Andrew Friedman said he was not going to be forced to make trades at the deadline because it results in dope-fiend moves that frequently don’t give excellent results. SD gutted their farm, and they have not really flourished. What is happening with the Dodgers’ bullpen would be funny if it weren’t so pathetic. I disagree with Duke that AF should have gutted the farm for more closers. How many is the right number? Three, Seven?
The Dodgers had Treinen, Scott, Kopech, Yates, and Vesia. Only Vesia has been reliable. Dreyer has been reliable, but may be getting fatigued. Banda is worthy, and they will find out about Sasaki today. If he is healthy, he could be a HUGE difference maker out of the bullpen. There is no room for him as a starter, but there could be as a closer. Sounds crazy, right? There are also Wrobleski, Casparius, and maybe Kyle Hurt. Will Klein could be incredible… if he can get near the strike zone. Edgardo Henriquez may be in over his head right now. Michael Kopech? Will he be back? Who knows? If healthy, Brock Stewart is solid.
What do you do? Leave Yates, Treinen, and Scott off the playoff roster? That’s a consideration, but then you have to consider what happened to Josh Sborz in the 2023 playoffs – he had a 5.50 ERA during the season and almost 15.00 ERA in September. Then he had a 0.75 ERA in the playoffs.
Remember this: Relievers are fickle. They can look like world beaters one day and cannon fodder the next. I don’t think it should have ever been a consideration to trade for more relievers at the deadline. Somebody has to step up – The Dodgers are in much better shape than in the 2025 playoffs. The staff is loaded – they just have to pitch like it.
For starters, you have Ohtani, Snell, and Yamamoto… maybe even Glasnow (if he doesn’t have his control, you yank him quickly. Then, you have Sheehan and Kershaw as bulk guys who can pitch 3-5 innings.
Mason Miller would have been nice, but the Dodgers did not have the package to get him and he has demanded that he be a starter next season.
There comes a time when you have to say, “We have enough players – they have to produce.” I don’t know what the Dodgers will do, but here’s what I would do:
I would tell the team that it makes no difference what your baseball card says. We are taking pitchers who can pitch to the playoffs. Treinen, Yates, and Scott would be left off the roster. We cannot trust you any longer. That tactic has a downside as well. It’s what I would do, but maybe not what the Dodgers will do.
Yamamoto, Snell, and Ohtani would be the starters, with Kershaw, Glasnow, and Sheehan being the bulk relievers. That’s a whole lot better than last year. What it boils down to is: “Are these Destiny’s Dodgers?“
s
Discussion (38)
Disagree, not disagreeable
The first step is done, I think there are 13 more games left to complete the mission…
Congratulations Dodgers!
I LOVE KIRSTEN WATSON
Crismatt looks like a batting practice pitcher.
Will we see Scott this game?
3:40 PM ET EARLY GAME TODAY
Dodgers (89-69)
Diamondbacks (80-78)
SP Y. Yamamoto R
11-8 2.58 ERA
SP Nabil Crismatt R
3-0 2.61 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
SS Mookie Betts R
RF T. Hernandez R
1B F. Freeman L
CF Andy Pages R
LF M. Conforto L
2B Miguel Rojas R
3B E. Hernandez R
C D. Rushing L
In Domed Stadium
Let’s wrap things up today ,celebrate the Western Division title and rest some of the bullpen and position players this weekend against the Mariners and get ready for Tuesday.
I feel like last night could be a turning point for the bullpen.
Day ONE!! Kershaw and Sasaki in relief. Worked so far. and Yates gone. Will they be bold enough to leave Scott off roster?
This injury will hurt the Padres:
Laureano was diagnosed with a fractured finger after his removal from Wednesday’s game against the Brewers, Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports.
“Manager Mike Shildt added that Laureano’s injury will keep him sidelined through at least the NL Wild Card Series, and he could remain out if the Padres are able to advance further. The 31-year-old outfielder will finish his best regular-season campaign since 2019 with a .281/.342/.512 slash line to go with 24 homers, 76 RBI, 72 runs scored and seven stolen bases across 441 plate appearances between Baltimore and San Diego”.
STOP using Vesia till next Tuesday when the playoffs start in LA against TBD. He is clearly overworked .
Heart of a champion!!
What a win!
Ufff¡¡¡
Post-season Edman needs to be in the lineup every game. I don’t give a rats ass what Conforto has hit lately. The Dodgers are going to have to ride the starting pitching to win. They need the best defense they have on the field. That does not include playing Conforto and his .200 average. Edman needs to be in CF every game. I’d platoon Kim and Miggy at 2B. Doc won’t so I would play Miggy every game there then.
The second I saw Vesia was on the mound, I stopped watching the game because I was already expecting this to happen, you don’t need to be a fortune teller to know what was going to happen.
I hope not, but it seems like I’m going to be left wanting to see them celebrate in the stadium pool!
Snakebite. Win or lose. Swinging bunt, missed strike three.
If the Dodgers lose again today, and if they plan to blame Roberts for taking Sasaki out of the game after just one inning, Don’t do it, because the plan is to use Sasaki from the bullpen, and they plan to use him again in two days to see if he can do the job.
