37 posts
Nolan Arenado, the former All-Star and Gold Glove Cardinal third-baseman, blocked a trade to Houston yesterday. There is evidently a list of teams to which he would accept a trade and the Dodgers are on the list. Before we say anything, let’s consider that from 2015 through…
Who predicted the Rosario-Syndergaard trade? No one saw that coming! Of course, the Dodgers weren’t really looking to trade for Rosario, but somehow, they found a team that wanted Thor, and they took the bait. I would have never believed it. Over the winter, the Dodgers signed…
First, to Badger. I love trade scenarios. I do not care how outlandish they are or how realistic they may be. I enjoy reading Bums trade proposals. I am not sure that I ever read one that was realistic, but they are fun. Bluto sometimes gives us scenarios from the baseballtradevalues.com site. They are fun for me. That is what blogs are for. Throw out ideas. To the best of
Please, not another Tom Hanks movie reference! I contemplated as to whether I should write the following column. It is not about the Dodgers, but it does reflect on how stupid some can be in a position at the highest level in a MLB organization. This issue is going to be heavily considered in the upcoming CBA negotiations, so it is important from a MLB standpoint. The Seattle Mariners are now
On Monday, the Cardinals and Rockies finally completed a trade that sends All Star and Gold Glove winner, Nolan Arenado and 50 million dollars to the Cardinals for 5 players, only one who has MLB experience, LHP Austin Gomber. None of the other 4 players played baseball last year due to the shutdown of the minor leagues. Reaction to the trade by the fan base has been almost entirely negative .
The St. Louis Cardinals have always been an iconic organization in MLB and arguably the most successful NL via winning more WS than any other NL team, trailing only the NYY. The Cardinals have won 11 WS in 19 appearances. They also hold the ire of Dodger fans as St. Louis has beaten the LAD in four postseason series (1985 NLCS, 2004, NLDS, 2013 NLCS, and 2014 NLDS) against a
There has been a lot of discussion as to where the Dodgers farm system currently ranks. It is unquestionable that for eight years, the Dodgers were routinely rated as a top ten MiLB system, mostly residing in the top 5. But heading into the 2021 season, most (if not all) of the major Baseball Publications no longer consider the Dodgers to have a top ten MiLB system. I have included
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
I have lost count of the number of times I have read that Kody Hoese is expected to have a big impact for the Dodgers in 2021. I find myself smh and disagreeing. But to some, it comes across as me denigrating the talent of Kody Hoese. Nothing could be further from the truth. I have not seen enough of Kody Hoese to know whether he is going to be
Somebody made a point as to what the Padres transactions did for the psyche for the other teams. The Padres have now joined the Dodgers, Braves, probably Mets, and maybe the Nationals (with their pitching and Soto/Robles/Turner) to separate from the rest of the NL. Some team from the NL Central will get to the playoffs, because, well one of the teams has to. It is a rule. Because of
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 one thing that was good in 2020 was that our beloved Dodgers FINALLY, FINALLY won the World Series. The fact that it should have been the second one in the past three years made it that more bitter and sweet. Damn those cheating Asterisks! That will always leave a bitter taste in my mouth!
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
While most everyone was saying that DJLM was a guarantee to re-sign with NYY, there are comments emanating from Cashman that indicate that DJLM is not a slam dunk. However, the negotiations have gone nowhere in a while. Could it be that some other team is making headway into the negotiations causing Cashman some concern? I have been a DJLM advocate for nearly the last three years. I was disappointed
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 .
One thing I have learned is that AF is tight lipped more than anyone in MLB, and so are his co-working baseball personnel. So for someone like Jim Bowden to intimate that he has spoken with Dodgers personnel who have advised him that AF has been engaged in talks with Rockies GM, Jeff Bridich, about Nolan Arenado, I have my doubts. He did not stop there. He said that Nolan
A little less than a year before the birth of our son Andrew, Harry Chapin put the finishing touches to a song that emanated from a poem penned by his wife. The song was Cat’s in the Cradle. As I did not grow from a happy childhood, the song did not initially appeal to me. But as my career was taking off, and Andy was about two, the song began
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,
NOTE: This coffee cup was given to me by a very special friend who is now fighting cancer. I pray that you beat that bastard, Bob! Thanks for the mug. I think that the mug pretty well sums me up! There is a lot of time between now and Spring Training and it could be a cold, contentious Winter on the labor side as MLB and the MLBPA continue to
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
Boy, I need to say that Corey Seager has gone into a slump more often. HR (13), double (13), single, 2 RBIs, a couple of good plays at SS. But he sure did choke with that weak ground ball to first when he needed a triple. This is a different Corey Seager from last year. He is now tied for the team lead in RBIs with 36 with Mookie. It
I was hoping to sit down on my patio deck to watch the Dodgers vs Giants when I realized that I could not get the game on MLB.TV. I was already in a foul mood when I had to come into the house and listen to Krukow and Kuiper. I then watch Urias once again nibble instead of going at the hitters. For the first time this year, I am
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
As we are getting ready to see who the Dodgers first opponent will be in the post season, it is extremely difficult for me to consume any negativity ascribed to the Dodgers after this season. No conditional statements…they were great. The best team in LA Dodgers history. I say LA Dodgers because the 1953 team that 105, did so with 8 less games. I still read from some how bad
It must have been painful for some of these free agents going through contract negotiations the last couple of years. Led by AF, most teams are not all that keen on signing over age players/pitchers to long term $100MM + deals, and the players’ agents are having a rough time talking their clientele into accepting a deal much less than what they originally believed would be available, but probably closer
I drove down to LA this weekend to visit a very close family friend and sharing in his surprise 75th birthday. At the hotel, I turned on the TV only to see SportsNet LA and watched Access Dodgers. I do miss LA for Dodger TV and Dodger Talk Radio. One comment I heard from Pedro Moura was that the Dodgers are not flashy and have a ton of depth but
Less than two weeks to go before Opening Day, and I still have one more team to give my best shot an analyzing for the upcoming 2019 season. Today I am taking a look at what should be the Dodgers closest competition (only competition?) in the NL West Colorado Rockies. Last year, after 162 games, they tied our Los Angeles Dodgers with a 91-61 record, tops in the NL West. They
