Dodger's Weekly Roundup

Have I missed something, ha of course I have, but haven’t heard from Badger lately. Do hope you are well sir.

If you were the G M and could only keep one player long term who would it be ?

Cody Bellinger or Corey Seager

Seiya Suzuki To Be Posted Tomorrow Morning

By Darragh McDonald | November 21, 2021 at 9:41am CDT

MLB has told teams that outfielder Seiya Suzuki will be posted tomorrow morning, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman. That will open a 30-day window for teams to negotiate with him, with the deadline being 4:00 pm CT on December 22. If he doesn’t sign a contract by then, he will return to the Hiroshima Carp, his team in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball.

It was reported weeks ago that Suzuki was going to be posted, but the official timing of the posting is significant. The Collective Bargaining Agreement between MLB and MLBPA is set to expire at 11:59 pm ET on December 1. Due to the fact that it seems unlikely a deal will come together by then, the expectation around the industry has been that December 2 will see the implementation of a lockout and transaction freeze that would last until a new agreement is reached. Commissioner Rob Manfred discussed this scenario recently and seemed to point to its likelihood.

There’s a ten-day span from Suzuki’s posting tomorrow until that potential lockout day. Joel Sherman of the New York Post confirms that a transaction freeze would indeed apply to Suzuki as well, meaning no team could sign him while the freeze is in place. It had been previously reported that MLB and NPB were discussing an agreement wherein Suzuki’s 30-day clock would be paused during the freeze. That agreement seems to have been reached, as Sherman also reports that Suzuki’s 30-day clock will not move during a lockout. That means Suzuki is going to have to decide between hastily working out a deal in just over a week or dealing with the uncertainty of waiting out this winter’s labor strife and then having around 20 days of negotiating time on the other side of that.

Suzuki came in 20th on MLBTR’s list of Top 50 Free Agents and was predicted to get a contract of $55MM over five years. The 27-year-old seems capable of stepping right into the middle of the lineup for an MLB team, along with providing a strong arm and competent right field defense. Any big league team that signs Suzuki would owe the Carp a fee equal to 20% of the contract’s first $25MM, 17.5% of the next $25MM and 15% of any dollars thereafter. For example, if Suzuki were signed for $55MM as MLBTR predicted, the signing team would have to pay the Carp $10.125MM, bringing the total bill to $65.125MM. ,

Yeah, it’s pretty fun to talk about offseason trade possibilities, but it doesn’t make a whole hell of a lot of sense to have three left handed first basemen on the same team. I guess they really need to replace Chris Taylor’s epic strikeout numbers with Chapman? Muncy is not a second baseman. If he was, we all would have seen Albert play more 1st base with Muncy at second base last year.

It’s not often you see two stars traded to the same team in the same deal. But, Scherzer and Trea showed us that it is as least possible, but not probable. The difference is that Grey and Ruiz were a perfect fit for the Nats. They were also at the tippy top of the Dodgers prospect rankings at the time. This package is not.

I guess there’s a couple of ways to approach trades. You trade for a player to fill a need, or you trade for a player as an opportunistic move to acquire elite talent, then wedge them into the lineup and in the field the best you can.

I guess we are now identifying both 3B and second base as a need? If that’s the case, I would say the Justin Turner signing last year was a mistake. They should have signed a more capable third baseman to bridge the gap. However, JT wound up playing the second most innings at 3B in his entire career. He also had a very good year at the plate except for the non existent postseason. Since all this is true, I can’t really call 3B a need.

It seems to me, it would make much more sense to not give away your best third base prospect who is probably about a year away in a trade to get someone who strikes out 200 times a year even if he’s a great defender to fill a need that doesn’t exist. They should probably just focus on acquiring that second baseman instead. Maybe it would make the most sense to go after a guy like Whit Merrifield or resign Seager or another shortop instead of trading a lot of prospects to get a first baseman you don’t need and a third baseman you don’t need.