Also, let’s not forget that the Dodgers will have to pay around $150 million in Luxury Tax this year. Yikes!
And BTW, if the Dodgers had traded for two closers, they would have had to GUT the farm (5 or 6 prospects) and then cut Treinen, Yates, and /or Scott at a cost of about $100 million.
Yeah, that’s smart!
Yeah -I’m a moron, but if stupid could fly, you’d be a jet!
Now let’s commit another heresy and criticize manager Dave Roberts, who recently had this to say about rookie Hyesong Kim:
“I don’t feel comfortable with him versus left-handed pitching. Balls that are going away from him,” Roberts said recently. “I think with Hyeseong, I love the defense. … This is his first year in the major leagues and I think he’s done a great job.”
So let’s look at Kim’s stats against southpaws, against whom he’s only had 19 ABs, evidently because of Roberts comfort level.
So it’s not a large sample–but Kim has hit lefties to a team-best .947, topping Shohei’s .892. Among his seven hits are one HR and one double.
What about this makes Roberts “uncomfortable”?
Remember how he kept penciling Conforto into the lineup when Conforto wasn’t hitting a lick? Was he comfortable with that? Is he comfortable with Scott, Treinen and Yates?
Could playing Kim more often make Roberts feel a little bit more comfortable?
Once again, the Book of Mormon rises to the defense of Andrew Friedman, the Dear Infallible Leader, and his failure to bring in a marquee closer.
Mason Miller. Jhoan Duran. David Bednar.
All three were traded to contenders not called the Dodgers. Miller, the biggest talent, joined the Padres mighty bullpen–and is under contract for a few more seasons. Not a rental.
AF either lost out or didn’t try. The Padres added Miller, the Phils added Duran, the Yankees added Bednar. Meanwhile, the Dodgers flipped Outman for Brock Stewart, who isnow injured. Yippee.
How about old friend Kenley Jansen? He’s having a terrific season, with only one blown save. The Angels signed him for $10m last winter, while AF was writing much fatter checks to ensure the services of Tanner Scott, Kirby Yates and Blake Treinen.
Gee, even the author of the Book of Mormon questioned some of those deals.
And remember: AF said he did that because the cost of talent at the trade deadline was just too damn high! Well, we don’t really need to do a cost-to-benefit analysis to see the deals really haven’t worked out–and that the $17 m for Conforto wasn’t a great investment either.
And what about Kenley Jansen? Would the prospect-starved Angels, with one of the game’s worst farm systems, been interested in a couple of decent prospects for ol’ Kenley? How about Bobby Miller and/or Kendall George and.or Maddux Bruns or ???
It’s funny to me that a fan will boast about how the Dodgers have a loaded farm system but then balk at the idea of trading two or three prospects — or maybe “suspects”–to fill an immediate need that could be the difference between an early exit in the playoffs or another championship. Not only did the Pads and Phillies add a better closer, they also added better bats and defenders, with Laureano and Hearn going to the Pads and Harrison Bader to the Phils. If you have a #1 or top five farm system, you can deal a few prospects and it won’t be “gutted.”
Just last season, the front office pulled off deals that landed three key players: Edman, Flaherty, Kopech.
This season, AF landed Call and Stewart. Ho-hum. Remarkably, it turns out that Rortvedt, who was expected to be the No. 3 catcher, may be the most important addition. And yes, the Dodgers added a couple more prospects to that prospect-rich farm system–which is another reason not to worry about trading a couple of top prospects to fill an obvious need.
Which of the Dodgers’ top prospects now turns out to be the next Diego Cartaya?
9:40 PM ET
Dodgers (88-69)
Diamondbacks (80-77)
SP Blake Snell L
5-4 2.44 ERA
SP Ryne Nelson R
7-3 3.34 ERA
Confirmed Lineup
DH S. Ohtani L
SS Mookie Betts R
1B F. Freeman L
3B Max Muncy L
RF T. Hernandez R
CF Tommy Edman S
LF Andy Pages R
2B Miguel Rojas R
C Ben Rortvedt L
In Domed Stadium
“The Dodgers are going to place right-hander Kirby Yates on the injured list due to a hamstring issue. Manager Dave Roberts passed the news along to reporters, including Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. That will be the corresponding move for fellow righty Roki Sasaki to be reinstated from the IL, a move that was reported yesterday”.
Yates’ career as a Dodger is hopefully over!
Sasaki to replace Kirby Yates who is going on the IL with a hamstring.
Another wasted brilliant performance by our starting pitchers. Right now if the Dodgers don’t figure who can close out games innings 6-9 or maybe 7-9, it will a short post season. Can’t believe what I’m witnessing when the game is on the line. We praise AF for his great trades and roster building, but his signings of this year’s bullpen has been, nothing less than awful! Watch the body language of Yates, Scott and Treinen when they come into the game, they show NO confidence waiting for something bad to happen.
