Let me start this by saying that very little surprises me anymore. I would not be surprised if Joc Pederson hit 40 HR, nor would I be surprised if he hit .190. It would not surprise me if Kike Hernandez hit 25 HR and batted .290. I also would not be surprised if he hit .240 with 12 HR. CT3? It could be boom or bust. I don’t have my…
Looking back today on the trade that brought Rich Hill and Josh Reddick to the Dodgers for Frankie Montas, Grant Holmes and Jherel Cotton, I thought it was a good bet at the time, but if Friedman had it to do over, he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t, not because it was bad deal, but he wouldn’t because it did not win a Championship. Holmes may be toast and Jharel Cotton might…
I have not been shy about stating how I feel about the bullpen. And I do understand that recognizing that there may be a problem and doing something about it can be and often is two different things. Maybe with the way the starting pitching is performing, this will become less of an issue, but I prefer to plan rather than to react. I have never disagreed with Mark about…
Alex Verdugo (23) – Happy Birthday Today Yesterday, Alex’s brother posted on LADT. Those guys out there do pay attention. What I have really like about Alex this year is that he has demonstrated a high level of energy and enthusiasm. He is very active in the dugout, not Puig-like, and has really hustled on the field and running the bases. Who wouldn’t like his K/BB ratio which is not…
Most teams realize that the best and least cost approach to building a perennial winner is through draft and development. With a little more than 3 weeks before the June Amateur Draft, teams are very busy looking at who the next Mike Trout, Clayton Kershaw, or Aaron Judge may be. If it were an exact science all three would have been the overall #1 pick and yet they were not….
Interesting topic on who goes and who stays when Cingrani comes back. Cingrani has pitched in three rehab games (1 with RC, and 2 with OKC). He had three days between his first game and second and dropped it down to 2 games between games 2 and 3. He still needs to show he can go back to back. May 4 – 16 pitches/10 strikes May 7 – 20 pitches/11…
Why do so few people post when the Dodgers win? With each win in a row, the posts go down inversely to how much the Dodgers win. I guess people love to bitch more than enjoy a win. (SIGH!). With regards to what I call the “Andrew Friedman Era,” let’s look at the Dodger’s team scoring average per game, year-over-year: 2015 – 4.10 Runs per game 2016 – 4.40 Runs…
I wanted Chris Sale at the 2016 trade deadline when he was burning bridges with the ChiSox. I cannot fault management because he was not traded until the Winter, and I have no idea as to who Chicago was demanding. We can speculate all we want, but nobody here knows. I was a strong advocate for Justin Verlander at the 2017 trade deadline, but understood why the Dodgers did not…
Mark goes with Rants and Raves, and DC now has his Bites and Bits, so I might as well come up with my own…Random Thoughts. I cannot get too excited about the last two losses. It really was to be expected in April, at least by me. Admittedly, I am having a tough time getting excited about this early part of the season. It is going better than I thought…
The sky is not falling and the end is not near, but I think the Dodger Brass should have a new “End Game” and that end is to figure out who to close games instead of Kenley Jansen… and before we even get started, don’t say “Craig Kimbrel” because he could be a step down from Kenley. Kenley’s latest blown save and subsequent win is a microcosm of his last…