely begin a minor league rehab assignment after that. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Friday that Julio Urias (shoulder) is a serious candidate to work out of the club s bullpen down the
The Dodgers have lost two in a row, but the sky is not falling. They will stay the course and they will win the NL West. Nobody is dead. This too shall pass! Must I keep reminding you? Of greater concern to me at this juncture is WHAT IN THE HELL HAPPENED TO LOGAN FORSYTHE AND AUSTIN BARNES? I must say that it irks me when people who have never
Clayton Kershaw is my favorite Dodger. I was on the Kershaw bandwagon long before he was Clayton Kershaw. Disclaimer: I do not claim to be the only one to see that. Ray Charles saw it too, but it was about 13 years ago that Roger Dodger and Voldmar and I went to Beloit, Wisconsin to see Clayton Kershaw pitch for the Great Lakes Loons, and it was as close as
Well, if you never expected the Dodgers to trade for Manny, like me, then how in the heck do we know what to expect next? Just when you think you have FAZ figured out . BOOM! You don t! Roger Askew said it best: Still going to go on record that with the Machado trade, FAZ is signaling that they are all in for this year, DO NOT underestimate FAZ and their
Well, I ll be damned! I never thought it would happen and it hasn t actually happened, partially because the Baltimore Orioles medical staff is legendary for killing deals due to medical reports or actual physicals. It s possible it could still unravel remember Peter Angelos is the owner of one of the worst-run franchises in baseball. Hopefully it is finalized soon, so we can get on with it. When the Dodgers traded
NFL Attendance has peaked and is going the other direction. Baseball purists say that baseball is healthy and why change the game? The answer is really simple: while there are certainly some young fans, baseball is not as popular among the Millenials and Gen X as it was during the Baby Boomer Generation. I guarantee that in the next few years, there are going to be substantially fewer crowds watching
and you have two players below .600 OPS (Barnes and Forsythe) and one barely above it (Utley @ .621), it s time for some new blood. It s bad enough that the Dodgers have four other KEY HITTERS hitting .245 or lower: Pederson, Bellinger, Grandal and Hernandez. The diference is that their OPS are all .779 to .843. We all know what the definition of insanity is. Let s face it: Barnes, Utley
AND SOME OF THEM MIGHT NOT BE POPULAR. It was said that the entire Dodger team watched Walker Buehler throw a simulated game yesterday he s not just another arm. His stuff is electric and he should ready to start next weekend against the Angels. I have heard that he likley will not have a cap on his innings this year (within reason). I expect to see him log
Well, that was fun . and much needed too. An offensive explosion never hurts a team that is struggling with hitting. If I had told you in Spring Training that Matt Kemp would be an All-Star (and maybe the heart and soul of the team), that Max Muncy would be leading the team in HR and OPS ing over 1.000 and Ross Stripling would be the Dodgers ace, you would have signed
If FAZ had a Mulligan, they would rescind the Logan Forsythe Debacle. I can t criticize it because he should have been a solid player coming into his prime. Instead he was an injured and unproductive player to the Dodgers doom. That would have saved them about $9 million dollars this season and right about now, they could use it, because of this: No matter what any of the Dodger Brass
The Good News While the Dodgers couldn t jump out of a boat and hit water last night, the good news was that Rich Hill is rounding into form and becoming the type of starter the Dodgers thought the were getting until he turned into the Poster Child of Blisters. Thanks to Laser Technology, Rich Hill now has a bionic finger (I just made that last part up because it sounded
In the last thread, Tylerdurden31 stated that “If it clear we are one if the best five NL teams. We could be the best right now (even after an abysmal start). Between now and October we will experiment, test, and look for new ways to get production. Occasional failures like today must be tolerated in order to locate the growth potential in our roster. Win games? That’s last year. This
Ross Stripling was not sharp last night, but he battled and did a credible job, however Baez owns him (he should never pitch to Baez again just put him on); and I thought Ross was tiring, so I had no issues with Roberts taking him out. He might have done better or it could have been worse. Yasiel Puig took the blame for the loss and rightfully so. He just
I have been making trade proposals for over 40 years now and to date, I have never been right. I was close a very few times, so I keep it up knowing that even blind squirrels occasionally find nuts. Have you ever noticed how skinny blind squirrels are? However, I digress .Yesterday, Always Compete (AC) wrote this in response to my trade proposal for Manny Machado: If you want to get
Willie Calhoun has regressed immensely since the trdae to Texas. He is hitting .276 with a .321 OB% with just 6 HR in 300 Plate Appearances. Everyone knew he couldn t field now it appears he can t hit. Some former Dodger prospects are showing their worth: Andrew Heaney and Zach Eflin are OK starting pitchers. Victor Arano is pitching well in relief for the Phillies. Scott Schebler is having a
Andrew Friedman and Farhan Zaidi ( FAZ ) have built a pretty impressive organization and while some of their moves are questioned by many, I have generally been in agreement with what that have done, even their failures, because I understood the rationale behind even failed decisions. You can t be right all the time, and I understand that. However, I am in disagreement with one major thing and that involves starting pitchers .
There have been a lot of speculative discussions on a potential trade for Baltimore SS Manny Machado. Bumsrap referred to a May 4, 2018 article from an Orioles fan’s point of view. If I am going to trade for a rental, it can only include players that are replaceable by others in the organization. Alex Verdugo, Mitchell White, and Jeren Kendall are all replaceable, but not Gavin Lux. If the Orioles
Just to clarify yesterday I did not say that Stripling was the Dodger s Ace yet! Just that he could be by the end of the season and a lot of that depends upon how he pitches the rest of the way. Unlike Alex Wood who was often hitting 97 MPH early in the season last year, which was totally unsustainable for him, Strip is usually 92-94 MPH with an
Three Under .500 Three Outta First. That s part of what you should know but there s a whole lot more than that. The cream always rises to the top! Yes, up until the past couple of weeks, the Dodgers have played poorly for a variety of reasons, some valid, some problematic. The cream always rises to the top! So far, the Season of 2018 will be known as the Season