Geez Mark, if Rey Skywalker keeps hefting Reggie’s telephone pole 35-38, she’ll have no trouble catching up to anything when she’s older. She’s darling.

Jeff mentioned yesterday about my impressions of Jacob Amaya in fall ball.

I really like this kid. As we all know, hitting will be his question. I love his actions at Short and think he has the arm to stay there. Really solid and smooth actions.

I saw him hit at the top of the order and DH as well, to get more at bats. I see him as a bat-to-ball guy who needs to cut down on strike outs. I did not see him chase this fall which has been a problem. I also see gap power until he grows up. I see no need right now for him to try to lift and power the ball. His goal should be to swing at strikes and improve his contact rate. He hit the best he’s ever hit in Fall Ball, which was refreshing to see. He did not look over-matched with velo.

To me, I see a very prototypical middle infielder at 6’0″, 180 who starts out as being valued for his defense and who’s hitting comes around with time, as he gets comfortable with PT at a position. Kinda like the old days when a guy was valued for his SS defense, got comfortable, and improved at the plate to become valued as a hitter.

I wish he switch hit. I think he’s trade bait with the Dodgers however.

Isn’t Amaya’s brother in the Majors?

Good morning guys. Hope you all have a great Sunday. Baseball news at a minimum right now. And unless some sort of agreement is reached soon, there won’t be much after Thanksgiving either. I hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving with your family’s. Myself, I will most likely spend the day here doing research on some articles. I do not watch the NFL, so football on that day is not happening. But LA teams are taking it on the chin this year. Lakers look like a dysfunctional family of overpaid prima donna’s. Rams started out good but have been flat lately, Kings, middle of the pack, and USC needs a new direction 8 weeks ago. I have to believe if AF makes any trades they will be for a need. Your do not trade for a third baseman if you feel you can get at least 120 games during the regular season there from Turner. I think they probably feel they have plenty of players who can back him up since McKinstry, Rios, Muncy and Beaty have all had time there. The needs obviously are on the bench and starting pitching if they do not sign at least one more starter in free agency. The bench lacks RH pop. The pen will be rebuilt in some form or another. The thing about Suzuki is that not only are you going to have to pay the posting fee, usually a lot of cash, then you have to sign the guy to a contract. MLBTR says he is going to get 55 mil for 5 years. Since the outfield is well manned, I see no way they go after the guy, but that is just a guess. I have to believe AF is covering all his bases and looking at a bunch of free agents who might be good fits for the team and who will cost a lot less than others who might be traded for. I do not think Olson or Chapman are great fits here. Chapman strikes out way too much. He is a plus fielder, but how many runs is he going to leave stranded while he whiffs at 3 straight pitches, He hits it a long way when he hits one, but to me, the guy just does not make enough contact.

I find this interesting. There is a small town in Pennsylvania which has produced two of MLB’s best players ever. Both are Hall of Famers. Philadelphia has one native son in the hall, Roy Campanella. Same with Pittsburgh, Bobby Wallace. The town, Donora, birthplace of Stan ” The Man ” Musial and Ken Griffey Jr. Even stranger, they both have the same birthday. November 21. Stan was born in 1920, and Griffey 49 years later in 1969. Just think how much closer to 700 HR’s Griffey would have been if he had just been able to stay healthy later in his career. Musial got the nick name “The Man ” from Dodger fans. After a particularly great doubleheader against them, the fans would groan, here comes that man again when Musial came to bat. When he was coming up, he was known as the Donora Greyhound. He was back then considered more of a pitching prospect that a hitter. I also remember the day when Griffey Jr. and his dad homered back to back. Only time a father and son have ever done that in the majors. Happy Birthday to them both.

I never believed Barry Bonds took steroids to generate more power. I always believed he took steroids to help him heal quicker. I would surmise had Junior took to steroids as did Bonds (and he did), we would probably be talking about Junior as the career HR leader, and IMO the greatest baseball player of all time. He was fun to watch offensively and defensively. Certainly the best talent I ever saw since Willie Mays. And no Mark, he did not need the mountains of computer reports to tell him where to position himself.

