63 posts
Could Jason Martin be the next Max Muncy, CT3 or Justin Turner? There is no reason to believe that he could but also no reason to expect that he could not. Martin, like JT, is a California boy who was born in Corona and attended Orange Lutheran High School in Orange which is…
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…
Well, let the bidding begin. A number of publications have put out their top 50 Free Agents list. MLBTR is one of my favorites to follow. They are no better with their prognostications than are any other publication. They run contests every year, and many of the readers have…
Now that the WS is over, the MLB calendar is set (maybe). Maybe because we have no idea what will become of the CBA after the current CBA expires on 12-1. Tentatively, the MLB dates: November 3 – 160 players were declared Free Agents. The Dodgers have 11. November 3 – 7 – Free…
As I wrote that, I threw up in my mouth because it is true. The Dodgers shut out the Padres who have crashed and burned while the Giants won handily 6-1 in a bullpen game. What if on April 1st I told you the following: Dustin May would miss the seaon; Tony Gonsolin would miss…
About twelve or so years ago, I wrote a blog about Jason Repko, who was a prospect for the Dodgers. While I do not recall exactly what I wrote, I am sure that it was crass and inconsiderate. Well, Jason Repko s dad read this blog and took me to task (and rightfully so). He cut me down very eloquently and said that I had no idea how hard Jason had
I am not sure they should be called UFO’s but on the other hand undrafted free agents are somewhat like unidentified flying objects. They don’t get any attention during the annual MLB draft but all of a sudden make an appearance when we least expect it. Following the 2021 First-Year Player Draft, in which the Dodgers selected 19 players of whom 12 have been signed, they have signed seven UFO’s.
I should say some of you guys. and I am glad you are not. No disrespect intended. 😉 For the uninitiated, my wife runs the Finance and Operations part of US Water Systems and I run the Sales and Marketing. She is a very hands-on micromanager, while I am a Big Picture person. She is very good at her job, but it does create some issues. at times. There are
Going into last night s game, Clayton Kershaw had the highest ERA I can remember at this juncture. His ERA was 3.33 before the game and 3.66 after he gave up 5 ER. However, his WHIP sits at 1.01 which is barely above his career average of 1.00. He is now 33 years-old and has started 369 games and pitched 2,403 innings with 2,603 strikeouts. He has 77 strikeouts in about
I have been a huge Corey Seager fan since he came into the league actually before he came into the league. I said that he was ready in 2014, but Andrew Friedman didn t listen to me and acquired Jimmy Rollins, instead! I said that Seager could remain at Shortstop and I still believe that he can stay there for the foreseeable future, but, if the right trade happens to come
What? You thought I was talking about Gonsolin, McKinstry, Alexander, Pollock, Graterol, and Bellinger? No, I am talking about Michael Bear Norris! What else would I be talking about? Bear will be back soon and then this place will return to normal. OK, so it s not normal who cares? Oh, and all those players will likely soon be back and things will be normaler for the Dodgers. Here s was OKC s
What does Albert Pujols bring to the table? How about just poking the ball through the hole at SS to score Mookie from 3B. That play was better than a thousand words. When you have a chance to score the runner from 3B, you do it. Forget the long ball. Take notes, kids! This is what HOF ers do!
