20 posts
Much has been written about the slow start of Gavin Lux’s MLB career. Mostly by impatient fans. Fans get excited about players when they read stat pages, and claim them to be a can’t miss player. Many are now talking about Andy Pages, Eddys Leonard, Miguel Vargas, Ryan Pepiot…
October 27, 2020 After that unforgettable strikeout of Willy Adames by Julio Urias Almost four months to the day, the Dodgers are going to be taking the field in an actual baseball game, even if it is only a ST game. The Dodgers are starting 32 year old LHP, Mike Kickham. Kickham signed a MiLB contract on January 27. Lat year Kickham last year pitched for Boston, and pitched in
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
The key thing that Andrew Friedman will not do is Panic! It s time for countermoves but it s not time to panic. Maybe countermoves is not the right term. Maybe the moves that Freidman will likely make would have been the same moves he makes anyway. I have no way of knowing. I am sure that David Price will be back and that makes the Dodgers better.
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
On Tuesday, December 22, 2020, the Philadelphia Phillies hired Sam Fuld to be their General Manager, with no real experience in front office player personnel decision making. It is incredulous to me that an industry such as MLB can continue to operate in the manner they are currently operating. It is one thing to talk about Social Injustice as MLB continues to do, and then another thing to do something
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
Most believed that the Reds were going to be a very dangerous Wild Card team to face because of their starting pitching. Trevor Bauer, Luis Castillo, and Sonny Gray. The Braves never had to face Gray as they dispatched the Reds in two. But it wasn’t easy. The Braves needed to go 13 innings before Freddie Freeman had a walk off single to beat the Reds 1-0. The Reds outhit
The Dodgers will be entering the playoffs as the overwhelming favorite to capture their first World Series championship since 1988. They will start the playoffs as the best team in MLB; however, there have been more than a handful of Wild Card teams that have won the WS, and by definition they were not the best team in MLB for the season. But they were the best at the end.
Our Boys in Blue have clinched yet another NL West Championship. That streak has now reached 8, and is one behind 9 consecutive AL East Titles by NYY and 14 consecutive Divisional Titles by Atlanta. Out of the previous seven, the Dodgers have won two pennants, with no World Series Championships. NYY’s streak was from 1998 through 2006. The Yankees won five pennants and three consecutive World Series Championships for
Intrasquad games and the exhibition season has come to an end. The results have been generally positive. The offense seems to be working on all cylinders. They are working the count, fouling off pitches, and attacking mistakes. During these games, they have shown they CAN BE a good two strike hitting team. They are going the other way with so much consistency that it is not a mistake. Some are
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
When MT posted his Remember When post, it got me to thinking about trades. I have been obnoxiously opinionated in my zeal for at least one lock down late inning reliever and would prefer two. But I also know that there are NO GUARANTEES. The Darvish and Machado trades did not result in a WS championship, and they were good trades for the Dodgers. If the Dodgers got both Felipe
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
Still waiting on the next big FA to drop, or next big trade to occur. Only 1 of the top 5 free agents have signed, and really very few actual trades this winter. If not for the M’s and Jerry Dipoto making five or six trades involving significant ML players, or the Reds acquiring back of the rotation pitchers, there really has not been a lot of player movement. ML
Okay, I am done arguing with people on this or any other baseball site about corporate finance, which happens to be a subject I am very well-versed in. But that is different than knowledge of the Dodgers balance sheet of which I have none. So, let’s move on. I am writing this in an El Dorado Hills Starbucks at about 1:30 PM. So this may not be current by
One day until the Winter Meetings, and I was trying to come up with something clever to say that has not already been speculated and discussed 100 times already. Since there has been a lot of speculation that the Dodgers have unlimited funds, I thought that I would look to see where all of the teams are in relationship to the CBT threshold of $206MM. This is a dynamic chart
What are the Dodgers needs going into the 2019 season? We know they need a catcher. I discussed that in great length yesterday. I think they need a 2B other than CT3 or Kike’, but I know I am in the minority. I think the Dodgers need a leadoff batter. That is really not what Alex Verdugo does, but he seems the most logical…if he makes the squad, and there
I am an unabashed and unapologetic supporter of FAZ. They have built a tremendous team and know how to utilize a full 40 man roster to their advantage because they have the depth to do so. I also believe that a winning TEAM is greater than the sum of the individual players. Clayton Kershaw is special. There is no question of that. But he is one of 40, and I
