Dodgers Cave to the Woke Mob

I do not always agree with you Mark, you know my stance on spending, but you are spot on. This is the Dodger organization selling out, your site is the only one likely to speak the truth. Like you said Nosler and Stephen and their minions are rejoycing. Sick of this shit, seriously reconsidering going forward as a season ticket holder. Bauer will be picked up very soon, just like Chapman years ago.

Evidently they had been trying to trade him ever since he was reinstated. But they found no takers. I think both baseball wise and financially, it is a bad decision. But, it is not my money nor my problem. They have 7 days to find a trade partner or just place him on release waivers. Both sides have released statements. Some other team will no doubt take a chance and sign him for the MLB minimum and the Dodgers will effectively being paying him to pitch against them.

I told you it was going to be a 22M virtue signal. The Dodgers just won the Woke World Series.

Methinks Mark, you protest too much. You should be sick of this shit, it’s stupid and this post was borderline moronic post, but that’s fine. We’ll move past this. Referencing for the 2nd time in a week, Woody Allen:

Comedy is tragedy plus time.

Since you’ve evidently forgotten, here’s what we all have known the whole time:

The woman said she also didn’t feel ready to take that step because she was “pretty shaken up still.” But she later

decided to make the call, which police recorded that May 22. In the call, she confronted Bauer about allegedly

punching her in the head and vagina.

Bauer didn’t deny punching her — though he said he “just can’t even figure out how, like, the result was what it was”

— and on a couple of instances appeared to acknowledge it.

“I didn’t feel like I hit you that hard, you know?” Bauer said.

At another point, the woman asked Bauer, “How many times do you think you, like, hit my head?”

“I’m not sure,” Bauer said. “It wasn’t that many.”

Bauer suggested that he was following the woman’s lead in having rough sex with her and that he frequently

checked to make sure she was okay.

If you or anyone ran the Dodgers and that (above) was the least problematic thing to come out about Bauer would you risk keeping him on your team? Of course not, it’s a sunk cost that’s now been sunk.

To make us all feel better, here’s Graterol on the DFA’ing:

And here’s JT on saying goodbye to LA:

Well evidently Walter’s moral line is drawn just after adultery.

I felt 100% the same way, then I took a breath. There could be other rational reasons for this. Bauer put them in a tough spot. He didn’t do anything illegal, maybe immoral to some. But, we all can agree, he didn’t respect his contract by exposing himself to risk by engaging in behavior with a stranger to him, a member of the Padres organization, etc.

Maybe it was as simple as everyone got a vote, and the vote decided the outcome. I would never run an organization like this, I don’t want the lunatics running the asylum. The final straw could have been any number of reasons. Maybe they made a side deal with MLB over something they want and sacrificed Bauer to get it. Who knows?

I love the Dodgers, but there’s a line that might eventually be crossed. As they inch towards it, I spend less money.

They’re in a no-win situation with this incident. For some future free agents, it sends a message that they won’t stand behind their player. For others, it sends a message that you better honor your contract on and off the field.

While I stood up for Bauer in his legal matter, I still think he’s an idiot for putting himself and the Dodgers in this situation, so I’m not going to die on this hill. I still have a little hope that they get something in return during the DFA process. I couldn’t imaging coming up empty. If the Padres, Yankees, Rangers or Astros want him, they would have an incentive to send something back or risk losing him to any number of teams.

Magic Johnson, Billie Jean King, Dave Roberts, Mark Walters…I’m seeing a certain political slant in the ownership group and the leadership, and it ain’t leaning to the right… tell me if I’m reading it wrong.

