The baseball season is right around the corner. Spring is a time that hope springs eternal and optimism soars – there is not a better time of the year because life is in motion.
“Spring is the time of plans and projects.”
― Leo Tolstoy, Anna Karenina“Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence.
Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance.
Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence.
Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.”
― Yoko Ono“People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.”
― Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast: The Restored Edition
I am excited for the 2017 baseball season and especially the prospects of the LA Dodgers. This time last year on a board that shall remain nameless there was such a wailing and gnashing of teeth that made one want to find a tall building and jump off. The sky was falling, FAZ has doomed the Dodgers and everything is horrible. Some fans were so distraught that they quit being fans. It was a challenging season with what was likely the all-time record for trips to the Disabled List. It looked bleak for a time, buy we know know how it all ended. You can rest assured that Andrew Friedman wants to take it to the next level, which is the World Series. That is not as easy as it sounds.
Over the next few weeks, I will analyze the state of the team, the pitching and what the future might hold. But as it stands right now, I am thankful for the former LA Dodger Talk Commenters who have came back. I like the newfound sense of community and I like disagreement… without being disagreeable. I am not going to re-visit the past, but I will not allow this site to create divisions. We all have opinions, and we can disagree. We can do it civilly and not make personal attacks on each other. Most importantly, we can focus on the Dodgers. Talk politics somewhere else. You can talk about anything else that is not divisive and piques your interest.
This is a blog about the Dodgers – it’s fresh start for everyone. Let’s make the best of it!
Discussion (5)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Pitchers and catchers report to spring training February 16! Always exciting!
The Dodgers are well set to be competitive in 2017 – I don’t necessarily believe that they are a shoo-in to win the Division and they still have some well-publicized problems (poor offense against lefties, no real 2B, lack of durable starting pitching), but I expect that some of these will be addressed before the season starts.
I have personally been very heartened by the Dodgers resigning Jansen and Turner. They have some well-publicized luxury tax problems but are willing to spend the money to keep good players and remain competitive.
I expect 3 or 4 kinds of moves before the season starts:
1 – an upgrade at 2B
2 – a trade for salary relief – either a starting pitcher (Kazmir/McCarthy) and/or an OF (Ethier/Puig)
3 – a reliever or 2
4 – maybe an upgraded right-handed hitter in the OF
The Braintrust tends to move deliberately but after it has lined everything up, swiftly. I expect a lot of news in the next few weeks.
I still have concerns about the roster, especially the starting pitching, but nothing has to be changed/resolved here yet. The immediate concerns are listed above.
Chipper Jones on the HOF ballot next year. He would get my vote even though he wasn’t a 3,000/500 guy. Switch hitter, championship, all stars, same team, .300 lifetime BA, quiet team leader. Better than Beltre? I say no, but close.
I think Chipper Jones should be in the HOF.
Tim Raines had 2605 hits and a .294 career BA to go with 808 SB and 1,330 walks. That put his career OB% at .385. He’s actually 59th in total hits among thise in the HOF. To me that says, he’s legit! He’s also 58th in OB%
His OB% was better than Wilile Mays, Enos Slaughter, Craig Biggio, Roberto Clemente, Yogi Berra, Luis Aparcio and many others. He’s 5th in Stolen Bases and 25th in walks.
Bill Mazeroski had a .299 OB%. YIKES!
Dan Patrick said that if Curt Schilling were a Democrat, he would be in the HOF. Funny! (Was that too close to a political post?)
Dan Patrick is probably right, unfortunately.
I’ll take Tim Raines anyday over Biggio.
Analysis paralysis, gnashing and wailing begone…
We have a pretty good group of players converging on Camelback… Some are going to have even better years and as usual there will be surprises…
WS – That’s not as easy as it sounds… No truer words were ever spoken… Good players + health + a lil luck might just get us there…