Building a Dynasty!
Bluto had a good comment: The Grandal trade is borderline robbery. The Chris Reed for Grant Dayton trade is ridiculously good. OTHERS SAY: They traded away Matt Kemp They sign injury-prone pitchers. That got me thinking about FAZ has done, and I make no bones about it FAZ has made their share of mistakes. Olivera was a big one, but they recovered nicely and moved him. However, I do
Bluto had a good comment:
The Grandal trade is borderline robbery.
The Chris Reed for Grant Dayton trade is ridiculously good.
OTHERS SAY:
“They traded away Matt Kemp”
“They sign injury-prone pitchers.”
That got me thinking about FAZ has done, and I make no bones about it – FAZ has made their share of mistakes. Olivera was a big one, but they recovered nicely and moved him. However, I do not consider McCarthy, Anderson and Kazmir to be “mistakes.” They were calculated risks taken because they did not want to be anchored to long term deals like they have right now with Crawfish and Gonzo. Jonah Keri of CBS Sports.com said it best:
After the 2015 season, the Dodgers had a glaring need for starting pitchers to complement Clayton Kershaw. But rather than spend $200 million-plus to re-sign Zack Greinke (or sign David Price), they shopped in the discount aisle, snagging Kenta Maeda and Scott Kazmir instead. Though Kazmir struggled with injuries and erratic performance, the combined investment in those two pitchers was about one-third of what Greinke and Price got on the open market, with Maeda posting numbers that topped Greinke’s and weren’t too far from what Price accomplished in Boston.
He also says this:
A Cy Young-winning ace in his prime. A Rookie of the Year-winning, world-beating infielder about to win a bunch more hardware in the years to come. A Manager of the Year-winning skipper liked and respected by everyone in the organization. A front office loaded with forward-thinking minds who value both present and future success. A passel of young talent poised to fortify the major-league roster for years to come. An old but beloved ballpark. A fan base pining for success after a long October drought.
The Los Angeles Dodgers resemble the Chicago Cubs in more ways than you can count. All that’s left is a World Series. They might now have the horses to do it.
OTHERS SAY:
“They gave Howie Kendrick away for nothing.”
“I want Dee Gordon Back.”
Ken Gurnick of Dodgers.com says this about the rotation:
With Spring Training less than three weeks away, the Dodgers have a high-quality problem: too many starting pitchers.
Veterans Scott Kazmir, Brandon McCarthy, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Alex Wood — each on the rebound from injuries last year — are on the outside of the starting rotation looking in, barring injury or a trade.
Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Kenta Maeda and Julio Urias are the top four, with the fifth spot up for grabs among Kazmir, McCarthy, Ryu, Wood and young starters Brock Stewart and Ross Stripling.
Dodgers general manager Farhan Zaidi explained in detail last spring, that the Dodgers want to win now. But they also want to win for many years to come. As Zaidi explained, the best way to accomplish those twin goals is through a combination of data, depth and youth. Jonah Keri also said this:
“It’s possible that the team’s worst everyday player will be Adrian Gonzalez, a five-time All-Star who still put up numbers 12 percent better than league average in 2016.“
OTHERS SAY:
“They should not have traded Jose De Leon.”
“They were too cheap to sign Greinke.”
In the two years since FAZ has taken over, the roster has changed to the point where over half of the roster was acquired by FAZ… and they did that turnover while winning the Division (again) two times and getting deeper into the playoffs each year.
Again, FAZ is not perfect, but players like Toles and Liberatore, were also acquired without any major outlay. The Anti-FAZ Element wants to point to what they regard as their failures, but the fact still remains:
- They have built a team that is poised to become a dynasty;
- They are one of the deepest teams in baseball;
- They have stayed competitive while doing it; and
- They are poised to win THIS YEAR!
You can disagree with the methods, you can point to their individual failures, but collectively, they have delivered a superior product and you cannot disagree with the results unless you have lost touch with reality! Sadly, some fans have!
I SAY:
“Scoreboard!”
Photo of Logan White taken by me in his office in Spring Training 2010.
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Discussion (70)
Disagree, not disagreeable
Dodger Digest has a post about Joc’s physical fitness and a picture of him that generated comments about him being flabby. I would guess that Joc and Duke Snider have similar bodies / body types.
A new hire sheds some insight on how the Dodgers are trying to develop their pitchers:
Open on www.fangraphs.comhttp://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/brandon-gomes-on-joining-the-dodgers-pitching-department/The eyes are just as fallible as the data. You need them both. You may say, I have seen him hit a HR that was low and away, but then you find out it was 1 out of 76 pitches. The eyes remember, but the data has no reason to lie.
Like it or not, baseball is driven by data … more so than any other sport and it will continue to be even more data driven in the future. My eyes told me that JLD’s progress had stalled, but I suspect their data showed even more.
The twins were delusional. It was reported that they wanted JDL, Alvarez and Calhoun for Dozier.