Baseball is a business to the owners and shareholders. They are not in the game to lose money nor are they in it for the love of the sport. The fans are the ones who love the game, and most of the players feel the same. Obviously, the owners decided that the financial hit of just DFA and eventually releasing him would be less than the financial hit they would take retaining his services. They appear to be somewhat self-righteous in this since most of the polls conducted showed that a majority of fans wanted him back, I believe from many of the statements I have read that there is going to be a reverse backlash from this that will happen. The fans who feel Bauer has served his penance are not too happy with just letting a baseball asset walk and then sign with another organization. As stated by some here, and some I have personally talked with, they are no longer going to spend their hard-earned entertainment dollar by attending games, buying Dodger gear, or as in a couple of cases I talked with, purchasing the MLB.TV package. My main concern is that they have zero wiggle room now to improve unless they dump somebody’s salary, and there are really no options there. Mookie, Freeman and Kersh, who make the most money on the team are not going anywhere. Baseball and financially, this is a bad decision since it hamstrings the options to improve the team could have. Bauer, if ready to pitch and healthy is a solid addition to a large group of good pitchers, but just a wee bit fragile bunch too. Kersh, Gonsolin, May and Thor have all had problems with that over the last several years. The only real way this team gets a A plus talent infusion now is through a trade. And AF is going to have to make a doozy to make the team that much better. Even getting a veteran outfielder like McCutcheon in free agency now looks out of the question. Also in the baseball world, the Mets have become frustrated with the whole Correa debacle and may pull out of the deal. Boston fans not too happy that JT will be wearing #2 which belonged to Bogaerts.

Not sure I buy the woke nonsense. I think the Dodgers removed a big distraction moving into 2023.

Now they can focus on the season. The media circus can move on down the highway.

The LA Dodgers have now become the LA Dufuses. What an offseason. First, the Dufuses fail to fire Dufus Roberts after he once again performed his annual Dufus moves in the playoffs. Failure to resign Tyler Anderson appears to be a Dufus move. Letting Cody Bellinger walk appears to be another Dufus move. I wouldn’t have signed any $300 Mil players either but they just about failed to sign any free agent on the market other than a couple of reclamation projects. That appears to be another Dufus move by the front office as it looks like they were trying to stay under the luxury tax but that may now be difficult to accomplish. The Dufuses completely screwed over JT and left him hanging and now this debacle. The whole off-season is turning into a shit show.

Mark Walters, you are gutless.

Bill Plaschke, Dylan Hernandez and the whole gang at the

LA Times, you are all useless pieces of dog dung.

It’s about “optics.”

The ownership group is willing to eat $22 million in favor of optics.

The ownership group is willing to drop a former CY Young Award winner and probable #2 starter in favor of optics.

The ownership group is willing to allow said player to receive $22 million to pitch against their team in favor of optics.

It can be argued that the ownership group is putting optics ahead of winning.

I am not surprised that the Dodgers released him nor do I think that releasing him means that they have kicked away a chance to win a World Series this year. He had not pitched in a MLB game in nearly two years and he was one of the pitchers assumed to be most negatively affected by the rule change regarding foreign substances to improve grip. To state that releasing him is akin to giving up on a championship this year is an overreaction.

This was not going to be a baseball decision nor a financial decision. It was a public relations decision. And making that decision is not caving to wokeness in my opinion. That is such an overused talking point. If wokeness is a professional sports organization deciding that it is not going to be represented by an employee who has been credibly accused of mistreating women (at a minimum) then so be it. I am presuming that the Dodgers organization knows more about this investigation and other allegations than any one posting on this site. I am in the camp of those who feel like he would be a distraction for the Dodger organization this year and better to cut ties and move on. I don’t feel sorry for Trevor Bauer or view him as a victim. He brought this on himself and the Dodgers decided he was not a man they wanted representing their team this year. Some other team may feel differently and may sign him. So be it.

Is Molly Knight still writing for anyone??

Since we are all weighing in with our views; here is mine….

GUGGENHEIM PARTNERS MEMO TO AF:

First, this is an investment decision by Guggenheim Partners owners of one of the most valuable sports franchise assets – the LA Dodgers.

Second, $22M+ in our investment portfolio is “chump change;” so pay Bauer off and move on.

Third, we are making a major investment in our farm system so let’s find out what what the Return on Investment (ROI) actually is. IMO, it is very good at all levels in pitching; but we really don’t know the ROI on the offensive side, The best recent prospect you have produced has been Lux. So, let’s bring up some of the new everday talent and find out how our effectively our dollars are being spent.

Fourth, while Bauer is a proven talent, he is not a public personna we want our name connected with. We have a much larger and more diverse investment portfolio; we don’t want to risk any of that because of how they perceive Trevor Bauer.