Let s get one thing straight: Andrew Friedman is the President and GM of the Los Angeles Dodgers. It is his responsibility to oversee anything that is connected with Baseball Operation. For the sake of this blog, Andrew Friedman is responsible for building the Dodgers Bullpen. To date, most Dodgers fans are saying that he built a deplorable bullpen. I have heard one fan say it was an average bullpen. They
LA DODGER TALK is not your normal Dodger blog site. Even Ray Charles can see that no other Dodger site has a Dodger historian like Michael Norris. Michael or Bear as we know him, is a National Dodger Treasure! What he lays down is not available anywhere else! Then we have 2Demeter2, who has committed to trying to write one blog a week wherein he will give his opinion from
No, we are not talking about a couple of games, we are talking about a double post. Michael Norris (aka/Bear) has the first half on Lou Gehrig and Mark Timmons has the second half on last night s debacle. June 2. Now Lou Gehrig Day Bear When I was a boy, back in the day, my baseball hero was not Babe Ruth or Duke Snider. It was Lou Gehrig. Why? Well, I
Disclaimer: What we are seeing is through the microcosm of Spring Training. Current performance is not evidence of future prospects. It is a small sampling. Some of it is skill and some of it is luck. Take it all with a grain of salt. The Position Players It was great to see Gavin Lux get two hits in three at-bats. If anything, all he needs is confidence and he should
I am sad to say that it appears to me that Street Smith s Baseball Yearbook has ceased production. Since I was a kid, I have always bought Athlon Sports Baseball Preview, Lindy s Sports Baseball Preview, and Street Smith s Baseball. It appears that Street Smith s has bit the dust and Athlon and Lindy s can t be far behind. Time marches on but the nostalgia seems to be waning. Print
Today is the day that pitchers and catchers are due to report to Camelback Ranch for the Dodgers. Tomorrow is the first day of workouts. Full squad reports February 22, with the first full squad workout scheduled for February 23. The Dodgers play their first spring training game on Sunday, February 28 against the Oakland A’s at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona. There will be some rules in effect that
Second base is up for grabs. About two-thirds of all teams in MLB would love to have Chris Taylor and we could sure do worse. However, is this the year Gavin Lux seizes the day and fulfills his promise? This could possibly play out and CT3 becomes the Swiss-Army Knife.
There has been a lot of talk by MLB fans in general how the Padres may have caught the Dodgers. On the East coast, most in NY and Atlanta believe they have better 26-man rosters. Dodger fans of course take offense at such a charge. None of the four teams are finished completing their rosters, but I thought I would take a more in depth look at a Dodgers/Padres comp,
A little premature to know if AF is finished yet, but the Dodger bullpen has already been overhauled some. Knebel, Cleavenger, Kahnle, the new kids on the block. Kahnle will not pitch this season, and Cleavenger has never pitched above AA. Wood and Baez have gone to SF and Houston respectively, and McGee so far has not been signed anywhere. And the roster sits at 40. There are all sorts
Dodger fans are no different than other teams’ fans. They read what team personnel say about their prospects and build them up to be can’t miss. I like to watch them play, see videos, and read from objective baseball pundits. Baseball America is that kind of publication. In short scouting reports, they tell the fan all they want to hear. But in chats, the pundits can be more objective. Kyle
Sign DJ LeMahieu? That would cost the Dodgers a draft pick. Remember when, after losing Mark Teixeira to free agency and the Yankees, the Angels were awarded the 25th pick of the draft as compensation. And who did they use that pick on? None other than Mike Trout. Or look at it another way: Signing Mark Teixeira cost the Yankees Mike Trout.
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 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 chances of Lindor getting traded to the Dodgers are slim and none and the changes Nolan Arenado is traded to the Dodgers are even less than that.
Of course, Kike was a defensive wizard while Mickey was a defensive liability, thus the large glove. Mickey was a better hitter for average, while Kike had a lot more power. Both were great teammates and the clubhouse was better with them. In Hatcher s 12 years in the Majors, he put up 2.9 WAR. In 7 seasons, Kike Hernandez put up 10.2 WAR in half the AB s as Hatcher.
The Hot Stove League is always fun for us armchair GMs, allowing us to look at ways of improving a reigning World Series championship team. Not just a WS championship team, but THE consensus choice of the best team in MLB for 2020. But changes must be made. Nothing can stay at the top by being stagnant. Changes can come internally or externally. AF is a master as to building
Over the past few days, I have listened to several interviews, heard rumors and news. Here are few things I would like to share: I am so impressed with Edwin Rios (the person). He is mature beyond his years, poised, thoughtful, determined, and fully understands the role hard work plays in becoming a great player. He has singled-out Justin Turner, Clayton Kershaw, and Mookie Betts for teaching him the importance
There is just so much about the 60 man player pool that has not been made clear, at least to me. As it was first proposed, once a player is announced to be in the pool, the only way of being removed was for that player to opt out or to be removed subject to waiver rules. With the original list of 51, a reduction of 2 (David Price and