Magic number down to 2 for the Western Division title and the number 3 seed playing TBD at home in a best of 3 staring next Tuesday with all games at Dodger Stadium as the Padres lost to the Brewers today 3-1
Mark yiu keep mentioning Sborz. He ptoblem with hHe Dodgers is that their problem is more than 1 player. Dryer, Henrique’s and Scott all had problems. S Do you really think all 3 will suddenly turn it around?
It will be interesting to see how Sasaki does out of the pen what’s going g in with Stewart? Is Klein really an option? Next 5 games will be interesting.
I don’t blame Friedman for signing Scott. We were all excited. He looked lights out last year and maybe he will next year but right now he doesn’t belong out there closing games. He’s a mess, his confidence is shot, and it’s pretty much a blown save unless the opponent happens to hit a rocket right at someone.
“Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki is set to rejoin the team on Wednesday. He’s expected to be activated from the 60-day IL after missing more than four months with a shoulder impingement. Sasaki will work out of the bullpen, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Sonja Chen of MLB.com). Los Angeles already has an open 40-man roster spot after waiving Chuckie Robinson over the weekend, so they’ll only need to make an active roster move”.
most of us are still enjoying the spoils of last season! the comeback against the team that isn’t afraid of the dodgers. the complete beat down of the hated yankees! Probably not every person on this site watches baseball 24-7! i’m watching paul skeenes and hunter green go at it tonight! i’m checking in on the tigers and cleveland also. would i watch the twins play say, the rockies? probably not. would rather watch gunsmoke! We all love the dodgers and want them to win! It may not happen this year, but don’t bet against them!
Performance is on the player period. Not Doc’s or AF’s problem. I have seen some call for LA to just release Scott and eat his contract. Never going to happen, at least not in the first year of his deal.
Come playoff time the idea of using Kershaw, Sheehan or maybe even Glasnow as bulk relievers is a no brainer. Still to be determined is whether the Dodgers will be in a one game wild card situation or a best 2 out of 3 as division winners. If they survive as the playoffs continue there will no doubt be challenges where matchups factor into Robert’s decision making regarding who is brought in from the bullpen beyond the bulk relievers. Who to trust? Who in fact will be in the bullpen and who will be left off the roster? Ah, the suspense of it all… Will some of us resort to self medicating with junk food and adult soda pop as the drama unfolds? Diggin’ the post season! GO DODGERS!!!
Bottom Line:
Pitchers gotta Pitch!
Hitters gotta Hit!
I don’t blame AF for Scott’s failure. nor do i blame him for yates’s failures. Trienan is a victim of injuries and age. kopech likewise with injuries. henriquez? potential but not ready for prime time. Vesia is not the same as before the il stint. Banda is good for the most part but not 8th or ninth material. Dryer is good. i believe doc should have stuck with him last night, he chose not to and got out chessed in a game of chess with Lovello. the dodgers should not have the worst bullpen in baseball period! maybe in the playoffs they won’t. now i’m afraid they might fall behind the padres and have to go to chicago for 3 games. not saying they can or can’t best the cubs in wrigley. but it would be a lot easier with 3 at home. The starters are the best in baseball right now. the bullpen is the worst. something has to give! …. what a pleasure to watch the Detroit Tigers collapse! AJ Hinch has earned this remarkable streak of bad baseball! He’s been looking for “SIGNS “. to help stop the losing, but his lucky can isn’t in detroit. he must have left it in houston!
Agreed about the Sborz situation – but, I hate the idea of hoping to catch lighting in a bottle again.
BUT, we may have no other options:)
You keep citing the Josh Sborz example. Do you have others? The mostly likely thing is that Scott, Yates, Treinen et al will keep pitching the same way they have been pitching.
Maybe Doc should quit bashing his head against the wall putting Scott in super high leverage situations. He clearly is cooked for this and is not going to recover this season. 10 BS is enough to show this. Use him in the 6th or 7th only and see if he pitches better. The runway is about to come to an end and Doc is going to have to pull up. If the plan is to use somebody else as a closer in the playoffs, I think they should get 1 or 2 looks in these situations first.
For now, everybody including Scott needs to forget about the size of his contract and do what’s best for the Ball Club to win ball games.
our starting pitchers need to go 7 innings The money they are being paid I can’t see why not This is the reason the bullpen is so tired Roberts cannot be blamed for what Tanner Scott did and has done all season for the Dodgers This is all on Friedman You’ll talk about getting rid of Roberts I don’t think Roberts is the problem we should start looking at Friedman and what he has brought to the Dodgers
My closer is Benny C.
Why is he not in LA????
No matter what, it will be exciting and looking forward to playoffs
Agreed – it is past comical on how bad the pen is.
Hollywood would have a hard time writing a script to match the Dodger’s bullpen exploits this year, or if some body did they would be laughed out of the building – being told how stupid and nonsensical the script was.
Previous posts that I could concur with noted that Robert’s keep putting TS into position to get him ready and gain confidence – WELL we are way past that time now.
He hasn’t earned it and the other teams don’t fear him! He is liability now and shouldn’t pitch in the late innings.
If anything he gives the other teams hope!
Yates definitely should not be on the roster – between Treinen and Scott I would go with Treinen as it seems he is closer to figuring it out than Scott.