Finally AF, we don’t want to pay the luxury tax this year so you need to find a way to get under the threshold. We know you can do it.

So let’s play ball….and produce another World Series Championship for the 25 million+ people living in SoCal!

The only two people who know what truly happened are Bauer and the person accusing him. It boils down to a he said she said proposition. Now, our justice system has flaws. The guilty sometimes go free and the innocent sometimes spend a long time incarcerated, or in a worst-case scenario, are summarily executed. An arbitrator ruled that there was sufficient evidence to warrant the suspension imposed by major league baseball, then he also allowed that the time served was justice served. All of this without Bauer ever having been judged in a court of law. The DA refused to charge him because there was insufficient evidence that a crime had been committed. Now, do not get me wrong, I do not condone violence or abuse of another person at all. I think Bauer is a talented, but somewhat enigmatic and self-centered individual who has little caring for how his actions may affect others. But unless you witnessed the act, how do you or any of us know the actual truth? Telling the truth or owning up to one’s actions is something our society is seriously short on doing. I think he should have at some point come out publicly and apologized for the fact that his behavior affected more than just him. Even his post today is more about his own well-being than what his actions cost the team. They got 8 wins and 5 losses out of their initial investment. Overall, counting what they will have to pay him after releasing him at the end of the 7 days, they will have paid him 64,937,302.00 dollars for 8 wins and a ton of negative PR. In a lot of ways, the Dodgers are and were in an untenable situation. Damned if they did, and damned if they did not. They were truly faced with Star Trek’s Kobayashi Maru no-win scenario. I have no clue if politics factored into the decision. It had to come from the top of the organization. I do not think ownership put it in AF’s lap. Whatever the reason, it was absolutely a business decision and not a baseball one. Emotions on this run the gamut. There are many on Twitter and other sites applauding ownership for the move, many others are bashing them for caving in. Again, whatever the reason, the circus has now left town. All that remains is picking up the pieces and trying to put the absolute best team on the field they can. The best way to win back fans is to at this point at least, can the lets reset and get under the CBT tax limit stuff and trade for a high salaried star. That would at least remove some of the vitriol caused by what is perceived by so many as just throwing in the towel on the season. I have zero idea what direction the team will make. But I think, and really believe a majority of the fans out there are really heavily disappointed with the way the entire Dodger organization has conducted itself and business this offseason.

Everybody wants to rehash all this.

Bauer is a moron. He did nothing worse than many other players did who got a fraction of the punishment. But he’s a loudmouth dumbass who pissed lots of people off for many years. Including MLB, as an organization.

I don’t agree with this. But I don’t run the team nor do I have to deal with the blowback if they had put him on the roster.

This was always the most likely scenario. We can all argue and debate until we are blue in the face. This is the world we live in. Players did worse than Bauer and got much less of a punishment. And Bauer never did anything to make anybody want to go to bat for him. His entire career. My sympathy is limited.

As Bear stated. My primary concern is the position the Dodgers find themselves. MLB screwed this up big time. And that pisses me off.

Bauer has piles of cash, millions of social media followers, his health and youth. There are literally several billion people on this planet that would trade places with him in a heartbeat. He will be fine. Even if he doesn’t pitch again. We won’t be seeing him man the drive thru at Starbucks any time soon.

This played out exactly as I expected. Even if it’s not what I would have chosen.

Completely agree with Marc.

For me it proves once again what I learned many years ago as an 18 year old: Be VERY careful before you let a woman into your heart. Or bed.

Another example how a couple of golddiggers ruined a mans career and life and the woke mob once again gets his way.

Go Dodgers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woken up this morning to this very disappointing news, but have to say I’m very proud of Mark for being true to himself and putting this Post up.

Also proud of the way this polarising situation has been discussed here, with respect given by each Poster. This is what makes this place different to all the rest.

For me, the biggest disappointment, probably because I guess I’m still rather Old School at heart, is that a man who hasn’t been found guilty of any crime, has had his career ruined, and I find myself wondering how I’d be feeling if I were Trevor Bauer today. What was the point of the whole Legal Process, if this was ti be the outcome? He would have been better served pleading guilty to something he hadn’t done in the first place, and putting this thing behind him a lot more quickly.