Since it has been brought up…YES I was embarrassed as a USC Trojan after yesterday’s disaster. The one positive aspect is that we are now one week closer to a new coach, and UCLA is still going to be stuck with Chip Kelly. At 18-25 his record is very reminiscent of Clay Helton.

Word is that a new coach will be made prior to the December 4 makeup game against the Cal Bears. The tea leaves are leaning towards current Baylor HC, defensive guru, highly disciplined, and SoCal native Dave Aranda. The team will still have the Helton stench for at least one season, but with the new portal system, problems can be minimized. The team will lose the disastrous coordinators in Graham Harrell and Todd Orlando, and hopefully retain some semblance of recruiting. Since this is LADT and not USCTalk, I will defer to RudyByrd and William for their bragging rights. Well for one year anyway.

It will be interesting to watch the domino effect with all of the college football openings already. I don’t remember so many jobs open prior to the end of the season; USC, LSU, Wa, WSU, TCU, Va Tech and now Florida. Surely there will be more to come.

We’ve all seen the usual cast of characters mentioned as replacements including Lane Kiffin leaving Ole Miss all ready for LSU and now Florida probably.

One name I never see mentioned as a replacement for a brand name job is Kyle Whittingham. Maybe after 17 years with the Utes, he’ll have no interest elsewhere but he’s one of the best coaches out there if you want physical football.

USC can’t get this one wrong.

Watching USC yesterday was completely embarrassing. Defense, horrible. Offense, suspect. Undisciplined with tons of penalties. I don’t follow closely enough to have an opinion on who should come in and take over the reigns, but I can say that I really miss Pete Carroll, but not enough to be a Seahawks fan.

The “bridges”.

The Dodgers need several “bridges” some are already on the team and others it needs to acquire.

Pollock is the bridge for Andy Pages, he will come very young to MLB, he is a precocious player, he will play very good defense, hit HR and many RBI and a high number of strikeouts, nowadays if players can do all that teams don’t mind the strikeouts.

Turner and Rios could be the bridge to Miguel Vargas, another precocious player who will get to MLB very young.

Treinen or Jansen, if he returns, could be the bridge for Graterol in the closer’s position, Graterol is still a project and is in the best team to develop, he has the youth, character, personality and weapons to be a great reliever.

The Dodgers need a bridge or two to wait for the arrival of May, who should be an established starting pitcher in 2023, and Miller a little later.

Signing “bridges” this year on 1-2 year deals, max 3,( Kershaw-Scherzer ?)should allow the Dodgers to sign extensions, down the road, to Buehler, Bellinger, Julio and Trea, obviously, if they continue to play at this season’s level and in Bellinger’s case if he regains his level.

A starting rotation for the next few years of: Buehler, Julio, May, Miller, Pepiot, if all goes well, could be fabulous.

Calling Barry Bonds the best hitter in baseball history is just plain wrong. Ted Williams was the best pure hitter in MLB history. Had he not lost 5 seasons to the wars, he would have beaten Ruth’s 714 easily. we all know what Bonds did to get to where he did. He is in the last season of his eligibility for election by the writers because of that. BP, they were not taking steroids in the 50’s and 60’s. That type of drug was not even available to players then. Trainers then would regularly give the players greenies or cortisone injections. But anabolic steroids were not in use. And Bonds would have been a Hall of Famer had he not chosen to use. But the greatest hitter ever??? Pure bull puckey. Maybe the best in his era. but not even close all time.

Barry Bonds is a scumbag of a person to begin with, and he is for sure miles from being the best hitter ever.

Somewhere we learn that what we do may be technically legal but still be unethical. Somewhere we learn that we can legally do some things that will ruin our lives and others’. Shining a spotlight on such things can hopefully help a few people to think a little more deeply before creating situations that were best not created.

I don’t like strike outs. Chapman had too many in 2021 but not in his best year in 2019.