The Shake Down ultimately was a success. Don’t forget where this woman came from and her ties to the Padres. Bauer’s season and career were derailed as was the Dodger’s season, and ultimately led to them having to spend some of their Prospect Capital on Scherzer to fill a big hole in the Rotation. Maybe Kaybear would have been the piece that could have swung Soto our way – the Nats certainly wanted him – but our package a year later, wasn’t deemed as enticing as SD’s without him.

However, that being said, I have learned so much on this site over the years, both about Baseball of course, but also about the modern world, and how things are now perceived and understood.

Is it Wokeness or is this just the new normal now, and I’m a dinosaur for having not moved on much faster.

I think my definition of a “Karen” is slightly different to Mark’s. For me a Karen exemplifies White Privilege – being over demanding and thinking they are always right. I’m not sure the LAD’s are Karens, more that they are better versed in modern day culture.

This whole episode and the way it has been commented on here at LADT, has shown me once again that certain Posters have a far better understanding of current circumstances and the modern way, than others.

I was looking forward to poking Bluto and and those who clearly said that Bauer was done from the get go, but it transpired that they had a far better understanding of perceptions in the world we live in. Bluto was right all along. Is he a “ Woketard ” as someone called him the other day? No, actually he and others just have a greater understanding of the world as it is in 2023., and fair play to them, and for me, another lesson learned. Bluto has said it many times – not whether it’s right or wrong – it’s the perception that matters.

This whole saga should put every single Sports Star or anyone famous or in the Public Eye on alert. You need to be very very careful of everything you do.

I wish Trevor Bauer all the best in getting his life and career back on track. I hope someone takes a chance on him, he could certainly do with a friend right about now.

Shame that friend wasn’t the LAD’s.

Bulldogs

“Maybe this is a symptom of your condition.”

You fuckin went there you son of a bitch. You can’t relate because you have never went through what I have went through and you never will. It goes to show what kind of fuckin person you are.

Eric is getting a onetime pass this time. We will not tolerate personal attacks on this site. That is what caused the problems before and is exactly the reason some of our regular posters left the site. As always, we will welcome all opinions. But let us all respect the opinions of all posters and let’s be civil.

I read something on another blog that I found extremely interesting. After the Dodgers made their announcement and they posted a statement as to why they decided to cut ties, Bauer released his own statement saying that as late as Thursday morning the management had expressed a desire to retain his services. He thanked members of the Dodgers for their support. Later that statement was refuted by some members of management according to some sources, and it was stated that in their meetings, the Dodgers had not heard any apologies or remorse from Bauer pertaining to his actions. Believe what you like, but I also thought that Bauer would have had a much better chance of staying with the Dodgers if he had publicly apologized to the fans, the players and management for the chaos his actions caused.

Credibly accused in the context I referred means that he was accused of the same or similar behavior by three different women and was punished after an investigation into those accusations. Fair point on the use of the term. Clearly, it took more than the accusations for Bauer to be released by the Dodgers. He was suspended longer than any other player in MLB history as a result of the investigation. MLB did not handle this well in my opinion and the suspension may have been excessive. An arbitrator certainly felt that way. But it can be true that Bauer deserved to be suspended and lose his job and also be true that MLB did not handle this well. For those who want to turn this into a cave to the “woke” culture – whatever that really means – I don’t think this is the hill to die on.

I said yesterday that I had no opinion of the outcome of this. I knew that the Dodgers could elect to waive him and I also know that Trevor Bauer is a knucklehead. I understand what happened but it violates my opinion of what is fair and right. I also think that Curt Schilling could be right. Bauer may never pitch again in MLB. It very well may be that Manfred has issued the edict to all the owners.

I am going to Northern Indiana to visit my daughter today. See you later!

Mark … I’m with you, going to spend today with my son and grandkids. As we were getting ready for bed last night, my ten year old pitcher/short stop who hit almost .700 last year, asked me, “So grampa, the Dodgers are going to pay Trevor Bauer to pitch against us this year?” I simply smiled and said, “Sometimes grown-ups can be pretty stupid. Let’s say our prayers and get to sleep. We’ll talk about it in the morning, while we’re playing some catch.”

Do you own a mirror??? If you do, please read the owners manual and use it.