I like defense and speed. I don’t know who would provide that at 3B so I will take defense.

Given a choice, I would like to see Seager play third next year, Trea at short, Lux at second, and Bellinger at first. But if Seager leaves then I am looking for a third baseman.

If Muncy is not the first baseman then he should be traded and not moved to another position. Maybe a Muncy for Gleyber with Gleyber playing 3rd.

I still want Buxton in CF and Betts in RF.

I dislike Barry Bonds period. I respected him as a player until all the steroid stuff came out. I do not like drugs in any way shape or form. I take mine simply because my doctor tells me I have to. If I had a choice, I would not take any of them. I do not like players who put themselves above the game. I don’t like Bauer simply because he made a bad choice and it cost the Dodgers a lot. To me, that is selfish. Bonds was a damn good player before he decided to juice. He would have been a first ballot Hall of Famer, because of his choices, this is his last time on the writers ballot. For the same reason I do not want to see someone like Correia on the Dodgers, I do not want to see Bonds in the hall. That is simply my opinion of the man. But to me, he is not worthy to carry Hank Aaron’s equipment bag, let alone have the all time HR title. Hank was more forgiving about it.

For anyone that wants to argue about Bonds being the best hitter ever, 762! You may think batting average or hits makes you a better hitter, but being the all time home run king means he’s in the conversation.

I hate the Giants and hated Bonds, but watching him hit was like watching a robot hit against humans. I saw what I saw and he was the best I personally have ever seen. It kills me to even think that about a Giant. That’s how good he was.

The crowning moment to me was seeing him take Gagne oppo over half way up the pavillion when Gagne was at the top of his game. Bonds was a machine. Maybe if I saw Williams or Ruth play, I would think differently. But, it doesn’t make me wrong.

OK, let’s play nice.

Everyone has strong opinions about things that are both objective and subjective.

There is no RIGHT answer… just opinions which are like… well, don’t be one!

If your nose runs and your feet smell, Are you built upside down? Go Dodgers

Bear, it seems that your love for Hammerin Hank is jading your reasoning skills. If you need hard proof, than you shouldn’t accuse Bonds of using steroids either. Bonds claims that he was given substances, but he didn’t know what they were. That smells like bull crap to me.

Hank says he used amphetamines a couple of times (yeah right). And a pitcher on his team claims that nearly half of the players on his team used steroids. Hank’s best season was in his age 37 year where he hit 47 homers. Not a normal decline like most players. I put all those things together and I can make a rational decision about what I think.

So, Hank actually admitted to using performance enhancing drugs. His teammate said a bunch of players on that team used steroids and his best season was when he was 37. That’s enough for me. But, I’m certain you’re going to dig your heels in because no one ever convinced anyone to change their mind on the Internet.

So, go ahead and be certain that Bonds took steroids even though he never admitted to it and ignore that Hank actually admitted to doing amphetamines and justify some how, some way, that a guy that took amphetamines would pass up the chance at taking steroids even thought his teammates were.

As a former drug user, I know from personal experience that it’s unlikely that Hank would take speed and then draw the line at steroids.

I respect Aaron. I have zero respect for Bonds. Respect is a lot different than love. I saw both of them play many times. If you were to ask me who the best hitter I ever saw was, it would be Tony Gwynn. With Rod Carew a close second. Best ballplayer, Mays hands down. Best pitcher, Koufax. Next best, Bob Gibson. Bonds never admitted anything, that is true. Neither did anyone accused of that stuff except one, Jason Giambi. Two guys accused of using or at least linked to it will be on the Hall ballot for the first time this year, Rodriguez and Big Papi. I just think we will never see eye to eye on this subject and that is fine.

D-Backs signed Matt Davidson to a minor league deal with a spring invite.

Rangers acquired Billy McKinney and Zach Reks from the Dodgers for cash.

Some movement happening around the MLB now. Angels signed Aaron Loup. Jackson traded by the Giants to the Braves and the Giants signed DeSlafani to a 3 year 36 million dollar deal.